Bringing Up Bookmonsters

A playful guide to raising kids who love reading—perfect for parents trying to fill educational gaps at home

How can you turn your distracted, plugged-in child into a voracious reader eager to devour every book in sight? By speaking to their inner bookmonster, of course! In Bringing Up Bookmonsters, wife-and-husband team Amber and Andy Ankowski suggest fun strategies rooted in developmental psychology—absolutely no flashcards or timers required.

• Talk to your baby bookmonster: Narrate your actions as you do chores and have babble “conversations.” A love of reading starts at birth with a love of language!
• Build a bookmonster habitat: Keep books in the toy box and alphabet magnets on the fridge.
• Turn storytime into playtime: Try making mistakes your bookmonster will catch. (“Let’s read The Dog in the Hat!”)

From playing literacy-building games in the car to filling your home library to adapting screen time, raising your bookmonster can be a whole lot of ferocious fun!