Reading Plans

Then there's the rest of them. The kids who'd much rather do anything than read. Even when they're little they wriggle and squirm to get off your lap and see some other, far more interesting object or event than the story you're trying to share. This can be nothing short of frustrating. Many parents give up and encourage their kids in other directions. While this is an understandable response, and children do need other interests in life, there are ways of stimulating their interest in reading, if you plan to.

Introduce books as soon as they become aware of life going on around them. A great start is books with texture. Cloth books make an excellent toy for your baby. Not only can babies drool over them and scrunch the fabric pages into their little hands, but these books wash and dry in next to no time. I'm not sure these books are still available, but a cloth book is simple enough to make. Visit your nearest fabric store and find inspiration amongst the plethora of prints available. Words aren't vital at this stage. Go for big and bright prints with objects your baby easily identifies. You can pad the pages with a thin layer of wadding if you like, but it wouldn't matter if the pages were flat. Similar to these are the bath books made of plastic. They often have different sounds in-between the pages when squeezed by inquisitive little fingers and are great fun in the bath.

Help them turn the pages and point out the familiar objects naming them as you go. The fabric or plastic is easy for chubby fingers to grip onto. Even if they just carry it around with them as they begin to crawl and toddle, the book becomes a familiar object to them. Thick-paged cardboard books are next and plenty of these have interesting patches of texture for curious fingers to enjoy. The large pictures and simple one word descriptions catch their attention. The earlier you introduce these books the more acceptable the entire concept of reading books is to them.