12/10/2026
📚❤️ 5 simple ways to encourage your child to read more!
After years working in early years education, raising my own three boys and almost 11 years running my little children’s bookshop, I’ve learned that encouraging children to read doesn’t need to be complicated!
And sometimes it’s the smallest changes that make the biggest difference 🥰
1️⃣ Let them read what they want!
Comics, joke books, football programmes, fact books, graphic novels… it all counts! We can get so caught up in what we think children should be reading that we forget how important it is for them to actually enjoy it!
2️⃣ Let them see you reading!
Whether it’s a novel, a magazine or a recipe book, let your children see you enjoying reading too. We can’t expect them to see reading as something enjoyable if they never see us doing it ourselves!
3️⃣ Put books where they’ll find them!
A little basket beside the sofa, a few books in the car, one beside their bed. Books don’t have to live neatly on a bookshelf! Sometimes simply having them within reach is enough to spark a little interest.
4️⃣ Keep reading to them!
Even when they can read independently! There’s something really special about sharing a story together, having a giggle, doing silly voices and just enjoying that time and yes, older children can still enjoy being read to! ❤️
5️⃣ Stop turning every book into a lesson!
This is a big one! You don’t need to ask questions after every page, correct every little mistake or check they’ve understood absolutely everything. Sometimes we need to take the pressure off and just let them enjoy the story!
Ultimately, we want children to associate books with enjoyment, not another thing they have to get right.
Please don’t underestimate the power of five or ten minutes here and there. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate bedtime routine or an hour sitting quietly with a book!
Reading for pleasure starts with pleasure! 📚❤️
I’d love to know, what’s the one book your child keeps going back to? One you’ve read it 473 times! 😂
