• One of the best things you can do is make your child’s immediate environment reader-friendly. PBS Parents suggests you make a special bookshelf just for your child when he is kindergarten age or a little younger. “A sturdy bookshelf located in an area accessible to your child is ideal. This way, he can reach books and use them without asking your permission. Having a special place for his books will demonstrate to your child that books are valuable,” PBS Parents says.

• Help your child, but don’t force your child. If your child is young, you can help him out by finding him books by an author he’s read before and enjoyed, or by suggesting a book that you think he or she might like. But you should never force your child to read a book because you think “it will be good for him.” That’s a good way to take the joy out of reading, and that is something you never want to do to your child.

• Buy or borrow books for your child based on his or her interests. Your child may hate reading for school, but he may be interested in trucks or comics. Get some books on those subjects, and you may be surprised at his motivation to read.

• For the young child, says PBS Parents, it helps to go places which encourage and inspire reading. “Visit your local library, bookmobile, or bookstore to find new read-aloud ideas for your child. Many libraries feature free song and story hours that young children and kindergartners may enjoy,” the site says.

• For older kids and teens, there are special lists you can find of “books for reluctant readers.” The American Library Association has 10 years’ worth of these lists on its web site: www.ala.org. These are books designed to appeal to kids who don’t normally read much. Good Girls by Laura Ruby and Paranoid Park by Blake Nelson are just a few of the books in this category.

• On the ALA’s page you will also find the criteria they used to pick their books out. You can also use this same criteria to find books that might appeal to your child.

• Apply your child’s real life to literary life. If your child recently went through a certain event—let’s say moving, for example—then it’s a good idea to find a book where the main character has gone through the same thing. This will help your child deal with the problems in their own life while exercising their reading skills.

• Make sure there isn’t a hidden problem keeping your child from reading well, like poor eyesight or dyslexia. Children may become embarrassed by these problems, and just say they don't like reading to cover these problems up.

• Never criticize your child’s choice of book. Comic books or soap opera like stories may not be your idea of “quality literature,” but you should never impose your taste on your child. If he or she is reading and enjoying what he is reading, then it’s a good thing.

• Find out how much your child is reading for school. If your child has a heavy reading workload for school, let him take a break from other kinds of reading for a bit. The key is to associate reading with pleasure. Your child won’t do that if you are suggesting books for him to read while he has ten books that need to be read just for school.

Until next time!