Áine Ní Ghlinn: It's never too early to begin reading to children

The Children’s Literature Laureate says books help to develop creativity 

With Ireland’s national day to celebrate reading taking place today, and World Book Day next Thursday, Laureate na nÓg Áine Ní Ghlinn says it’s never too early to begin reading to children.

The Children’s Literature Laureate recalls reading books to her children while breastfeeding. “I frequently had picture board books beside them in the cot that they could open, move the pages, be exposed to colour. I was reading to them when they were tiny, telling them stories.”

Even when children can read independently, Ní Ghlinn recommends parents continue to read to them. It could be a good time to introduce a more challenging book that’s attractive to the child. “One of my sons was fascinated by Lord of the Rings but he was at an age where he couldn’t read it easily. So he was reading Harry Potter books independently, and every night I’d read him a chapter of Lord of the Rings.”

Ní Ghlinn says when children are very young we read for them, as they get older we read with them and, when they reach the point where they don’t want to be read to anymore, we can read alongside them. “I used to read the books they were reading so I knew what they were talking about. When they told me about their book I could relate to it, discuss it with them. When children see you read like that, they read more.”

From when they’re very young, Ní Ghlinn recommends finding a comfortable time and place to read, whether on the couch, bed, or snuggled up in a rug. “Share the book with the child. It’s not you reading in one place and facing them – have them beside you where they can see the book too.”

She cites some of the countless benefits of reading for children. “It opens up windows of imagination and creativity. It helps them understand the world and sometimes to resolve a problem because they identify with a character in a book who has the same problem. It develops vocabulary and memory. It’s more relaxing than a screen and, most importantly, it allows for absolute pleasure and escapism.”

When a child goes through a phase of not wanting to read, she advises never forcing it. At times like this, with her sons, she’d deliberately leave shorter reading material, for example, books of poetry, lying around. “I kept a shelf of children’s poetry in the bathroom, particularly funny poems. Sometimes I’d leave magazines lying around on whatever interested them and that’d get them back into reading.”