No world book day costumes here today (thank goodness 😜), but two of the small ones headed downstairs and the newest able reader sat and ‘taught’ her smallest brother to read.

And it got me thinking. We are so lucky to now have four out of six now who have fallen in love with books, despite various challenges along the way. How did that happen? We certainly haven’t sat down and taught them to read! I haven’t even (gasp) read with them every day when they started school. Many times we’ve read the school book once. In the car before school on the day it had to be handed in. (Oh the shame 😱). And yet here we are, with children who read whilst walking to school. Who read when they should be asleep. And smallest ones who pretend they can read because it’s the cool thing to do. So here are my thoughts on what might have helped.

📚 We read to them. From tiny babies, we’ve read to them. Every day. We’ve spent nearly 15 years reading the same board books, the ones that last. Dear Zoo. Happy Dog, Sad Dog. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Books become a comforting part of bedtime routine. When foster babies and children came, stories were a vital part of building an attachment, an important introduction to safe touch and a place of quiet and peace. For all of our children before they wanted to read to themselves, those moments before bed have always been an important part of our routine, they have time with us, they ask questions, they have cuddles, they connect. Or, in Micah and Theo’s case, they might run around in circles and throw things at my head. But it’s still fun. For them. 😆

📚We have books around the house. Small children will grab them and play with them, they’ll learn there’s a world of wonder in those pages. They’ll see them as normal and intriguing and fun.

📚We let them choose. From when they can form an opinion, they’ll have the ones that they want. Now I’ll be honest, this does get annoying, because I would much rather read a story than ‘100 vehicles’ or ‘Lift the flap shapes book’ for the 95th night in a row. And I do occasionally make strong suggestions towards other options. 😆 But they love repetition, they love the familiarity, and they learn so much through it when they’re interested. Megan read the same book for about 3 years when she was younger. I’d offer other things, and she’d dip in and out, but it was where she was happy and felt safe, in her imaginary world in the pages of Enid Blyton.

📚As they get older, we let them try different genres-they’ll read if they’re interested in it! Admittedly I was thrown by not one of my children having a remote interested in my favourite childhood stories, Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables were strongly rejected in favour of The Magic Faraway Tree, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and moving on to Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. Currently I have one reading about Henry’s Wives, one into Murder Mysteries, one still on Harry Potter, and one who much prefers nature books to any fairy stories. It’s surprising how interesting Mushrooms can be.

📚We ask other people for ideas. I was lucky to grow up in a family of avid readers, and my sisters have given loads of suggestions on books that might interest my kids when it’s not something I’ve had a natural interest in. I scour their Christmas lists for ideas and blatantly steal them. The children’s teachers will have loads of ideas, and I scout bookshops or websites for new releases.

📚We’ve tried to be patient. They learn to read at different ages and stages, it’s really not a competition, no matter how it feels in reception and year 1. My mum taught me to read when she home schooled us, and although I love it now, she said I wasn’t interested for a long time. When Megan started school I was clueless as to what ‘normal’ progression for new readers was, and I’m glad really, because I was pleased at her progress, but it was never a huge deal. It turned out, she actually grasped it really quickly, and was an early free reader. But that’s not been the same for the others, and that’s fine too. By the end of the first lockdown it was a battle to get Maddie to read anything, yet since Christmas she’s flown and is now reading anything. Time, no pressure, and letting her go at her pace seem to have been the answer.

📚We let them see us read. Maisie was greatly spurred on to read because she was desperate to find out what was so addictive about the Rainbow Magic books Megan was obsessed by. Micah is pretending to read because he sees the older kids and us do it. When I had four kids 5 and under including a foster child I definitely wasn’t putting reading at the top of my to do list, so it’s not always a priority-or even fun. But there are lots of books which aren’t heavy word filled books, and they still show the appeal of that paper and ink, of a world beyond the space we’re living in. ‘Coffee table’ books, filled with photos or art, short stories, poems, daily devotionals, travel books (or Winnie the Pooh, if we’re going for Notting Hill references…).

📚Choose attractive books. There are so many gorgeously illustrated books out there. I love reading, but I’m still always more likely to be drawn to a book with a good cover, making me question my judgementalism, yet true nonetheless. Books and their covers can be works of art in themselves, and going into a real life bookshop can become as appealing as a sweet shop. Well, obviously if we could visit both that would be the best of everything. Just ask Micah.

‘When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.’ (You’ve Got Mail).

Keep calm and read on friends.