CULTIVATING THE BOOKWORM

Photo: Prabir Das

There's no point in elaborating how the habit of reading helps in a person's emotional, cognitive and creative development: the myriad of benefits are known to us all. Nevertheless, a lot of people do not entertain the practice of reading and are completely unaware of the magical world of books. 

As a parent, it is your responsibility to ensure that your children grow up to be avid readers. And there are many ways of ensuring this. 
A common but very effective advice is to read to your child. But how do you actually go about doing so? 

First of all, appropriate environment and atmosphere is necessary. Tamanna Hossain, mother of a four year old, reads to her daughter in a makeshift tent located in the corner of her child's bedroom. "The tent, made of bed sheet, is her haven, with all her toys and everything magical and all things she holds dear," Tammana says. "So, every evening we snuggle up in her cosy tent to have a reading session there." 

Tamanna also understands the power of showmanship and animation. "My child has very low attention span," she says. "So, just reading in a monotonous voice is of little help". Instead, she acts out the dialogues in different voices, makes those silly noises whenever necessary and uses a lot of gestures and facial expressions. A little showmanship can go to long way in keeping your child hooked to the book.  

Books rich in illustrations can be argued to be the best choices, as the visual element make books much more attractive for children. 
It is also important to make the reading ritual very interactive. Small children will of course ask a lot of questions, which you will have to answer patiently and enthusiastically. Additionally, you should also ask questions to your audience. Who is your favourite character? What do you think will happen to him/her in the end? 

Let the child do some of the reading, too. Urge them to read aloud to an audience. This will further develop their reading ability. And follow it up with praises, so that the reader will feel more encouraged. 

There are many ways of encouragement. Take your little one to a library and, of course, the annual Boi Mela which is currently running. The book fair has a particular section dedicated to children, and a few of the characters come out of the books, in the form of dummies and stickers. 

Nowadays, video games, social media and a million other things can easily lure children away from books. But if you carve this habit in your children very early in life, it is likely that the practice may last a lifetime. 

But your job doesn't end when your child becomes older. Faraz Hyaat, for example, used to buy his then teenage daughter superhero collectibles, seeing that she was into superhero comic books. Afterwards, when she eventually grew out of the world of comics, her father used to buy two copies of the same book, one for him and one for the daughter. "We used to read the same book together, so that we can later discuss the plot twists and characters and so on," he says. "This has kept my daughter more engaged and enthusiastic about reading." 

Whatever works; the key is to bring out the bookworm in your children.