Parents & Children
How to Create a Reading Corner Your Child Will Actually Use
Not a photo for Instagram. A corner a child chooses on their own.
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
The 10-Minute Bedtime Reading Habit I'd Start Tonight
Not a routine. A habit small enough to survive a bad day.
1 min read
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
Books & Reviews
15 Books to Read Before Your Child Turns 7
Fifteen picture books and first chapter books worth reading aloud before a child turns seven: funny, tender, brave and a little strange. Why each one belongs on the shelf, and how to read them together.
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 Choose Books for a Reluctant Reader
Forget reading levels for a moment. Start with what makes them lean forward.
1 min read
Love & Relationships
Stories about the ways we find each other, lose each other and sometimes find our way back.
Love & Relationships
When Did We Stop Asking Each Other Real Questions?
At the start, we wanted to know everything. Now we mostly ask about the shopping.
1 min read
Reading Life
Our odd, changing, lifelong relationship with reading itself.
Reading Life
The Books We Remember From Childhood, and Why They Stay With Us
We forget the plots. We never forget how they felt.
2 min read
More from Reading Life
I Took the Stars Off ALMA
3 min read
Books & Reviews
Reviews with a point of view: what a book understands about people, and what didn't work.
Books & Reviews
7 Books That Keep 5-Year-Olds Interested
Not the most educational. The ones children ask for again.
Life & Us
The ordinary, unglamorous parts of being a person, and the books that sometimes help with them.
Life & Us
We Don't Need Another Perfect Family Routine
The routines on our phones are beautiful. Ours just has to survive a Tuesday.
1 min read
Latest stories
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
Parents & Children
When a Child Can Read but Doesn't Want To
Your child can read, the teacher says they're fine, and still they never pick up a book. Why reading ability and reading desire are different things, and gentle ways to build the second one at home.
1 min read · 15 October 2026
Parents & Children
Should You Make a Child Finish a Book They Hate?
Should children have to finish every book they start? Most adults abandon books all the time. When it's worth pushing a little, when to let go, and how to tell the difference.
1 min read · 13 October 2026
Parents & Children
How Long Should a 5-Year-Old Read Each Day?
How many minutes should a five-year-old read each day? There's no magic number, and chasing one can backfire. What matters more than the clock, and a realistic amount that fits a tired family's evening.
1 min read · 12 October 2026
Parents & Children
When a Child Doesn't Like Reading, Start by Stopping
When a child doesn't like reading, the instinct is to add things: charts, rewards, rules. The kinder place to start is the opposite. What to stop doing first, and why it works better than one more plan.
4 min read · 8 October 2026