As magical and exhilarating as reading is, like any other thing, if you force your child into it, they may grow to hate or be averse to it. It cannot be stressed how important it is to not pressurize your child into such an enjoyable hobby. Don’t make them think reading is a chore! Reading is anything but that!

One of the most important points to remember when making your child does or like anything - not just reading - is to ensure they see you enjoy and do it too. So, go ahead and grab a book, and make sure they see you spend hours absorbed into its pages. Even talk to them about it, discuss your favorite parts with them. Make them realize how fun and exciting reading is for you. This will encourage them to follow in your footsteps and pick up a book themselves!

Spend some time even reading out to them. An hour or so before bedtime tuck into some warm blankets and read out a fascinating story to them, with all the excitement and passion you can muster. Make this an exciting bonding time for them that they wait all day long for. Transport them to a world of dragons and spaceships, queens and castles. Even if they don’t yet have the patience or temperament to sit down and read on their own, you reading out to them, and pointing out illustrations (if any) would make a huge impact on their love for books and stories.

Replace your music with audio-books. Instead of having kids listen to your favorite bands or their favorite nursery rhymes - things that barely contribute to their intellectual stimulation or growth - play an audio-book during a car ride. An audio-book would be especially able to capture the emotions and tones of storytelling that would enrapture a child much as a book would. These are stages or steps that might gradually lure your child into a wonderful lifelong hobby of reading.

After they have finished listening to you read/heard an audio-book, make sure you follow up, ask them questions, and discuss their favorite parts. Make reading interactive and fun, point out the nice parts you enjoyed, the morals, and underlying messages. Discuss the author’s life and the influence it had on his writing. Pay attention to their favorite books by delving deeper into them.

Be creative! Turn parts of your house into libraries, and cozy corners for reading. Make an ambiance, set a time for reading. Decorate/theme parties or your child’s room after their favorite characters or books. Take them on trips to locations where a story had been set - for example, take them to a safari after reading the jungle book, take them to see some rabbits after reading a Briar Rabbit book. You can even watch the movie of the book after you and your child have read it. Finish reading it together gradually first, chapter by chapter, until finally when you’re done, you can organize a family movie night.

Reading is such a beautiful habit that one can never really tire of. Make them see the beauty of being able to direct a film in your head; of being able to transport yourself to different lands, and go on exciting adventures all while sitting on your bed cozily snuggled up with a book.