How to Re-Engage an Uninterested Reader

It is vital that toddlers and preschoolers have a happy relationship with reading. The more positive experiences children have with books before they are reading themselves, the more motivated they will be to do it on their own. If you have found your child has lost interest in books, or never seemed interested in the first place, try these seven reading development strategies to reinvigorate their love of books.  

1. Sing Books Instead of “Reading”

Sometimes children become bored or disinterested in books and I have found that singing the words in a books always brings their attention back. Not only is it fun and a way they can “read” the book too, but there are also literary benefits such as developing phonemic and phonological awareness. Many children’s songs have been turned into books, and many books have a rolling rhythm that can be sung. Songs can be a form of storytelling, and oral language and sounds is a precursor to written language.

2. Choose books with Movements

Young children often have a hard time sitting still to listen to a book. I good way to solve this problem is to choose books with movements. This allows them to move their bodies so they can focus their attention on the story and not use all their concentration on keeping their body still. Movement in books also gives the story context and gives the story life for the child. If the book uses repetition in movements, the children will learn where they can participate in the parts of the book that use the movements. During my Montessori training, my teacher Mary Ellen Maunz, the founder of Age of Montessori, read a book that perfectly executes movements and repetition. The book is called “Something From Nothing” by Phoebe Gilman. 

3. Choose books with Rhymes, Rhythms and Repetitions

Rhymes, rhythms, and repetitions are just plain fun and attention grabbing, and again, they develop phonemic and phonological awareness. Repetition gives the child an opportunity to develop forward thinking and anticipation for the parts of the book that use repeated phrases.

4. Read with Different Paces and Inflections

Children love it when you speed up or slow down your usual reading pace. Dr. Seuss books are great for doing this. Sometimes I will read the book as fast as I can, and on occasion I will stop to make a dramatic pause. During the dramatic pause I will take a ridiculous deep breath to indicate I’m about to say something hard, and then continue reading fast as I can. Kids love this! Other times I will read slowly putting emphasis on every word as if there is a period behind it. Another silly way to make reading fun is to read books with different inflections to show a child that tone can change the meaning of words. This is also a good emotional awareness tool. Is the tone happy, angry, silly, or sad?

5. Have a special place for books & Show how to respectfully use a book

Books should be an everyday part of life, but if our attitude about how we allow books to be treated is too casual, children may fail to recognize how special books are and how they should be respected. Therefore, have guidelines around how to use books. Start by showing children how to open and close a book. Next, show them how to turn the pages without ripping or wrinkling them. Choose a special place for your books to live and create excitement around going to that special place when you want to read a book. Make a point of walking the book back to its special home and remind your child books should not be left on the floor.  

6. Read books you can act out or morph into Imaginary Play

Have you ever wanted a book to come to life? I started asking my class: What book would you want to live in? And I loved getting their answers. Good books spark the imagination and you can create interest around a book by asking your child to act out a scene from the story or ask your child what character they would like to be. Often just asking a few questions can prompt your child into imaginary play all on their own.

7. Read books on a topic and then go on a Field Trip or do an Activity

Connect books to real life by going on a field trip or doing a related activity. For example, you could start by going to the library to find books on apples. After learning facts about different types of apples, the parts of an apple, apple orchards, Johnny AppleSeed, etc you could go on a field trip to an apple orchard. Apples are a topic that has many hands on activities associated with it. You could make an apple pie or applesauce at home. You could pick different varieties of apples from the orchard and do an apple tasting to rate the different textures, sweetness, tartness, color, and so on. There are so many interesting ways to bring excitement to a topic. This can be done as often as you want or once a quarter to follow the seasons.

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