Books are fun. Reading should be for pleasure. How do you make reading and books the centre of your universe? Come and get 11 smashing ideas.

1. 11 Ideas to Make
Reading The Centre of
Your Universe
Chitra Soundar©

2. About
CHITRA SOUNDAR
Chitra is the author of over 20
books for children. Her stories are
filled with the colour, spice and
sounds of India.
Find out more at www.chitrasoundar.com
Like her Facebook Page at
www.facebook.com/ChitraSoundarAuthor
Follow her on Twitter @csoundar

3. Idea #1 – Read Together
Read together. Read with voices, read with noises. Sing songs,
dance to the verse and celebrate the words. Reading together
doesn’t have to be aloud all the time. It could be as cosy as each
person in the family from grandmother to toddler picking a place on
the sofa or on the floor or under the dining table (as I used to) and
read at the same time. Adults can’t just say reading is fun. Show the
kids that reading is fun.
Here are some tips and great examples of reading aloud.
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/children/how-to-share-books/top-tips-
on-sharing-books/
Here are some great videos to watch to demonstrate reading together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36feZP5zhfI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36feZP5zhfI

4. Idea #2 Don’t Judge
Don’t judge the reading choice. Don’t force your children or yourself just to read
motivational books, non-fiction, school assessment books or what’s useful for school. Let
them decide what they like. Some kids like non-fiction and some like stories. Some like
comics only. All reading is good reading. Perhaps your kid plays cricket, find some books
on the sport, find histories and biographies on the internet and print them out for them.
Don’t frown upon their choices in bookstores and libraries. Don’t check the price of
storybooks and compare it to an encyclopedia. It’s like comparing the price of soap to the
price of mangoes. Those two exist for two different reasons and we want them in different
measures in our lives. No reading is wasted.
Stories are blueprints for life. Fiction allows children to read about someone else who has
a similar problem or a different problem they have never seen before. When the character
in the story has the same problem as the reader, the story equips the child to question their
situation, shows them how to approach it or how not to. When the character in the story
has a different problem than the child, it teaches empathy.
Here is a study by the UK government which emphasizes that reading for pleasure has far-
reaching benefits.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284286/readi
ng_for_pleasure.pdf

5. Idea #3 – Match it with
Music
If your child is excited about a book, find songs to go with
the book. Whether they are Bollywood tunes or nursery
rhymes or pop music – ask them to explore. My storytelling
coach used to encourage us to find songs for every story
we want to tell. It’s a great way to celebrate the story and
integrate it with other aspects of life.
Here is a list of books that have music as an integral part.
http://www.tarleton.edu/Faculty/boucher/Selected%20List%20o
f%20Childrens%20Books%20that%20Incorporate%20Music.pd
f
Here is a list of songs that encourage reading.
http://www.songsforteaching.com/readingencouragement.htm

6. Idea #4 –
Read and
Draw
If you read a book together, draw and
paint scenes together. How about
mosaic art?
How about a home exhibition of all
paintings all of you have done that
are connected to the books you read.
Invite aunties and uncles,
grandparents and neighbours and
create an art gallery visit.
Perhaps you can create a pininterest
board of all your drawings and
artwork too.

7. Idea #5 Get
Crafty
The Internet and YouTube are filled with arts and
crafts activity about every imaginable topic. So when I
wanted to create a craft activity for my Farmer Falgu
books – I found an ice-cream stick bullock-cart craft
video. How cool.
One school watched the video and created tens of
bullock-carts for World Book Day.
Here are some great videos of craft activities.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=childr
en+craft+activities+
Find a craft that matches the book. Be it a kite, a
house, perhaps clay modeling of the animals,
stickman if you are into Julia Donaldson. This is true
for older kids and teenagers too.

8. Idea #6 Movie Nights
Read great books that have been made into movies and follow it up
with a movie night. Whether Bollywood or BBC Films, there is a
treasure trove available. Some movies have been made more than
once. Imagine the discussion at the dinner table – children would
know if the movie justified the book or was better or was nowhere
near it. Talk about if the character they had imagined matched the
actor on screen.
Timeout has created a of fabulous movies that were adapted from
children’s books
http://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/movies/best-kid-movies-adapted-
from-childrens-books
And this is an exhaustive list of all movies made from children’s
books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_children's_books_made_into_feature_
films

9. Idea #7 Link it with Life
Connect current affairs and history to the books you’re reading. If you read Enid Blyton and
Tintin now, it would be a bit dated around some things. Some things that people said and
did 50 years ago might not be polite now. Bring it up – talk about it. Check out some hot
topics and related books here. http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/topic/books-by-
subject/current-affairs Ask the children if they see today things that happen that might not
be polite in the future. Children are wise in an innocent way. They would want a better
world if you asked them about it and of course they are the ones who could make it
happen. So create leaders of your brood. Show them how to make their own way.
What was science fiction in the 1920s – read them now and see if some of it has become a
reality. Similarly read today’s science fiction and think about what’s the probability of these
new ideas becoming a reality. Here is a list of inventions inspired by science fiction.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/ten-inventions-inspired-by-
science-fiction-128080674/ Here is another less serious list.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/21/the-future-has-arrived-the-sci-si-
inventions-that-have-become-reality
Now, historical fiction is a different type of fun. Imagine the stories set during historical
times. What an opportunity to get grandparents involved in conversations about when they
were young people and the stories they saw and how they relate to the books you’re
reading. http://www.bookworm4kids.com/Historical_Fiction.html
What about the cultural scene when grandparents were kids? How does that measure up
now?

10. Idea #8 – Animation
Adventures
Animation adventures can be borne out of reading fun
picture books or even chapter books. How about
introducing your children to free tools to animate. They can
draw and create animations – whether they write a script
for their own book or a book they read or animate a book
review – what a wonderful way to learn animation. Here
are some lists of animation ideas and resources.
http://domain.me/best-free-animation-software-for-children/
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/ict/animationideas.htm
Are you hooked too? Then here are some grownup tools.
https://www.graphite.org/blog/16-websites-and-apps-for-
making-videos-and-animation

11. Idea #9 – Blog Away
Blog about the books you read. There are great websites which
request children to review books. Of course there are various
competitions every year for which long-lists and shortlists are
announced. Encourage your children to shadow the awards, review
books they read, recommend books to their friends. Here are some
tips to start a book blog.
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/teenagers/writing-tips/tips-for-
starting-a-book-blog/
http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/dec/29/how-to-
start-a-book-blog
Of course if you don’t want a blog of your own and want to contribute
to a public blog, try this.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/childrens-books/2011/mar/02/how-do-i-
get-involved-guardian-childrens-books

12. Idea #10 Create a Library
Create a lending library manned by your little
ones. Whether you invite neighbours and family
to come and borrow or just for the immediate
family – it is a great way to teach responsibility
too. Children can arrange books, catalog them,
review them, post recommendation notes and of
course lend books out and chase out delayed
returns.
Here is an idea of how to create a home library.
http://www.playingbythebook.net/2015/01/22/7-
ways-to-set-up-and-run-a-childrens-book-group/

13. Idea #11 – Make Your Own
Take a book like Diary of the Wimpy Kid – and
ask your children to create a diary of their lives in
the same design. How cool would that be? All
they need is a blank notebook or a diary with lots
of space to draw and write.
Perhaps they can develop an infographic about
the book. Here are some free tools to create an
infographic.
http://www.creativebloq.com/infographic/tools-
2131971

14. That’s not all…
There are a million other things you could do with
books. I’ll be writing a second instalment of this
based on all your feedback and suggestions.
If you have a suggestion for a book-related
activity, get in touch via Facebook or Twitter or
post comments here on Slideshare.
Share the post – the more people love books and
reading, more fun for everyone.

15. And of course…
Check out my books on www.chitrasoundar.com
Great activities and resources are available on
the website too.
Don’t miss my posts about diversity in publishing
and reading for pleasure. Subscribe at
www.chitrasoundar.com