We all know how important reading is for children and that reading to even the tiniest toddler will help them in so many ways, but it can be frustrating if  you find that your child loses interest after a little while or simply won't settle when you are ready to read a book.

The first thing to remember, is that this is not unusual.  Every child is different and while some love the idea of a book, the pictures, the page turning the flaps etc, others are not interested.   They don't want to lift flaps or look at the pictures.  They consider reading a book as something passive, they sit back and listen and perhaps fall asleep rather than get involved.  Or, they will just lose interest and walk away.  The answer is not to force them to sit, be still and listen.  It is our job to inspire them.

• Find something they are interested in.  Have a chat with your child and find out what they like.  They may not like train books, but love books about animals.  Then, focus on their interest and keep feeding them more of the same.

• Find books that reflect what they have done or recall a recent event.  If they have just been a bridesmaid or been to a castle, find books that relate to this experience.  Start by not even opening the book, but look at the front cover and talk about it.  Then, talk about their own experience.

• Don't assume that children only want stories(ie. fiction). Some are not interested in wizards or fairies but will be more excited by facts.  A book about the body, nature, how cars are made etc may inspire them.

• Don't be too demanding. Don't expect to read pages of words and finish the book each time.  You may not even complete each book you start.  Read a few pages then if you feel it's time to stop, then do!

• You don't even need to read a single word!  Just look at the pictures, talk about the colours and the illustrations.  Compare the pictures to real life or imagine how you would draw the pictures.

• Read at different times. While routine can be great for some children and a book before bed can be an ideal time to set aside.  Don't think that's the only time you can read with your child.  Read before breakfast, or after lunch or take a book out and about to the coffee shop, in a car journey or to the doctor's and read together.

• Make it fun! In winter snuggle under a blanket and have a warm drink together.  In summer take a book to the park and sit on a rug under a tree.

• Don't forget the voices... children adore the funny voices that parents and carers put on when reading a book.  Try to make the book as animated and as compelling as possible.

• Ask your child to choose the book. Try not to dictate which book you read, give them the choice and don't feel aggrieved if they choose the same one they had yesterday.  Children love repetition and familiarity so just read it again or focus on something different this time when you read the book.

• Book activities: A book is more than words: one day how about focusing on the pictures only: count how many sheep in the field or clouds in the sky. Ask your child to find the carrot in the picture or ask what colour the door is.  Make the pictures come alive by asking interesting questions that they can answer and feel involved and inspired by what they find in the book.

Happy reading!

Research has shown that habits made in early years will stay with a child for life; learning is part of that so when the children are young it is a great time to set up some habits that will be good for their learning later in life.  All children benefit from reading books.  If you get into the habit of reading every day at a certain time of day it becomes part of your schedule and is easy to remember.  With a huge selection of books on offer, which are best to choose for your child at different stages of their early years?

Books for Babies and Toddlers Under 2

Children are never too young to enjoy books.  They may not speak, or follow a narrative, or be able to turn a page, but sitting with someone, having a cuddle, reading a colourful book becomes a lovely, comfortable, happy experience and that is what they recall.  They enjoy the attention and the sound of a parent or carer's voice.  They like the feel of the books, the sound of the pages and the colourful pictures. They like the rhymes and the funny voices.

Once they can hold things in their hands, touchy-feely books are great for little ones.  Cloth books are soft (washable!) and gentle to touch.  Activity books have strings, buttons, and fabric to touch.  Flap books have pages that fold out and pictures behind secret little doors.  Board books are great to hold and have even been know to be good for chewing too! There is so much fun to be had!

Books for 2-3 Year Olds

Toddlers love the colours and pictures in books.  They enjoy rhyme and the repetition of some story lines.  They will join in and anticipate what will happen next.  Books that explain or deal with every day occurrences are good for this age (going to nursery, going to ballet lessons, having a new baby etc).  They may even create their own stories.

They will often look at the same book day after day.  The know what happens next and love the idea of anticipating the next page.   Pop-up or flap books are great for this age as they can do it themselves.  And, sturdy board books are advised as they may get handled frequently and roughly!

Pre-School Books for Children Age 4-5

At this age, children love to learn about the world and books that explain this are always popular with pre-schoolers: bugs and animals, schools and hospitals, the Egyptians etc. so they needn't just have fictional stories, non-fiction is of interest too.  Try all sorts of books and discuss each one.  What are the pictures like? What is the text like? Can they find certain letters in the text or count certain elements of the pictures? Try and bring the books alive and be led by your child.  If they ask about dinosaurs, get hold of a book about them and show them.  Visit your local library for access to books on hundreds of interesting topics.

Enjoy the time you have reading with your child and make it as fun as you can.

Toddlers can't read, so why do we bother with reading them books?  The answer is simple: one day they will have to learn to read and if they like books, associate them with fun and good experiences, they will be more inclined to want to learn about letters and sounds and eventually reading.

Being able to read a book is a huge and marvelous gift.  It opens the world up for little children and allows them to enjoy the fantastic stories that are available and help them learn at school.  So, by reading to the toddlers and even babies, you're helping them for when they need to learn to read at school and indeed helping on their journey through school.  Plus, even more important at this stage, introducing them to a wonderful world of stories and adventures!

So, what to do to make books fun!  Here are a few tips:

1. Read as often as possible!  You can read a book in bed, while on a journey, in the morning.  Have some cuddly time together when you read and make it cosy and comforting for you both!
2. Try and bring the stories to life by using lots of expressions and funny voices!  It will make your child laugh and will help you get through all the kiddie books without getting bored yourself!
3. Talk about the stories together and try and guess what is going to happen.
4. Let your little on choose the books.  Read the favourites as many times as they want!  Children love things that are familiar so they love hearing books over and over again!
5. Try and encourage the children to say the rhyming bits with you or the catch phrase.
6. Try and get as many book as you can!  Go to the library, book sales, car boot sales and get a wide selection.
7. Allow children to handle books all the time.  Yes, teach them to be careful, but get board books if they are heavy handed and let the look at the pictures, feel the pages and turn the pages.  You don't need to have a shelf of pristine books that no one is allowed to touch.  Better a shelf of books that have been used, and read, and enjoyed for many years!

There are lots of activities you can do with your child to introduce them to reading, that don't necessarily involve learning to read in the traditional sense.  Here are some tips to make learning to read an easy, fun and inspiring time for both you and your children!

1. Look at the pictures: Look at the cover, the pictures throughout the book.  Discuss the style, colour scheme, characters depicted.
2. Look carefully at the title of the book.  Explain to your child what the title is.
3. Look at the characters throughout the book.  What are they doing?  What do they look like?  Do they remind you of anyone you know?
4. Talk about the sequence of pictures in the book.  Look for differences and talk about why may be happening.
5. Chat about what might happen in the book.  Predict a story together and what the ending might be.
6. Make up a story with a different ending and describe what the picture might be if your ending was used instead of that actually in the book.
7. Start looking at the words together.  Follow the words with your finger and then with your child's finger.  Chat about what letters begin each word and sound out the words together.
8. Look at the pictures for clues of what's going on in the story.  Show your child how the pictures can be a great help when learning to read.
9. Focus on the easy words and brush over the hard words or those that are not easily read by new readers (the, said, giraffe).
10. Chat about the book the day after and see how much you can remember together.

Most importantly, have fun when reading with your child.  Don't get annoyed if they don't understand immediately  or struggle on words they knew yesterday.  Certainly don't force them to read or make them do it if they're tired or not in the right mood.

Enjoy... learning to read can be so much fun and they will make you so proud when they try hard and make progress.

World Book Day 2010 falls on Thusday, 4th March (in the UK) and events all over the country are already underway to embrace and celebrate reading, why not attend an event in your area?  The World Book Day website has a list of events largely focused on public libraries.  If your children don't already borrow books from your library, then this offers the perfect opportunity to join up and introduce your children to the wonders of books!

World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading.  In the UK events are organised by a charity with financial backing from National Book Tokens, publishers and booksellers.  The aim is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of reading and encourage book ownership.  World Book Day is celebrated in over 100 countries, although most countries celebrate it on St. George's Day (April 23rd).

Even if there aren't any events local to you, you can always organsie your own World Book Day event in your own home!  Why not dress your children as characters from their favourite books and have a special reading in the afternoon where you read their favourite books to them?  Visit the shops and let them choose a new book to buy, or arrange with friends to lend your favourite stories to each other so that you can share the delights of your own library!

Some of the best works of children's literature were written for, or inspired by, children and their toys, Peter Rabbit, Thomas the Tank Engine, Peter Pan, the Mr Men books and many more besides.  In the digital age, it is now so much easier to create your own books for your children, and have them professionally produced into real books.  You don't need to pay large sums of money to a vanity press, all you need is a computer and a little bit of talent!

There are lots of book creation services available to choose from.  If you want to create a picture book, even if it only documents your baby's early years, then most photo printing services offer photo books.  Take a look at Blurb, Snapfish or Bonusprint.  If you want to create an illustrated picture story book or a novel, then you may want to look at some of the more specialist options such as Lulu or Booksurge (part of Amazon).  You'll need to lay out your book into one of their specified formats, upload the file and very quickly you can begin to order professionally produced books.  You design every aspect including the cover and all the frontpages.

You don't need to write for a specific audience, just to please yourself.  If you do want to publish to a wider market, books created at Lulu or Booksurge can be made available for international sale at Amazon, and you can pay fees to be listed in standard book catalogues too so that they are available by ordering from any bookstore.  You don't have to get involved with distribution at all, you set your own asking price and receive a royalty on every sale.  You can choose how much you make on each book sold, generally it's more lucrative than going through a regular publisher, although of course you hope that a publisher would do more by way of marketing.

Where publishing was once the preserve of the elite, it is now something that anyone can achieve at a very reasonable price!

Find some exciting new books at the library and go somewhere exciting to read them!  Find a big, big tree in the park and sit underneath the branches.  Or, find some books about ducks and head to the local duck pond.  Organize a book festival in your local park with your friends.  Invite a few other mom's, ask them to bring a book each, and take turns to read their book to the assembled kids.  Once you've finished the stories, have the children act out one of them, have them all choose a character to play (and to avoid conflict, if two or more children choose the same character, just have two 'Mummy bears', or two Princes, it really won't matter to them if you sell the idea!).

Babies and toddlers are able to understand and wish to express themselves long before they have mastered the skills of speech and language. The inability to communicate is frustrating for them and this can lead to tantrums; you interpret it as bad behaviour, but for them it is a way of venting their frustration at not being able to get their message across. Teaching babies sign language helps them to communicate with you long before they have a command of speech. You should be able to find baby signing courses locally and we list a selection of books and DVD's in our online store. Why not learn with your baby and start a signing course today?