From pre-birth reading (yes really) to visiting the Book Doctor: 10 Tips for Junior Readers

Most of us have fuzzy feelings of nostalgia over our favourite children’s book. Even experts agree (for once) that reading for fun brings kids a wide range of benefits, from vocabulary development to problem-solving. The experience of reading to a young child is a great bonding opportunity and even prenatal reading is having a bit of a moment.

Elaina Ryan, Director of Children’s Books Ireland (CBI), shares her top tips for raising junior readers:

1. It’s never too early to introduce your child to books

“A lot of people are even talking now about pre-birth reading to babies in the womb, says Elaina. “From the very start, you can sit down and introduce your child to beautiful board books. It’s a real bonding experience. The child learns the action of turning of the page and recognises the colours. Mary Murphy is a fabulous illustrator, who uses really bold colours and lines. She has a lovely book called Mouse is Small. There’s also Oliver Jeffers’ How to Catch a Star and Chris Haughton’s A Bit Lost.2

2. Picture books for pre-schoolers

“The bedtime story really comes into play at this age,” Elaina explains. “A good choice is the large book with big wide pages and beautiful illustrations. Chris Haughton’s Shh! We Have a Plan is on our CBI Awards list. It’s gorgeous and great fun for three and four year-olds. Oliver Jeffers Once Upon an Alphabet is great, especially for children who are just learning the alphabet. Adults love it too for all the beautiful typefaces.”

3. First steps in reading

“Mo Willems has a great series called Elephant and Piggy for children just beginning to read for themselves. The O’Brien Press has a huge number of books that are graded by age or by ability. There’s the Panda books, which are very good for young readers. Another Irish publisher, Little Island, has a great series called The Nightmare Club, which are funny-spooky stories for age seven plus.”

4. Wide appeal

“You get certain authors and illustrators who produce great work for different age groups,” Elaina explains. “Alex T Smith is a UK writer and illustrator who has a beautiful picture book series called Claude. Claude is a dog who has a best friend called Sir Bobblysock and they have all kinds of adventures. There’s Claude in the City and Claude on the Slopes, etc. Alex T. Smith also does great books for nine to 12 year-olds, which are black and white with some illustrations but mostly text.

5. Adventure for 9-12s

“Our current Children’s Laureate is Eoin Colfer and he has a huge back catalogue of books for nine years and upwards,” says Elaina. “His Artemis Fowl series is great. WARP is his new series. There’s also The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, which is a lovely book. Sarah Crossan is also on our CBI shortlist this year for Apple and Rain. Roddy Doyle writes for young people and his book Brilliant is illustrated by Chris Judge and that’s a great choice for that age group.”

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6. Teen and Young Adult Fiction (also popular with grown-ups)

“The YFA genre has been doing really well despite the recession. John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars is very popular among teen readers. I’d also recommend Brian Conaghan When Mr Dog Bites. It’s about a teenage boy with Tourette Syndrome. Primperfect by Deirdre Sullivan is part of a trilogy or can be read as a standalone, it’s a young girl’s diary, which is very funny and moving. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill is great. That’s been described as a cross between Mean Girls and Margaret Atwood’.

7. Popular classics

“We get a huge amount of young people reading Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton and JK Rowling, who is becoming a modern classic. Those are often the authors whose works are available in their schools or libraries. They’re what their parents loved and will recommend. Those books are great and being reissued all the time.”

8. Consult the book doctor

“This idea is so simple, but it really works,” says Elaina. “We have a team of book doctors who are experts on children’s books. We bring our book doctors to various locations around the country in their white coats with their prescription pads. Each ‘patient’ sits down for a ten to 15 minute consultation. We ask them what they like to read, what they’ve read before. If they’re not a reader yet, we look at what they like to do and what they’re interested in. Then, we match them up with a book or a comic or a graphic novel that’s going to suit them. We have a full list of clinics on our website and also run some on Twitter.

9. Something for everyone

“A lot of the time, if children are playing games on phones or other devices, it’s because they haven’t found the book that’s drawn them in. There is a lot more competition for children’s time, all kinds of extra curricular activities. We’re not all that worried about the digital age. What we try to do at CBI is to find a book that will appeal to each child.”

10 Check out the CBI Book of the Year shortlist

The shortlist, unveiled in March, is a complete list of recommended children’s reading from Irish authors. The awards promote excellence in children’s books and six winners will be announced in June.