Let your kids have some input into what they read and what you read to them (if they are too young to read themselves). They are more likely to read and enjoy books they chose themselves. Experts might say to let your child have total control over what they read but personally I’d rather exert some control, or at least influence for as long as I can.

I can specifically remember being in the 7th grade and we used to get those Scholastic book catalogs at school and I would order books from them all the time. We lived in a small town with no bookstore so I didn’t have many opportunities to buy books. One of the books in that specific catalog was ‘Jane Eyre’ – I had never heard of it, wasn’t sure how to pronounce it, etc. My mom kept suggesting to get it. I didn’t think it looked like anything I would want. I ordered it anyway. Oh my gosh! That book set my entire reading future in a totally different direction! I already was bored with most of the books marketed to kids my age. It seemed they were all either about kids who parents were divorcing or a teenager who was pregnant. I couldn’t relate to any of it. After Jane Eyre I discovered Dickens and it went from there. I don’t know where I’d be if I hadn’t ordered that book! Sometimes parents do know what’s best!

See other ideas to help your child become a good reader in my article titled: Help your child become a good reader – and enjoy reading!