6 Simple Tips to Get Children Reading!

The benefits of reading cannot be overstated. It provides a fantastic boost to confidence, vocabulary, comprehension, empathy, diversity awareness and overall academic attainment. In shocking statistics, over 400,000 children in the UK do not own a single book. That is 1 in 8 children, most of them in disadvantaged areas.

If the National Strategy for Literacy development is to be achieved by 2025 we all have to pool together to come up with ways to help encourage children grow into bookworms, and hopefully life-long readers. Here are 6 ways we believe this can be achieved.

1. Read With and To Your Child

Children tend to pick up on habits their parents do, if your child sees you reading, they will most likely pick up on it too!

Reading books to your child may help them become interested in certain topics, and will help them to feel more invested and interested in the book.

 2. Know What Your Child Is Interested In

Knowing what your child likes may help you in picking the best genre and type of books for them to read. Are they a fan of adventure themed TV shows? Why not introduce them to an adventure book? Land of the Nurogons, Aiyven's debut novel has a fantasy-adventure theme. If they're interested in the past, then Kirsten's debut novel Sagas of Anya, provides a realistic, yet fictional, insight into life as a Victorian child.

It goes without saying that whatever you end up choosing, make sure it is suitable for their age and reading ability - if it is overly complicated, then it's likely that the won't be interested in it.

Having a book on a topic they like is guaranteed to make sure they have some interest in the books, and will help keep them focused as they will be reading about something they like.

Many books for children are also educational, such as science fun facts book, and your child can learn while reading - what's not to love about that?!

 3. Try a Short Story

If your child has never been a reader, then reading a large book might seem like a daunting task. Short stories are a fantastic way of gently easing your child into reading, without overwhelming them with a 300+ page book. Each month, Kirsten and Aiyven write a short story as part of their Happier Every Chapter subscription box, however, each short story is also available separately. Each short story has the same theme as the month's theme - so there's lots of genres and variety.

4. Visit Your Local Library (Or Have a Browse Online)

Visiting the local library or browsing through books online with your kids can make something they may think as a boring turn into a fun activity or day out. This is the perfect activity for a rainy day.

Letting them choose the books they want to try will help them gain independence as they can think about what they want to read, and setting a limit to return or time limits on rentals will help them with responsibility and planning!

You should also encourage your child to visit their school library. As well as academic and educational books, they should also have a section dedicated to fiction books. Fiction books make the best break from school work and they can take your child's mind elsewhere and allow them to forget about the stresses of school and homework for a little while.

Over the summer holidays, libraries also host reading programmes to encourage children to read 6 books over the duration of their summer break. This not only is a way of keeping your children entertained on a long journey or rainy day, but it is also keeping their mind active and educating them, without them realising!

 5. Try Amazing Audiobooks!

Some parents may not like the idea of audiobooks, but they count as reading too! Audiobooks are also a fantastic alternative for physical books and make reading accessible for children with disabilities.

Listening to an audiobook while doing things on a long drive or around the house can help your kid improve their vocabulary. 

Hearing the book read out loud with emotions into the words may also help your kid be more interested, as they won't just be sitting down and reading in silence, and they'll get to experience the feeling of the book more! Audiobooks can also help with the pronunciation of new and complicated words.

There are many options of how to listen to audiobooks - some free and others you have to pay for. Audible, Scribd and Audiobooks.com are some options of paid services, however many libraries offer audiobooks for free. If you have a library card then you can download the Libby or Borrowbox apps and loan and listen to audiobooks for free (some libraries use Libby and others use Borrowbox, some use both!)

Check out our blog where we came up with the best middle grade audiobooks that we think you will love. 

6. Invest in a Book Subscription Box

Investing in a subscription box that includes books can be a great idea to help your child become more invested in reading!

Having a monthly box with treats and gifts will allow reading to become more exciting, as they are looking forward to the surprise each month, and the themes will help them reach out of their comfort zone and read different and interesting topics.

Our subscription box, Happier Every Chapter, has a different theme each month. Each box is specially created and curated by Kirsten and Aiyven - tweens creating boxes for other tweens! 

Packed with 2 epic books (one being diverse), new short stories written by Kirsten and Aiyven themselves, activity sheets, bookish treats and more, there'll be hardly any time left to get bored before the next box comes along. The icing on this bookish cake is access to an exclusive subscriber ONLY community where Live Author Interviews, book chats and more will take place. There are one-off and subscription options and boxes for 4-7 year olds as well as 8-14 year olds!

There are lots of ways to get you child into reading, and there is no right or wrong way of doing it. If reading broadens your child's horizons, opens up their world to other cultures and worlds and keeps them away from screens for a little while, then we consider it a win!