Bonding With Books

Creating a Parent/Child Book Club

By Gwen Morrison

Following the advice of educators everywhere, more and more parents are encouraging their children to read as much as they can. Parents are now more aware than ever of the importance of forging good reading habits in their children at an early age. But how do you make it fun for the younger child? What can a parent do to ensure that their child is absorbing the story? The answer may be in the form of a parent/child book club.

Recently, parents have started to understand that reading and discussing books together not only builds their child's learning skills but also helps nurture the bond between parent and child.

There are many ways to incorporate a book club in your house, depending on the age of your child. For the little ones who aren't reading chapter books yet, you can introduce a reading time before bed where you sit with your child and read a short book together.

"With my 6-year-old, I had a hard time keeping his attention at first," says Laurie Davis from Ontario, Canada. "Then I discovered a few tricks. The first thing that grabbed my son's attention was when we created our own special book club. I let him pick a name for our special mother/son club, and I told him we would pick books at the library to read together."

Davis' son was just starting to read the early reader books so she always had him pick one of those so that he could build his skills. "At first, I read one page, and then he attempted the next page. When we were done I would ask him some questions about the story, and then he would ask me. It took a total of 15 minutes to half an hour every night and now, just three months later, he is reading so much better on his own."

By making it fun for younger kids, a parent is less likely to meet with disagreement when it comes to the special book club time. "We write down all the books we have read, and he is encouraged by how fast they are adding up," says Davis. "I enjoy the cuddle time, too. They grow up so fast that this is a great way to get closer to my youngest son. Before I know it, he will be reading Harry Potter books all on his own."

Want to see more?

• Book It! The Importance of Reading to Your Child
• Too Much TV? Setting Limits on Television Viewing
• Adventures of a Reluctant Reader: Learning at an Individual Pace
• Explore Nature Through Reading
• Talk about it!