Reading by 9: Instill a love for reading early, consistently and creatively

As a children’s librarian, I couldn’t wait to read to my first child when she was born. I wanted to instill in her a lifelong love of reading, and I knew how important it was to start early to create positive associations with books and develop pre-reading skills like how to turn a page.

As a newborn, she slept all the time, but every day I made a point to read to her during the brief moments she was alert. She especially liked books with chants or songs, such as April Pulley Sayre’s “Go Go Grapes” or Raffi’s “Baby Beluga,” and she would bounce to the beat. Reading together was a comforting end to the day, and she would insist on no less than five books at bedtime.

Now, at 8 years old, she devours chapter books, often under the covers with a flashlight well past her bedtime. With my second child, I also started reading to her at birth. However, she was less interested and would often close the book or crawl away. I worried that maybe she just wasn’t born a reader. But I kept it consistent and read to her every day. I found success reading to her in the high chair while she was already a “captive audience” and couldn’t escape. Over time, she developed her own love of reading, and now she begs us to read to her every night.

When my daughters were 7 and 4, their baby brother was born. I definitely didn’t have much time for reading, and our schedule was busy with work, school, extracurricular activities, etc. He had little interest in reading, preferring to play with or chew on the books. I had to get creative and try different types of board books, eventually discovering that he loves books with flaps, like Amelia Hepworth’s “Little Hen, Little Hen, What Do You See?” or Ingela P. Arrhenius’ “Where’s the Digger?” Sometimes we only get through a page or two, but we try to get some reading in every day.

Having multiple children at different ages with different needs, I’ve learned to do some creative multitasking. Sometimes that looks like reading to a three year old while nursing a newborn or having your eldest child read to their sibling.

Start early, and be creative and consistent. Just a few minutes with books each day will blossom into a love of reading.

Jessica Ko
Children’s Librarian, Malabar Branch Library