Three Parenting Tricks to Help Raise Young Readers

Childhood Reading Memories

A young reader in a bathtub past bedtime hides a book and dives back into bed when hearing parents return from dinner. This midnight reading habit starts because a mother reads a bedtime story from Kamala Subramaniam's The Mahabharata and stops at a cliffhanger. The scene involves the grandfather Bheeshma on a bed of arrows at Kurukshetra, needing a headrest before calling for Arjuna. A generation later, three specific tricks get passed down to new daughters.

Three Parenting Tricks

Trick one is reading aloud every day from a book children can pick up themselves. Trick two is stopping at a cliffhanger by saying there is no more time for today. Trick three is leaving books on low shelves where children can easily reach them. A recent visit to a children's book illustration exhibition curated by publisher Richa Jha and the Kahani Tree bookstore brings home multiple copies of favorite titles.

Five Recommended Books

Tom Percival's The River shows a boy and his puppy by a river that changes from playful to wild. Beatrice Alemagna's translated story A Lion in Paris follows a lonely lion in a strange city. Tharini Viswanath's Catch That Cat features a girl who uses a wheelchair to find a missing cat. Cathy Spagnoli's bilingual Hindi and English book Priya's Day shows a girl helping in the kitchen, going to the market, and flying kites. Tansy Troy's The Great Nicobar Journey sends island animals toward Delhi across the Indian Ocean and the Chambal to save their forests from destruction for readers aged ten and up.

Context

Children's Day in India is celebrated annually on November 14 to honor children and promote awareness of their rights, education, and welfare. Events and reading initiatives often highlight the importance of early literacy and storytelling for young minds. Parents frequently share personal reading traditions to encourage a lifelong habit of reading among the younger generation.