How to get your book-hating kid to read for fun?

Morris Gleitzman – just named Australian Children’s Laureate – shared his advice for parents of book-loathing little ones, who want to teach them the joy of reading…

He talked to Mamamia about the books he fell in love with when he was a child…

At the age of nine, the one that had you hiding under your covers with a torch because you couldn’t bear to put it down at bedtime. At 13, the slightly inappropriate book that taught you everything you knew about sex. And at 16, the battered, well-loved tome you read over and over until the spine broke and the final chapter fell out.

And here are his secrets to raising a bookworm:

1. Chill out. 

2. Offer them a wide variety of books – but accept they won’t love them all. 

3. Read with them.

4. Talk to them about it. 

Read the full interview and watch the video at mamamia.com.