DD won't read - what am I doing wrong?

[DefinitelyOdd]

My DD turned two in February. She is currently behind in her speech milestones and we are on the waiting list for a referral to SALT. Until then I keep getting the same advice of talk to her more, narrate your games and read to/with her.

I do the first two but its the third that I struggle with because everytime I open a book and begin to read she either closes the book or pulls it out of my hands and throws it on the floor. She won't look at the pictures or engage in anyway with them. I have tried different types of books from pop ups and those touchy-feely ones to pictures books with little rhyming couplets. I've tried books with puppets, books with matching toys in bags from the library. She also doesn't engage with nursery rhymes apart from Happy and I Know it.

She is a very busy girl and likes building things, being outside or just pottering about. I read to her at bedtimes, naptimes and every other opportunity I can. What am I missing?

Does she see it as a pre-sleep activity? So she thinks when you start to read she needs to go to sleep? That might be why she reacts.
Bed and nap time is plenty at the moment. She's very little.

My middle DD was like this- absolutely had no time for books. she couldn't manage sitting though anything like Julia Donaldson until she was 3+ (where her sister could recite several JD books before she was 2!). We had to read board books to her with only a few words in until she was well over 2. We used bathtime and car journeys to play or sing nursery rhymes to her or read a (short!) book with her (captive audience!)
At that age, we used to do little scavenger hunts in the garden/park/walks with a sheet of a few pictures and words of things to find (bird, tree, bike etc). Her nursery suggested it to us as something she enjoyed, but it was probably just acting as a prompt for me to narrate and it sounds like you have the David Attenborough act down already .

I love that reference to David Attenborough. Definately a good way to promote the idea of narration to parents when helping language development!

Oh the scavenger hunt sounds amazing! I was toying with an Easter egg hunt anyway but am going to see if she will do this as a regular activity!

For those asking about her seeing it as a pre sleep activity she might do. Although I thought there were enough differences between the situations maybe she doesn't.

Speaking as a librarian & also somebody who had a child with speech delay (autism in our case, but not saying yours is that at all) - you are doing nothing wrong. Some children & indeed adults love books, others don't. It's not really something you can teach.

However, you can encourage in a few ways

• Have books all round the house
• When she wakes up, give her a pile of books to look at before she gets up
• Give her a book to look at while changing her nappy, if she wears one
• Visit your library on a weekly basis. They should reopen from April 12th, in England anyway (not sure about other countries).
• Attend rhyme, craft or play sessions at your library once they start up again
• Let your child see you reading & enjoying books

See we used to go to the library every week for bounce and rhyme when I was on mat leave. Then I made the library part of our Friday routine (I work shifts full time but have this as a set day off) and she loved playing with the books/this bedraggled panda toy that looked a bit sorry for itself.

Then lockdown happened and we tried to go again when they were briefly open but I didn't feel ok with her mauling things like she used to. I'm very keen to head back to bounce and rhyme as soon as we can.

Thank you for your tips. There are books everywhere in the house and she is always picking up my books and bringing them to me. Its when I pick up her books that the grumpiness happens. Maybe she just fancies something a bit more challenging like a 14 book classic fantasy series?

At that age I wouldn't worry about reading to her, I would just share a book. Follow her lead - whatever takes her interest, you talk about it using short, simple, repetitive language. She might look for the same thing every time, and you might get sick of talking about the same thing over and over again, but children learn language by lots and lots and lots of repetition. Work up to reading simple stories but don't worry if she's not interested yet - just talk about what interests her and remember to pause to give her a chance to respond (verbally or non-verbally).

I think it's good that she is bringing your books to you. Maybe you can make a thing of that in some way.

Also, another thing we do - have books in the car, which can then be looked at on journeys or when out & about.

I definitely think lots of children have missed Rhyme Time & libraries in general, being able to just be around books & pick up whatever they want. We currently offer click & collect, but it's not the same for children, they like to choose for themselves!

I've just had another thought- you could play being at the library. So set out a selection of books, ask for her library card etc.

What about those annoying books with the sounds down the side? Sorry if it's already been mentioned