Share your top tips for reading with toddlers and win £300 worth of books NOW CLOSED

It's all about frequency in my opinion. Make reading part of every day. Make a little nest and settle down. Don't fret that your small has skipped past 6 pages, make up the story. Have fun. Go with the flow. Put your phone down and be enthusiastic.

Look at the pictures together and explore the story or illustration as an activity in itself independent of the written text!

My small also loves to get into bed when I am reading to his big brother too and I believe that gives them a different experience again, to hear a story with much more text and he seems mesmerised by the rhythm and tone of the words being spoken.

We adore reading in this house and I believe it really helps little minds grow xx

Sturdy books that can survive grabbing are a must! That and starting early and finding books which engage your child's attention. I found early on repetitive ones were best, now DD is a little older she can follow a story so likes to hear favourites again and again

Good clear pictures, something you can look at, read the words and the child can interact and relate the pictures and words together.

Best tip I can give...enjoy reading for your own pleasure, and let your kids see it. Our children want to be just like us, so set a good example.

My top tips are to use animated voices to keep their attention and also point to the relevant pictures as you read to help them to follow and understand the story!

Acting out the story whilst reading, using hand actions and voice has to change according to the situation or the poor child will be bored stiff, and most of all 'Enjoy' the young ones know when its a chore or your enjoying it. x

Let your toddler pick the book - even if you've read it 1,000 times before! Make it fun with silly voices and encourage them to join in too!

Having favourite books that are read frequently, so that toddlers can recall the story and before long will be able to tell the story themselves.

Keep the stories exciting so your child wants to hear more, nobody wants to sit through a story in monotone.

Stick to short stories to prevent lack of concentration and distraction.

Start young, the younger the better.

Make your little one a member of your local library so they can choose some books to read with you, it will be much more fun having a constant variety of bedtime stories.

Make time each day to read with your little one. :)

Keep it fun and have plenty of books around (book swap with friends and family). Remember that good old resource - a library, I always used to make it a treat at the end of 'boring shopping' to visit the library. Always do a night time story - a lovely chance to have a cuddle with your toddler and remember to include their favourite cuddly bedtime too - 'rabbit' always had his favourite book and was often given the chance which story it would be!

DD loves flap books - when she was small she used to rip them by accident but I just used to stick them back in. We've separated DD's books so she has the exciting and noisy ones downstairs for reading and playing with during the day, and upstairs she has the calmer bed time ones.
DD has enjoyed having both the board book and paperback version of her favourites.

Animate it so they're also watching you some of the time and not looking at a book.
Do a bit at a time so they don't get bored - be patient!

I read book with my children from a young age. Have lots of books around. A variety is good, picture, flap, feely books. Visit the library and let them choose books. Get books that interest them such as Peppa pig, postman pat etc.

lots of variety and silly voices

use lots of funny voices and choose books with lots of colourful pictures

Definitely start young but also don't underestimate what you think your child is capable of understanding/enjoying.

Rather than doing short books we enjoy doing a chapter a night. It gives us something to talk about as well and we sometimes do associated crafty things that happen to tie in with our current story

My kids love books. We enjoy going to the library every week but definitely the best way of engaging them is by doing the voices of the characters and also let them tell the parts of the story they know. Reading a book more than once is important too.

Read to them regularly from the start, have books available for them to touch and look at, and let them see you reading books for pleasure.

We have books everywhere in the house and the children watch me pick up a book whenever I have a spare couple of minutes(!). We have reading as part of the bedtime routine.

Make it a fun part of the routine, and always make sure that your children have access to books.

Reading books with colourful pictures :)

Reading the same book over and over until they can recite it.
Going to library regularly.
Finding books that are brightly coloured and have flaps that can lift.
DS2 was recently given a Thomas book about spotting things on the page and loves it.
Reading every bed time.
Funny voices.
I would say it's good to read in front of children but I haven't had the chance yet!

I try to make the book a many-dimensional thing with the voices and the images etc, but also I try to help them remember key parts of the text, so that when we reach that point (after several times of telling the story!) they can tell the story to me instead - usually just a phrase or two, which they're connecting with the text and the images. Even small children can read short words if they learn them visually (the key to all my reading work with kids).

I ve taken my children to the library from a very young age and make sure there are books accessible to them at home.
I've bought them books with puppets through the middle, glittery and textured books and pop up books. The more interactive they are, the more they seem to enjoy them at a young age.
They always have a book before bed and love it when their dad reads to them.

Basically just patience and getting on with it. Our daughter has loads of books and we get tired of reading and re-reading the same ones. But I know she is picking things up. She sees me reading the paper and I also read it to her. So just trying to get in the importance and fun of reading early.