How to help your kids beat screens and try a book instead

An Aussie mum-turned-bestselling author reveals her tips and tricks for helping your child become an avid reader.

I was flitting around my local book shop on Love Your Bookshop Day, when a little girl, breathy with excitement, asked, ‘Mum, can we take a photo?’ Here was a twenty-first century child who looked at a shop full of books with the same awe and delight that most children would reserve for a swimming pool full of red jelly. My heart melted.

Then a whole family of booklovers wandered in, the children saying things like, ‘I love that book!’ and, ‘Remember when we read that one?’ and, ‘I need the third book in that series.’ Need. Not want. The parents listened and nodded, then browsed and talked to their children about the books they thought interesting. By this time my heart was totally liquid, soggying the carpet.

News on the street (and in schools) is that children’s attention spans are getting shorter. Of course, it’s a multifaceted issue, but it doesn’t help that many are spending hours each day on electronic devices where they’re offered dazzling images both static and moving, crumb-sized snippets of text designed to entertain not inform, and the opportunity to connect with people all over the world at any single moment in time. No waiting. No anticipation. No speculation. Boom! It’s all there. All at once.

Dress for success … US First Lady Jill Biden pulls out all the stops to get kids’ attention as she reads to them during a Halloween 2023 celebration at the White House.

Yet here, in my local bookshop, were calm children, content to browse and chat and focus on books. Simple, old-fashioned, battery-free books.

So how does such a wondrous thing happen? How do we get our own kids excited by books and reading?

I used to be a primary school teacher, I’m a mother of two boys, and I speak to a lot of children, teachers, parents and librarians in my role as a children’s author. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way.

Make reading with your child a special part of every single day. Ideally this should start the day your baby arrives, but if you’ve missed that boat, don’t panic. Today is the perfect time to start your daily reading routine. Snuggle up together in a quiet, comfortable spot and read a book. Read favourites over and over again. Cuddle. Laugh. Have fun.

Choose books your child will enjoy, not the books you think they should be reading. Classics and your own favourites might not be as exciting to your child as they are to you.

Make it fun … Katrina Nannestad reads with kids on a Sydney school “book bus”.

Make reading an interactive experience. Talk about the story, during and after reading.

Younger children love taking new words and fun rhymes beyond story time, into everyday conversation and games. For older children, books can provide wonderful opportunities for talking about important issues, both personal and global.

Model reading. Make sure your child sees you setting time – and electronic devices – aside each day to read a book.

Establish books as treasure. Give books as gifts and rewards. For a treat, buy a book! (The book’s great value because it can be consumed over and over again!) Make trips to your local library and explore the fabulous range of books – fiction and non-fiction – together. Go to bookish events at your local library and bookstore. Talk to your child about favourite books and authors with the same enthusiasm normally reserved for the footy.

Make a home library where books are given a place of honour. This doesn’t need to be a mahogony bookcase filled with leather-bound beauties. A box or basket filled with this week’s library loans can offer your child an exciting choice of reading material. Book fairs and op shops are great places to find good quality second-hand books.

Give books a special place in your house … Silver Linings by Katrina Nannestad.

Keep on reading together, even once your child can read independently. Keep going as long as your child enjoys it, even into their teens.

My latest middle grade novel, Silver Linings, is about an Australian family in the 1950s undergoing great change. At one point in the story, a new baby comes along, and six-year-old Nettie is scared that there won’t be enough love left over for her. But no matter how often the baby needs feeding or soothing, there’s always room at Mum’s side for snuggling and reading a book. In that quiet world of the story and the embrace, Nettie feels safe and calm and loved.

Reading with our children takes time, but it is not an onerous task. It can be fabulous fun and the benefits are great. The love of literature you are establishing in your child is invaluable. So too is the boost you are giving to their self-esteem. You’re showing them that they matter, that you enjoy spending time with them. And in a busy, fast-moving world, a shared reading time provides a calm, quiet space where your child – and perhaps you, too – can learn to slow down and focus on just one thing at a time.

Silver Linings by Katrina Nannestad is out now, published by ABC Books.

Share your hot tips to help kids enjoy reading at the Sunday Book Club on Facebook. For adults, our Book of the Month is Tania Blanchard’s A Woman Of Courage, which you can get for 44 per cent off the RRP at Booktopia.

Originally published as How to help your kids beat screens and try a book instead