How To Raise A Reader

7 Tips For Raising A Reader

Wondering how to raise a reader?

It's actually not that difficult.

In fact, getting your children interested in books and reading is easy and it’s something that every parent can do, whatever their own level of education or how well they did at school.

Raising a child who reads well and who loves books and reading does take commitment, a bit of thought and a certain amount of planning ahead.

But that’s all it takes.

Raising readers doesn’t take a parent with a university degree or oodles of money to spend on expensive programs and classes.

It doesn’t take a parent who’s a teacher or who has a child who appears to have been ‘born smart’.

How do you raise a reader?

Here are seven ideas:

1. Start early, preferably on the day your baby is born

Deciding when your child starts school that you’d like him to become a good reader and to enjoy reading is way too late.

But make the decision to raise a reader when your baby is born (or even before) and commit to spending a bit of time making it happen and you may be amazed at how easily and naturally your child learns to read when he’s older.


2. Read aloud to your child every day

You probably know already that this is an important thing to do. What you may not know is how important it is to do it often and from an early age.

The evidence is now very clear that to raise a reader we need to read to our babies from the time they’re born and continue to read aloud to them often as they grow up. Aim to read aloud every single day if you can, at least three books a day for at least ten minutes a day.

It’s important that kids see you reading and discussing what you’ve read so that they grow up with the message that reading’s an important and enjoyable part of life. It’s especially important for boys to see their fathers reading to counteract the idea that still exists in some places that reading is ‘something girls do.’

4. Provide good books

Try to always be on the look out for books that might interest your child. This is relatively easy when your child is young but becomes more important as he gets older and can read independently.

Taking your child to the library regularly when he or she is a baby is a great start. Get your child his own library card and let him choose his own books as soon as he’s able to.

Older kids can find it hard to choose a book when they’re confronted by all the shelves at the library or in a bookshop and tell you they ‘couldn’t find a book to read.’

I’ve found that girls will often talk among themselves about books they’ve enjoyed but boys don’t seem to do this as much.

Talking to other parents about the books their children have enjoyed can be helpful or click on one of the age groups on the left to browse a list of the best books for kids of every age.

5. Create a good reading environment

Making sure your child has a quiet, comfortable place to read is an easy way to encourage him or her to read but it’s something that’s surprisingly easy to overlook.

It can be as simple as making sure your child has a reading light by the bed and setting a bedtime that includes half an hour to read in bed before ‘lights out’.

If you have the space in a bedroom or playroom, creating a special ‘reading nook’ can be fun. A rug or a carpeted spot with good lighting, somewhere to store the books and either a comfortable sofa or some big, squashy floor cushions can go a long way towards encouraging reading.

If your child is young, this can be a special reading aloud spot. If he’s older, he may like to help you get it set up so he feels it’s his own special place.


It’s lovely for kids to have a ‘quiet spot’ like this to retreat to when they’re tired or upset or just need time away from a sibling.

6. Make time for reading

As children get older, they often slip into the habit of switching on the TV, computer or X-Box/Playstation when they have free time.

As we all know, these electronic entertainers are great fun but as adults we also know that they can be great time-wasters. It really is incredible how easy it is for half an hour in front of a screen of some kind to slip into an hour and then two or three before we know it.

I feel quite strongly that, as parents, we have a responsibility to help our children manage their time so that they do the things that are important including, of course, reading.

In our house, this involves family discussions about screen time and limits set by my husband and I. From time to time we also find we have to steer our teenagers back on track if they’re not reading regularly.

I know that for some people ‘making’ kids read might seem a bit harsh but if it’s important to you that they read, I really don’t see anything wrong with it. What you’re really doing is encouraging an important habit with the aim that it becomes something they do well and an accepted part of their lives.

In a way, it’s like brushing their teeth. Most kids go through a stage where they hate doing it but it’s important for their long-term health so we insist!

7. Use Technology

If your child has access to an Apple iPad or Amazon Kindle or something similar, you may want to explore the world of electronic book readers in your quest to raise a reader.

Personally, I prefer a proper book with paper pages but our kids live and breathe technology and they're often more open to reading if they can do it on cool devices like e-book readers.

I mention this because of something that happened at our place recently. My daughter, who's twelve, saved up and bought herself an ipad a while back and one night she came and told me the next book in a series she's been reading was available as an e-book.

It was cheaper than the $14.95 I would have paid for the paper version and we didn't have to wait until the next day and make a trip to the shops so I agreed that she could buy it.

Ten minutes later the deed was done and she went off to bed to read her book. Happy kid, happy mum!

Electronic book readers are still relatively expensive and not everyone has one but if your family does it may be worth a try with an older child or teenager.

How Do You Encourage Your Kids to Read?

If you have a great tip for getting kids to read, we'd love you to share it!