by Maria C Collins

Created on: May 27, 2009   Last Updated: August 24, 2009

I am an avid reader and always have been. Over the years, my family have tasked me to try to pass my love of, and interest in, reading onto the next generation. It has not always been an easy job as there have been a few reluctant readers amongst them. Here are a few strategies that I have found useful in encouraging children to enjoy reading.

Make it interesting and make it fun and exciting; children will not read if they find books boring. You have to experiment with different types of book until you find the one that inspires that particular child.

One little boy found learning to read difficult but he was mad about cars and vehicles of all kinds. I managed to find a series of books about a bus which had different tops which turned the bus into different vehicles for different jobs. This series excited and inspired him so much so that he proudly took the books to school to show his teacher how well he could read them. She was so impressed that she recommended these books to the parents of other boys in the class.

Sometimes a child initially learns to read very quickly but, as it grows a little older, other pastimes, hobbies and activities seem more interesting and exciting, and reading takes a back seat. This problem is a little more difficult to solve. You have to find a type of book that the child has never read before. In this case I found a series of books which were mysteries where the child controls the story and its outcome. This inspired that particular child who devoured the whole series with great alacrity.

Do not be too sniffy about what they read, sometimes a child finds comics easier and less intimidating to read than 'proper' books. Do not panic, there are a number of proper books written in the comic book format and the child will eventually read conventional books.

If prose really has turned the child off reading, poetry may prove helpful. Children are pre-programmed to be receptive to sounds and they enjoy poetry, especially poetry which rhymes and has a strong rhythm. It does not matter whether it is T.S. Elliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats or nonsense poetry or something by Roald Dahl. Some children respond well to funny or comic poetry and find it less frightening than prose and while they are laughing and enjoying it they are reading.

Humour may well be a way to reach some children. One little boy had a great sense of humour, but found reading slow-going and difficult received the gift of a children's joke book followed

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