How can I encourage and support reading at home?

Ask open-ended questions (questions that require your child to explain their ideas and views) about:

• the plot;

• the characters: what are their opinions on them? Can they relate to them? If not, why not?

• the issues explored: do they have any strong opinions or views on them? How are the issues relevant to the world we live in?

• their predictions for the remainder of the novel.

• what they have liked or disliked about the book.

Just by asking questions you are showing that you value reading and their views on it and this acts as an encourager of it in their lives.

Below is a list of Reading List links and Reading Apps, super helpful for finding the next book that will thrill your child.

• ‘School Reading List’ Organised into year groups, covering a range of genres:

• ReadingRockets ‘Book finder’. Apply filters based on your age, interests and location in the world!

• Reading Rockets booklist recommendations based on specific themes of interest.

• BookZilla- FREE app for Apple and Android users.

• BorrowBox- FREE app for Apple and Android users.

Aimed at children age nine plus, the BookZilla app will help your child choose new books to read, based on their interests and books they’ve enjoyed. They can set up a profile and select which categories they’re interested in, from heartbreakers to graphic novels. The app will then suggest other titles that they might enjoy, as well as ‘out of the box’ ideas that they might not have considered, with a synopsis of each, so they can buy them in print or on another book app.

When your child finds a book they like the look of, they can add it to their reading list. They can also log books that they’ve read, review them and share their thoughts with other app users, and set themselves challenges, for example to read five books by a certain date.

BorrowBox allows your child (and you!) to borrow e-books and audiobooks from your local library and read them on a phone or tablet.

You’ll need to register for a library card first, then use your login details to browse titles from every section of the library, including young adult fiction, graphic novels and more. Your library will specify how many books you can have on loan at any one time, and remind you when it’s time to virtually return them. Books are easy for your child to navigate by swiping to turn the pages.

'The best reading role models are in the home: brothers, fathers, grandfathers; mothers, sisters, grandmothers, so make sure your kids see you reading,’ says author and Words for Life supporter James Patterson. ‘It doesn’t have to be books: reading the newspaper is good too.’

Talk to them about any books or apps which you gain enjoyment from by reading. You can even challenge and develop their reading skills by sharing your favourite books with them by reading to them (providing your feel the content is appropriate for them).

Sharing books with friends is a great way to keep your child topped up with new reading material, and to encourage them to read texts that they might not otherwise have discovered, so use peer pressure positively and invite a few of your child’s friends round for a book swap.