World Book Day 2020: Many are the pleasures of reading, which is why avid readers find comfort and refuge in books. On World Book Day, let's look at the most common 'excuse' for not reading enough. Many people say, "I have no time to read". The universal truth is that reading is a lifelong habit and passion that starts early. [Read: How reading books impacts your child]
[Source: Engin Akyurt - Pexels]
When nurtured by one's loved family members and then it becomes a lifelong passion that transports you to another realm and makes you often realize that you are not alone and isolated in a fast moving world.
World Book Day: How to buy story books for kids in English
As a working mother, one of the first things I did was to introduce my child to the world of books right from the age of two years. Buying story books for kids in English became my most non-negotiable priority! The best children's book list was always ready with me too.
Now, one can pooh-pooh the idea of this as a two year old child cannot possibly 'read', right? My logic was to bank upon the fact that a child is curious about the world and playful to the extent of soaking up experiences by observing other children and what they do.
Based on this gut feeling as a mother, I used to take my son to the British Library's children section where children of different ages are reading all types of interesting books, particularly colourful picture books.
My curious toddler would see kids of different ages huddled together or reading aloud books. To my surprise, he began to pore over books that were left open and show pages to me. I would read out specific words and he would listen very keenly.
This became our daily Saturday routine. I knew that my toddler waited happily for these sessions with the 'Book World'. Gradually, he did not resist when I began reading out stories during leisure time and almost every night.
Ask any paediatrician if you doubt this.
Children, including two year old toddlers, have an imaginative, curious mind and they are keen to soak up new experiences like a sponge.
All it takes is the commitment to create a daily or weekly reading routine for your kid and voila, reading becomes their full time passion. Not just that, as a parent, you can do more to foster your child's love for reading.
When holding your child's birthday parties, you can ask parents to gift books instead of toys or fancy games or other things. Don't be embarrassed because my personal experience taught me that parents become very enthusiastic and pro-active when you do this, and it is not just for your child.
They begin to take books more seriously for their children because the typical parental emotional mapping is that 'If so and so's kid is reading this book, maybe I should get the same for my kid.'
You know that your 'Mission Reading' is successful when parents of your child's classmates start phoning you for recommendations of books that your child has already read.
On World Book Day 2020, let me share a secret with you.
A reading child 'infects' other children.
When one child is reading books all the time, his/her peers become curious and interested, even the same children who scoff and turn down their noses at books.
Simply put, one child's love for books 'infects' other kids in his class.
That's the power of books - so commit yourself and your home to happy reading sessions!
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