Enjoy Reading Top 10 tips to help children enjoy reading To help make reading enjoyable and fun, we asked experts and authors what they recommend to help get kids reading. 1. Make books part of your family life – Always have books around so that you and your children are ready to read whenever there’s a chance. 2. Join your local library – Get your child a library card. You’ll find the latest videogames, blu-rays and DVDs, plus tons and tons of fantastic books. Allow them to pick their own books, encouraging their own interests. 3. Match their interests – Help them find the right book - it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction, poetry, comic books or non-fiction. 4. All reading is good – Don’t discount non-fiction, comics, graphic novels, magazines and leaflets. Reading is reading and it is all good. 5. Get comfortable! – Snuggle up somewhere warm and cosy with your child, either in bed, on a beanbag or on the sofa, or make sure they have somewhere comfy when reading alone. 6. Ask questions – To keep them interested in the story, ask your child questions as you read such as, ‘What do you think will happen next?’ or ‘Where did we get to last night? Can you remember what had happened already?’ 7. Read whenever you get the chance – Bring along a book or magazine for any time your child has to wait, such as at a doctor’s surgery. 8. Read again and again – Encourage your child to re-read favourite books and poems. Re-reading helps to build up fluency and confidence. 9. Bedtime stories – Regularly read with your child or children at bedtime. It’s a great way to end the day and to spend valuable time with your child. 10. Rhyme and repetition – Books and poems which include rhyme and repetition are great for encouraging your child or children to join in and remember the words.
“Reading is vital for developing the imagination – the ability to stand in other people’s shoes and look through other eyes. With a book you can experience other lives, other worlds, other times. Books are the key to opening up opportunities.” Michaela Morgan
“We need to stop reading being seen as something children just do in school. It needs to be seen as attractive as computers, videogames, films and DVDs and as a fun way to spend free time. Seeing reading as something that happens at home and is shared by everyone in the family is key.” Christopher Edge
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