Parents & Children
I Want My Child to Love Books. That's Why I'm Trying Less.
Love can't be scheduled. It can only be made room for.
1 min read
Stories
Stories about reading,
children and family life.
Personal essays and practical ideas about raising readers, reluctant readers, family evenings and relationships, and the books that sometimes help us understand all of it.
Editor's selection
Parents & Children
Reading Is Not Homework. Let's Stop Treating It Like One.
Logs, minutes and signatures have their place. Home doesn't have to be it.
1 min read
Parents & Children
The Reading Rule I've Decided Not to Make
The most common reading rule in family life is twenty minutes a day before any screen. It sounds harmless. Why it so often backfires, and the smaller, gentler thing to try instead.
2 min read
Parents & Children
My Daughter Is Five and a Half. She Hasn't Read My Books.
I write books for young adults. My daughter is five and a half and hasn't read a page of them. On reading before reading, the one trick I trust, and why I'm happy to wait.
2 min read
The Weekly Letter
One letter a week about reading and family life.
Once a week: a short personal note, one article about reading or family life, one practical idea to try, and a question you can answer just by replying. One email a week, never a sales pitch.
Parents & Children
Reading with children is rarely only about books.
Parents & Children
How to Help a Child Who Reads Slowly Without Making Them Feel Behind
Speed is the thing everyone notices. It's rarely the thing that matters most.
1 min read
Love & Relationships
Stories about the ways we find each other, lose each other and sometimes find our way back.
Love & Relationships
20 Questions to Ask Your Partner Instead of “How Was Your Day?”
“Fine” is not an answer. It's a door closing politely.
1 min read
Reading Life
Our odd, changing, lifelong relationship with reading itself.
Reading Life
The Books That Find Us When Life Isn't Going Well
Some books arrive exactly when we need them. That isn't a coincidence.
1 min read
More from Reading Life
Books & Reviews
Reviews with a point of view: what a book understands about people, and what didn't work.
Books & Reviews
25 Books Every Family Should Have at Home
A shelf for every age in the house, from first stories to the ones you'll read together at fourteen.
Life & Us
The ordinary, unglamorous parts of being a person, and the books that sometimes help with them.
Life & Us
Put the Phones Away. Pick One Book. Try This Tonight.
A small screen-free evening for the whole family, no planning required.
1 min read
Latest stories
Parents & Children
Your Child Keeps Choosing the Same Book. Should You Let Them?
Why do children want the same book read again and again? Rereading builds confidence, language and comfort. Why it's worth saying yes, and gentle ways to add something new without taking the favourite away.
1 min read · 2 November 2026
Parents & Children
How to Choose Books for a Reluctant Reader
Choosing books for a reluctant reader is less about levels and more about hooks. How to find books a child who avoids reading will open, finish and ask about, with simple questions to guide every choice.
1 min read · 28 October 2026
Parents & Children
Is My Child Behind in Reading? What Parents Should Look For
Is my child behind in reading, or just reading at their own pace? What's normal varies more than parents think. The signs worth paying attention to, the ones that aren't, and when to talk to a teacher.
2 min read · 26 October 2026
Parents & Children
10 Questions to Ask Your Child After Reading a Book
Ten questions to ask children after a story that open a real conversation instead of testing them. No right answers, no comprehension quiz, just ways into what your child noticed and felt.
1 min read · 22 October 2026
Parents & Children
What to Do When Your Child Says “Reading Is Boring”
“Reading is boring” is one of the most common things children say about books. What it usually means, what not to say back, and practical ways to help a child find a book that isn't.
1 min read · 21 October 2026
Parents & Children
Why Some Children Love Books and Others Avoid Them
Why does one child devour books while another avoids them? It's rarely intelligence or laziness. The quieter reasons children turn away from reading, and what a parent can change.
1 min read · 19 October 2026