Compare & Contrast

Noticing how characters, places and events are alike and different, and what those differences show.

To compare is to find what two things have in common. To contrast is to find what makes them different. Kids can compare two characters, two settings, the beginning and end of a story, or a story and their own life.

Authors often put two things side by side on purpose, like two families, two friends or two places, so the differences stand out. Noticing that helps kids see what the author is trying to show.

How to teach it at home

Three techniques you can use during any reading session.

  1. Pick two things. Choose two characters, places or events and ask your child how they’re alike and how they’re different. Start with obvious differences, then look deeper.
  2. Make a quick chart. Draw two overlapping circles (a Venn diagram) or two columns on scrap paper. Seeing the lists side by side makes it easier to talk about.
  3. Ask “so what?” Once you’ve found the differences, ask why the author might have put these two things in the same story.

Questions to ask

These work with almost any book.

  • How are ___ and ___ alike? How are they different?
  • How is ___ different at the end of the book than at the beginning?
  • How is this place different from where we live?
  • How is this book like another book you’ve read?
  • Which character are you most like? Why?
  • Why do you think the author put these two characters in the same story?

If your child gets stuck

  • Start with what you can see: how things look, where characters live, what they do.
  • Give a sentence starter: “They’re both ___, but ___.”
  • Practice with something familiar first, like two pets or two holidays.
  • Differences are usually easier to spot than similarities, so it’s fine to start there.

Books for practicing compare and contrast

Each of these books has questions that ask your child to find what’s alike and what’s different.

Holes

by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the boys build character by spending all day, every…

View book for Holes

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