How – and why – to turn your kid into a bookworm

Jason Boog reads with his daughter, Olive.

How do you teach your kids to love books when you haven’t picked one up in years?

Why shouldn’t you give your child an iPhone or iPad until he or she’s at least two?

A new book explains the nuts and bolts of turning your kid into a reader in an age when focusing seems impossible.

Author Jason Boog says the bad news, for anyone who wants an easy fix, is that there isn’t one: It takes time.

The good news, he says, is that time you invest in your child now will create a life-long love of learning.

He had incentive to talk to dozens of early childhood development experts, librarians, and children’s book authors: His 3-year old daughter, Olive, whom he began “teaching” while she was still in the womb. At 9 months, he introduced her to the local library. Today, she sleeps with her favorite books.

Countless studies have shown the lifelong impact of reading to a child. Boog’s book gives you lists of helpful hints to maximize the learning experience: Ask questions. Make it fun. Point things out. Dig back into your own personal history and remember how you liked to play. If your child zeroes in on the elephants in a story, use that as a cue to dig into related topics.