Sep 28, 2026 · 33 min · 11 segments
What’s the best book to read to your child? The one they want you to read! In Episode 38 of Not Just Theories, I’m talking about making books enjoyable, accessible, and part of everyday family life…
I'm going to start with an idea that I first came across through the Informed SLP, which is a research-based speech pathology website, in their review about shared book reading.
Think about broccoli.
If you love broccoli, great, you happily eat it because it tastes good.
But if someone insisted that you eat broccoli every day and they make you sit at the table until you finish it and they keep reminding you how good it is for you, you might start to resent broccoli, even if you might otherwise have been perfectly happy to eat it.
We know that sharing books can support children's language and literacy development.
We know books can be a lovely way to connect and explore new worlds and enjoy stories together.
But if every book becomes a lesson or a test or an activity that child has to sit through because the adult has decided it's time to read, then we risk taking away some of the enjoyment.
If your child associates books with being corrected and quizzed or made to sit still when they don't want to, they may be less keen to come back to them.
It doesn't mean that we should never encourage reading or every book session needs to be completely child-led, but it means that we need to think about the experience we're creating around books.
Are books something we enjoy together or are they another thing my child has to do? This is particularly important when we're talking about children who are reluctant readers, children who find sitting still difficult for one reason or another, children who have communication delays or children who just aren't interested in the particular book we've chosen.
We need to think about how the shared reading is done, not just whether we're doing it because the evidence behind book readings means that we want to play the long game.
We know how useful it is.
I'm going to start with an idea that I first came across through the Informed SLP, which is a research-based speech pathology website, in their review about shared book reading.
Think about broccoli.
If you love broccoli, great, you happily eat it because it tastes good.
But if someone insisted that you eat broccoli every day and they make you sit at the table until you finish it and they keep reminding you how good it is for you, you might start to resent broccoli, even if you might otherwise have been perfectly happy to eat it.
We know that sharing books can support children's language and literacy development.
We know books can be a lovely way to connect and explore new worlds and enjoy stories together.
But if every book becomes a lesson or a test or an activity that child has to sit through because the adult has decided it's time to read, then we risk taking away some of the enjoyment.
If your child associates books with being corrected and quizzed or made to sit still when they don't want to, they may be less keen to come back to them.
It doesn't mean that we should never encourage reading or every book session needs to be completely child-led, but it means that we need to think about the experience we're creating around books.
Are books something we enjoy together or are they another thing my child has to do? This is particularly important when we're talking about children who are reluctant readers, children who find sitting still difficult for one reason or another, children who have communication delays or children who just aren't interested in the particular book we've chosen.
We need to think about how the shared reading is done, not just whether we're doing it because the evidence behind book readings means that we want to play the long game.
We know how useful it is.
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