This is how Toddlers Show Interest in Books.
Inside: How toddlers show interest in reading books, especially when it seems like they’re not letting you read the books to them.
Importance of reading to your child research is one of the most common searched terms on google when it comes to reading to babies. Really!
That’s how much parents are worried about the importance of reading to your child; but as much as they believe in the benefits of reading to your child, a lot of parents are also frustrated that their toddler is not interested in books.
One of the most common complains moms of young kids give me is – my toddler won’t let me read to him or that their 1-year-old shows no interest in books.
This used to usually happen after my casual comment on how my kids liked books since they were babies.
This is true for us my son’s favourite activity at 8 months old was me reading to him; I know the hungry caterpillar and The Blue truck by heart. That’s how we waited for his dad to get home during the wicked evening hours.
Back to the point — When I ask moms why do they feel their child is not interested in books?
The two most common responses I get are — “My baby only flips through the books but is not really interested in reading.” or “ My toddler won’t sit still for reading!”, or they’ll flip to wrong pages while I am reading it to them.
While there are a lot of ways for toddlers to show their disinterest in books; these two are not one of them!
Yes, it’s great news if your toddler “only flips through books”. It does not mean your little one is not letting you read!
That’s exactly how 1 yr olds shows interest in reading books. — By flipping through books! AND by jumping from page to page.
This is not your toddler showing “disinterest” in books; they’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.
Flipping through books and not being interested in the actual story of the book, is totally normal and the very first step towards the love for books.
The fact is – When kids are not interested in books, they just don’t go near them.
Related: 10 tips to get your child interested in reading; when your child hates reading.
I know because I had one of those too, who eventually started getting interested in flipping through books around 18 months of age!
Yes both my kids were very different when it came to the love of books.
When my son was one year old or less he would want me to sit with him and keep on reading books to him.
He would also explore them on his own by flipping through them but mostly it was just me reading the book to him — he was interested in the story.
But then my younger one was totally different for the first year of her life she wanted nothing to do with books, never went near them. In-fact she would actually slip out of your lap every time I read books to them.
But Around 18 months she started showing interest and guess how did she do that?
She flipped through them, brought books to me but never let me read them, she wanted us to explore the book together, at 2.5 yr of age she often jumps pages, without reading them.
I was beyond Ecstatic when she started flipping through books.
To be honest, initially I was a little bummed when she needs to show any interesting books because to me a child loving books is a given, I loved them and so did my brother.
Plus reading to my son was the only one on one activity we did together with our older one, so I knew no other way to bond.
SO let your kid, flip through books, even when you are sitting with them. That how they read them, books are not just the story, it’s also the pictures and the colors. And the book manufacturers know, this that’s why board books were invented.
Related: Kids Books at Nested Blissfully.
I hope by learning about how your little toddler shows interest in reading books, you’ve realized that flipping through books, or skipping pages is the way toddler show interest in books.
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Author
Kanwal Grewal
Hi, I’m Kanwal; mom of two very kind and confident kids. I started this website because I wanted to share my knowledge on respectful parenting, and my passion for slow and intentional childhood. I specialize in dealing with difficult kids’ behavior and kids’ psychology.
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