The easiest place to start is the "Talk about it while you color" list on every coloring page. I wrote three questions for each of the 100 pages, so you never have to invent one on the spot. Beyond those, a few open questions work on any page: "What do you notice?", "What do you think will happen next?", and "How could we find out?"
Use the questions already on the page
Open any page, for example page 8, Spot the Mystery, and scroll below the artwork. You'll see an "About this page" note for you, then the discussion questions for your child. On page 8 one of them is "How do you think the key ended up in the garden?" There is no right answer, which is the point. Your child gets to explain their thinking out loud.
Five open questions that fit any page
Each of these lines up with a step of research:
- "What do you notice about this picture?" Observation, the heart of Chapter 1.
- "Does this remind you of anything you've seen before?" Connecting to what you already know, like the library in Chapter 2.
- "What do you think will happen next?" Prediction, the Chapter 3 skill.
- "Can you count how many are on this page?" Collecting data, the Chapter 5 skill.
- "If you told a friend about this page, what would you say?" Sharing, the Chapter 6 skill.
How to ask so your child keeps talking
- Ask one or two per session. This is a chat, not a quiz.
- Wait. Count to five in your head before you say anything. Silence is thinking time.
- Follow up with "why" or "how." "Purple, nice. Why purple?"
- Don't correct. If your child says the ghost on page 37 is a marshmallow, ask what makes it look like one.
- Go first if they're stuck. "I notice three sparkles. What do you notice?"
For the full set of ten questions with the skill behind each one, see 10 Questions to Ask Your Child While They Color. There is more on the printed prompts in How do I use the 'Talk about it' questions on each page?