Getting Your Child to Love Reading

Getting your child to love reading can be a real trick, particularly for those children who find reading difficult. Of course, it helps if you love to read and your children frequently see you reading. Even if you don’t care to sit down with the latest novel from Michael Crichton, it doesn’t mean that you can’t instill a love of reading in your children.

It’s never too early to start reading to your child. Sure, you may feel a little silly reading to a child who prefers to chew the book, but you are introducing your child to the idea that books are important and interesting. Find some time every day to read to your child. Reading just before bedtime is also a great way to make getting your child into bed easier. Young children love to read the same book over and over again. It’s a little dull, I admit, but key to teaching your children that the sounds they hear are connected to the symbols on the page. You can introduce new books but don’t be surprised if you have to follow them up with an old favorite as well.

Your children’s teachers will be a great resource on tips to advance your child’s reading skills and for recommendations on excellent books for your child’s reading level. Your school or local librarian will also be happy to recommend great books. Book sellers can be good resources, but remember they are in the business to move books and aren’t necessarily experts in the genre. What movies does your child love? Chances are, they were adapted from a children’s book. Look for those.

Once you find a book your child loves, look for other books in the same genre or by the same author. This is a particularly effective method for children that haven’t been enthusiastic about reading. When my son was in second grade, the Goosebumps series was all the rage. They weren’t my favorite choices for him, but he would read a book a day. That being said, I highly recommend steering your children away from books of the ilk.

There are many prolific authors of children’s books. Chances are, if the publisher has agreed to publish more than one book by an author, the first one has been a success with children. Don’t neglect the classics and don’t limit your choices just to books that are award winners or on “best” lists. It doesn’t mean they don’t write terrific books you’re your children will love. Look for works by the following authors (in no particular order:

Avi
Alcott, Louisa May
Anderson, Hans Christian
Brown, Margaret Wise
Brunhoff, Jean de
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Bunting, Eve
Burton, Virginia Lee
Berenstain, Stan & Jan
Brown, Marcia
Blume, Judy
Brett, Jan
Creech, Sharon
Cleary, Beverly
Carle, Eric
DePaolo, Tomie
Dahl, Roald
Dr. Suess
Ehlert, Lois
Fox, Mem (Australian author)
Fritz, Jean (historical stories & biographies)
Grahame, Kenneth
Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm (classic fairy tales)
George, Jean Craighead
Henkes, Kevin
Hamilton, Virginia
Johnson, Crockett
Jacques, Brian
Koller, Jackie French
Konigsburg, E.L.
Keats, Ezra Jack
Kipling, Rudyard
Lowry, Lois
Leaf, Munro
Lindgren, Astrid (Pippi Longstockings series)
London, Jack
L’Engle, Madeleine
Lewis, C.S.
Munsch, Robert
Macaulay, David
McCloskey, Robert
Milne, A.A.
Minarik, Else Holmelund
Mayer, Mercer
Numeroff, Laura
Norton, Mary
Nesbit, Edith
Osborne, Mary Pope
Potter, Beatrix
Paulsen, Gary
Peck, Richard
Peterson, John (The Littles series)
Polacco, Patricia
Rylant, Cynthia
Scarry, Richard
Spinelli, Jerry
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Sendak, Maurice
Silverstein, Shel (poetry)
Simon, Seymour (science)
Scieszka, Jon
Travers, Pamela L. (Mary Poppins series)
Van Allsburg, Chris
Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Wiesner, David
Wisniewski, David
Wood, Audrey & Don
Wells, Rosemary
Zelinsky, Paul O.
Zindel, Paul