My Focus on Family Life and Parenting

How to Get Children to Read – 4

Introducing New Books

While it’s good to choose books that deal with subjects your child is interested in you will want him to expand his horizons by getting him books on other subjects. How do you do this?

Draw a little bit more from your imagination and store of psychological know-how. It, for instance, you think your kid will benefit from the science lessons in a book, link that book with another he is more familiar with. You might pick up a scene from Disney’s Lion King, where Simba looks up at the starry sky and sees a vision of his slain father.

Feed your child with facts about stars and space, then present him with a book on, say, the Milky Way or space in general. You can follow these up with books on cosmonauts and astronauts.

Remember, even if your child can read without you around, make sure you continue to tickle his curiosity by interjecting new, though related, facts that will inevitably lead him to your book shelves or a book store.

Make it a point to have his books easily accessible to him. Don’t keep them on high shelves where he’s liable to forget them. “Litter” then around if possible, even if I means cluttering your home.