‘Tis the season to be giving!
The countdown to Christmas is in the single digits, but I know not everyone is done with their shopping yet.
Is reading on your list of gifts to give?
Here’s the good news: whether or not a wrapped book is under the tree for the kids in your life, reading is still something you can give your kids this year. (Yes, I’m pleased that the title has a double meaning – read to your kids as a gift, or gift them ways to read!)
Read on for 6 ways to give reading to your littles!
Here on the blog, I have emphasized over and over how crucial it is to surround kids with books, read to and with them, and help them learn to love reading. But I will say it again and again because I know it’s an easy thing to let slip if it isn’t a habit in your family – and reminders can always help.
After reading about some studies on reading habits in the U.S., talking about giving reading to your kids feels extra appropriate.
While I wasn’t necessarily surprised by these statistics, it underlines how essential our job is as grownups to help our kids learn to love reading. (If you’re interested, here are articles from the NEA and from Scholastic.)
Here are some ways to give reading to your kids this year:
1. Be(come) a reader yourself
The studies I referenced above, along with plenty of other data, show that when parents demonstrate reading habits to their kids, the kids tend to be readers too.
This can be done in many ways. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- listen to audiobooks in the car or while you do chores
- institute a reading time for yourself where you don’t do anything but read – bonus points if it’s in front of your kids
- read before bed – and then talk about what you’re reading
- read a book together that both you and your kids like (more on that below)
- get a newspaper or magazine subscription (those still exist!) and read them
- check books out for yourself at the library when you take your kids
Essentially, our kids should see that we aren’t asking them to do something we don’t do ourselves. Kids who don’t read grow up to be adults who don’t read.
But if we can instill in them a love for reading when they’re little, they’ll likely find their way back to it after they’re out of high school and college.
2. Read with Your Kids
Some of my favorite chapter books are still the ones that we read together as a family when I was growing up. They weren’t always series, though those are certainly a great option. They were quite simply quality literature that we read together.
Reading together is a powerful experience, whether it’s you and one child, or the whole family. Depending on their age(s), you can introduce your child to books that are too advanced for their independent reading level, or pick ones on their level where they can take turns reading too!
I love the conversation opportunities that come with reading aloud, the shared experiences it gives you, and the way you can help kids learn more vocabulary and background knowledge than they could learn on their own.
Reading aloud with a child is more than just accomplishing getting through a chapter each night.
It’s pausing to ask them what they predict will happen next.
It’s asking them what they think about a character’s decision or perspective.
It’s sharing what you think about what’s happening in the story or how you feel.
It’s getting into character and using the descriptions to guide how you modulate your voice to show emotion or suspense, create a “voice” for characters, and more.
If you’d like read aloud suggestions, I’ll give you my Ultimate Read-Aloud Guide for kids of all ages here!
3. Choose a reading challenge to do together.
One way to read with your kids would be to choose a challenge that you could do – either individually or together. Some kids thrive on a challenge. For them, this option could be great! Maybe you’ll need a reward for them, but maybe meeting a goal would be a reward in and of itself.
See last year’s reading challenge roundup for some example challenges with kids or make your own! I also encourage you to look for a reading challenge tracking page for your kids. It’ll give them something tangible to do to mark their progress. There are so many great coloring page options out there!
4. Get more books in your house!
Though this could sound expensive, it doesn’t have to be.
First, know that surrounding your kids with print of all kinds is such a great step toward helping your kids love to read (see tip #5 in this post).
I remember my English teacher in high school saying how she reads everything in sight – even food labels on the condiments at the table. I’m the same way. Cereal boxes count too!
Second, here are some ideas for getting books into the house, at varying price points:
- your local public library
- swap with friends
- look for “Little Free Libraries” in your area
- garage sales
- Buy books for cheap from Goodwill, a local used bookstore, or Thriftbooks. (Believe it or not, books from these sources are often cheaper from these locations than a certain online retail giant that starts with an A.)
- Find a local bookstore to support when you want to buy books new, or use Bookshop to still support independent bookstores.
P.S. – while ebooks are not going away, the studies I looked at (linked above) confirmed what teachers have anecdotally noticed for years: little brains do better with hardcopy books than with books on a screen. Do them a favor and stick to print books as much as possible!
5. Build Library Visits into Your Routine
Speaking of libraries, build in a regular visit to the library. This could be once a week, twice a month, or even once a month (depending on the length of time you can borrow a book, of course).
For me, going to the library as a kid was a little bit like Christmas year-round. I loved getting to discover new books to take home, and my favorite part was choosing one of the books to read on the way home.
It was always an internal debate: do I pick the book I’m most excited about to read first or save it for last?
It was a bit of a disappointment the first few times I went as a young adult and realized I had to wait until I got all the way home . . . the car wasn’t going to drive itself after all!
I know that if you have more than one child – or even just a toddler – planning a trip to your library may feel daunting. There are ways to keep track of your kids, promote independence in choosing books, and even get some books for yourself! I plan to talk about that more in a future post.
Hopefully your local library has a kid-friendly section with shelves they can access, fun seating, and a bit more tolerance for noise than the adult sections.
6. Create a tradition of giving books
Finally, I can’t neglect the obvious suggestion of giving actual books as presents under the tree.
To guide their gift-giving, my mom and dad used a variation of “something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read.” Sometimes grandparents helped out with a pricier item or two in that list for each kid rather than giving a separate gift.
But let me tell you: there was not much better than unwrapping a book. I couldn’t wait to curl up with it later that day when all the festivities were over!
You could also consider starting the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð (literally “Christmas book flood”) with your whole family and having a cozy evening of reading on Christmas Eve (or Day!) after giving each other books to read.
However, you wouldn’t have to give a book at Christmas. What about for a birthday? To celebrate a big accomplishment of some sort? Maybe a “happy summer” trip to the bookstore? Just some ideas…
Need some book lists to give you an idea of specific titles worth giving?
Take a look at:
- my Bookshop which has ideas for all ages and many different categories
- 50 read aloud suggestions
- 10 Children’s Authors and Illustrators that won’t disappoint
- 7 Inspiring Missionary Stories (great for reading together!)
- Wholesome Books for Preteens series
Merry almost-Christmas and happy gift-giving!
a Look at a Book 
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