World Book Day: How We’ve Built a Love of Books at Home

Meet Antonio, father and member of our fantastic Parent Panel*; a diverse community of Bright Horizons parents sharing their experiences of raising happy, thriving and confident children.

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World Book Day is just around the corner, and it had me reflecting on our own reading journey with our two-year-old daughter.

In our house, we have introduced books very early – starting with high-contrast images – and we have always tried to make it a playful and joyful experience. Here are some tips we learned along the way:

1. Starting small and keeping it accessible

We’ve always had books around, beginning with simple, high-contrast images and moving on to stories with more words, our daughter grew. One of the best things we did was to spread books throughout the house in places where she could easily reach them. Seeing her start to flick through the pages herself was a huge milestone!

We keep a variety of topics on hand - everything from animals, transport, planets, to all-year-long Christmas books (after all, in the imaginary world, it can be Christmas every day).

2. Rituals and bedtime routines

Reading has always been part of bedtime routine, though I’ll admit we’ve had to set a "three-book cap" to ensure we actually get some sleep! Beyond the evening wind-down, we also like to tell our own made-up stories after the lights go out. What better way to drift off than flying over to the North Pole or visiting the moon?

3. Strengthening our roots through language

As a bilingual family, reading together is one of the ways we foster the minority language at home. It provides a natural way to introduce vocabulary that might not come up in everyday tasks. Books are also an easy gift to suggest to overseas relatives – fits well in a suitcase and are a beautiful souvenir of specific people whom the children may not see often. It is special to say, “this is the one that your friend from abroad likes..”.

4. Books are not just for reading

We have learned that stories need not stay on the pages. Listening to books is a great way to fill in car journeys. Recording a book story using the voices of loved ones is another great way to connect books and people.

We have also, following our daughter’s lead, started acting out books. We have even recently gone through the phase of having to close the living room door so “the wolf doesn’t come in”. We found that his kind of roleplay brings the narrative to life and often encourages her to go back to her favourite books.

5. Reading on their terms

Sometimes, we have found that our daughter will be reluctant to sit still, or she may not have the patience for a full book and only wants to repeat the same page over and over again! We might even find she just wants to flick through the book herself and "read" a story that has nothing to do with the pictures.

If you find yourself in the same boat, my best advice is to read on your child’s terms. It may be useful to reset expectations: the goal isn't necessarily to finish the story from cover to cover every time, but to make sure the experience is positive and joyful.

Building a love of books didn’t require us a massive library (though I’ll admit that the number of books has organically grown slightly out of hand over time!); it just required a bit of consistency and a lot of patience. By keeping books accessible, incorporating them into daily routines, and following your child’s lead, you can make reading a natural and joyful part of their childhood.