Tips for raising a little book lover

As adults, we know the pleasure of diving into a good book or even taking a few moments to get lost in a glossy magazine. So, as parents, we’d love our children to experience the same simple joys.

Once you become a parent you can expect a little thrill when you stumble across a book you loved when you were young. The Tiger Who Came To Tea, perhaps? Or one of the classic Berenstain Bears stories?

But introducing books to your child is so much more than a nostalgia trip.

At the very beginning it’s about the simple bonding experience of sitting your baby on your lap while reading aloud to her.

As your baby grows, stories become more about the wonderful world of words, the infinite source of knowledge that comes with books and, of course, sparking the imagination of your little one so she dreams great dreams.

The choice of children’s books these days is vast, from touchy-feely ones to rhyming, flapping and plot-driven ones.

READING TO BABY 
Try these reading tips once you have baby fed, rested, alert and ready for a snuggle on the couch:

• It’s all about encouraging a love of reading — chomping, chewing and turning the book upside down are all fine. So is starting on the last page or finishing in the middle.
• Don’t bother to read every word. Talk about the pictures, make animal noises, such as quacks when you see a duck.
• Sing to your baby — books of nursery rhymes and baby songs are great.
• React to each page in exaggerated fashion, such as with gasps and exclamations. Your baby is watching you and may start copying.
• A baby’s eyesight isn’t fully developed until she’s around eight months old. In the early weeks and months, books with bold and strong images will help her learn to focus. The Baby’s World series of black and white board books are perfect for the early days.
• Books with different textures inside are great at this age and add to the tactile experience of reading books. Top of our list are the Baby Touch books and the Usborne “That’s Not My...”series. 

STORY TIME FOR TODDLERS 
Rhymes and repetition come into their own as your baby grows into a toddler. You’ll find you’re reading the same book until you know it by heart.

• Encourage them to turn the page and hold the book. Books with flaps are good for toddlers.
• Your child may have had enough after just a few pages, but keep reading while she plays on the floor — she’s probably still listening.
• Toddlers frequently have shorter attention spans than babies. Look for text that is brief and simple and read a little bit several times a day.
• As your child grows, ask questions like, “What do you think will happen next?” Stories with plots start to appeal.
• Dedicate at least five minutes a day to reading, or read several stories before bed. Regularity breeds a habit.
• Write a story with your child. Sit at the computer together and get her to dictate a story for you to type out. Prompt her with open questions such as: “And what happened next?” Then do a Google search for images to help illustrate her story.
• Have books on hand in every room (yes, even the toilet).
• Every Christmas and birthday include a book among the presents.
• Visit the library regularly and get your child her own library card. Storytime events at libraries are wonderful and a good way to find fabulous new titles.

If you have a toddler who’d rather be playing on the floor than listening to a story, it’s a matter of picking your time (maybe just before bed when she’s tired and ready for a cuddle) and choosing a topic she enjoys.

But the main thing, says childhood education expert Sarah Farquhar, is to give your toddler lots of experiences from early on and the language to talk about them. Trips on the train, going for walks, watching the neighbour’s cat — these are all opportunities for experiences and learning language.

Finger puppets are good too, as are rhymes involving fingers and toes, such as “This Little Piggy Went to Market”. "People think that’s not related to reading but it is. It’s all language and you can’t learn to read without language,” says Dr Farquhar, who’s director of the early childhood education network Child Forum.

Do lots of drawing with your child, then write a description underneath, for example “rocket ship”, plus your child’s name in the corner. This helps with recall and strengthens memory, as well as introducing new words.

As your child reaches three and four years old you can start associating letters, symbols and numbers with their meanings, for example, pointing out stop signs, prices in the supermarket or even, as your child gets ready for school, play Eye Spy in the car using sounds (“ggg”) instead of letters.

What you don’t do, however, is try to push your preschooler into learning to read early. “All the research shows that a child who is made to engage in structured teaching of reading or is taught to read before five isn’t necessarily going to be more advanced later than other children,” says Dr Farquhar.