Share your tips for encouraging kids to read at home to win £100 worth of books from the Reading Ladder

[UrsulaMumsnet]

Reading Ladder is a brand new reading series which provides quality stories for a wide range of readers. Featuring well-loved authors, classic characters and favourite topics we’ve got something for everyone! Perfect for parents and great for teachers too the series has been developed with leading literacy consultant Nikki Gamble!

Parents told us that they wanted a simple system for choosing the right book for their child and we think Reading Ladder is it! Our system of three levels is easy to understand and every book features clear, appealing level branding. Each title includes guidance for parents and carers and tips for shared reading and they are all branded for use as resources in school!

Read the catalogue

Share your tips for encouraging kids to read at home for a chance to win 20 books from the Reading Ladder series worth £100

This discussion is sponsored by Egmont and will end on 9 May

Our daughter is only 10 weeks old however as part of her routine we read to her every night just before bed. We also visit our local library on a Tuesday where the run fun children story sessions and we get out lots of books, which we will continue to encourage once she gets older

I think its important to start reading with your child early on so that it becomes a normal thing to do. If you make it part of your routine such as a bed time story then as they grow older and their reading ability improves they can contribute by reading small sections of books before eventually reading full books themselves.

Books for early on in a childs reading journey should be bright, short, try to pick ones which are catchy and have a rhythm and if possible choose books that have characters they can give voices to and make part of make believe like the gruffalo.

A lot of libraries run a book trust scheme where you can get a free board book for babies and then another set of books when your child is a toddler, a great way to start a book collection

I love reading & wanted my LO to enjoy books as much as I do. I read somewhere about reading to your baby while they are in the womb & I remember plumping on pillows on the sofa & feeling very daft reading aloud to myself! I found books REALLY helpful when my LO was tiny as I had no clue what to say sometimes! Reciting the rhyming books was lovely on car journeys & would distract my son when he was distressed - things like 'What the Ladybird Heard' & 'The Gruffalo' of course! It's worked a treat as my son loves books now & we really enjoy going to the library together to choose his bedtime stories. I also love scouring car boots & jumble sales for books & we have found some great, quirky tales that way. I feel reading together has really helped with his speech & identifying letters. It's limiting the bedtime stories that is the problem now!! :)

I have always read to my children at every opportunity, I use various voices and tone of voice, lots of facial expressions too.My children all grew up with a great love of books which we now all are hopefully passing on to my two lovely little granddaughters

Make books easily available, for example a box of them out with the children's other toys

I have been reading stories to my little girl since she was 6months old, now she is 3, I regularly take her to library..she has got 2 certificates already for regularly visiting library .... I think reading bed time stories help definitely!

The most important thing is to find things they WANT to read. Whether that be non-fiction, instructions for their games, (Or anything with a purpose!) or an old favourite that may seem too "Babyish."

Start young and read to your baby from an early age.
Let your child see you reading and read to your child often.
Make books accessible in the home - plenty of them, and lots of variety.
Visit the library regularly and let your child choose their own books.
Encourage your child to understand that they might not like every book, and that that is okay. By knowing what they like and dislike about a book, it will help them to make better choices of books in the future, and therefore they'll choose books they enjoy more.

My son is on the autistic spectrum and whilst he was always happy to be read to, it always had to be pre-school books, and he'd never read on his own. However now at the grand old age of 13, he has watched the Goosebumps movie and suddenly we've jumped from Peppa Pig at bedtime to the whole library of Goosebumps stories, and he'll carry on reading after I stop. Sometimes you just need to find the right subject matter

Make it fun and entertaining! We love putting on voices when reading and getting into character. It does help as well if your child enjoys reading

Read regularly every bed time. Get books from the Library, let them choose. Once they start reading, let them read signs on the road. Encourage & praise each new word. Don't get cross if it seems slow progress. It will come. Enjoy. The pleasures of reading are there to be discovered.

We've made a little reading corner in the kids bedroom; it's covered in all their big cushions/cuddly toys and is just cozy enough to fit 3 of us - they love sitting there! All our books are on a bottom shelf so the kids can help themselves and seperate by age so they can easily find their favourites.

My son is a great reader but absolutely hates it as the books for his age group (6 years old) seem to have no stories so we've done a deal. We read school books 3 nights a week but the other 2 nights during the week he can read anything so we buy comics, look at encyclopaedias (anything dinosaur or disgusting!) and we've even read tips and tricks on children's XBOX games where in order to progress he has to read and follow instructions. By doing this, he's come on leaps and bounds and doesn't resent reading the less exciting school books!

Read to them as often as you can for as long as they want you to. I still read every night to my 9 and 12 year olds, and have no intention of stopping any time soon! Read interesting newspaper articles to them and share funny/cute/ interesting pictures and captions which you see in the papers.

Surround them with books! Buy books for presents and treats instead of trips to cinema and sweets. Buy magazines and comics, and annuals at Christmas time.

Let them read what they enjoy, even if it's far too 'easy' for them. My 12 year old still loves Tom Gates. Of course there's no challenge in there for him but he loves the stories, they make him hoot! When he met Liz Pichon at a book signing he was incredibly excited...his signed copy is a treasured possession!

We've always read with our kids loads from when they were tiny babies and they are all proficient and avid readers now at the ages of 5, 8 and 10.

I've never had trouble encouraging mine to read, but with reluctant readers, I would definitely say try different kinds of reading matter to find something they like. It may not have occurred to you they may prefer non-fiction (my 5 year old is obsessed with a DK book about the human body at the moment). They might like reading comic books or magazines rather than books. There are early reader books linked to Marvel and DC superheros, and other popular culture which can give them confidence . You may think they are rubbish but if it helps them to enjoy reading it's worth it. That's fine. If they're reading they're reading.

With books that they are struggling with, take turns, read a couple of pages yourself then get them to read a page, that way it doesn't feel like a chore for them, and they can get through the story quicker but still practice their reading.

Top trumps cards are also great for getting them to read without realising it. Also other games with cards to read like junior quiz games etc.

We borrow lots of books from the library then buy our own copies of DD's favourites. She has her own mini bookshelf unit in the lounge and goes to it several times a day to pick off books to look at by herself or for me to read to her while she sits on my lap.

Read a bedtime story (of their choosing) to them every night (even if it means reading the same story over and over)! When they become more confident, get them to read to you. Try and buy/borrow as many books for them as you can. Comics are just as useful a reading tool as books, don't worry if they prefer to read those.

Have books around the house that they can reach. My son often brings me a book to read to him- it's nice to see which ones he picks!

Visit the library as a family and let the children see that reading is an enjoyable part of your daily activities too.

we have quiet time and they love the voices the characters have, the oldest enjoys reading parts too and helping.

I have read to my daughter since she was very tiny and she now brings me books to read to her every morning. She also loves just sitting on her own looking through the books. I am just starting to teach her to read a bit at 3.

DS has been signed up for his library card since he was 6 weeks, and we've been going to the story and rhyme time as well, which he enjoys.

Even from being a tiny baby there have always been books out with his toys, and he loves to pull out a book when we have visitors, as he knows that he will get their undivided attention.

He has a large collection of his own books, including board copies of all of his favourite ones so he can manhandle them to his heart's content. I'm a bookworm, have been from childhood, and I wanted to foster a love of books in him as well.

I find getting books that will interest my son really helps. He love superheroes, angry birds etc. Enjoys these much more, and is enjoying it.

I did a treasure hunt for ds for Easter just as he'd learnt to read, and he then begged for more ( getting harder each time) - chocolate is a great motivator!

Buying magazines and being too busy to read to him right now- you try first then I'll read it after I do X. Encouraging reading anything, even crap comics of fart jokes.

With school books, sharing it if he was tired - OK, I'll read it and you just do the speech bubbles. Usually he'd do more.

I love books so encouraging my daughter to read and love them herself is just naturally worked into everyday. We read several pictures books a night. We use lots of voices and try to get her invested in the characters by asking her questions about the story and how she would feel, what she would do, etc. we return to old favorites, but also try to encourage new books as well. We always have books laying around the house and she see both DH and I enjoying reading regularly. We also have books on CD's which we listen to in the car. Right now we do Julia Donaldson books and then we read them at home and watch them on the TV as well. When she is a bit older we will do the same thing, but with Roald Dahl books. We also have the Harry Potter series as well. I think having the books as multimedia experience does help because it can help to keep them interested. Sometimes sitting still and reading is hard work for kids, so listening to a story on CD while playing is another great way to keep them interested in reading.