Early on in my motherhood, I made up my mind that the dishes and laundry could wait, but story time with my kids could not. I have read out loud to them almost everyday for as long as I can remember. Now here I am, many years later and I can see the fruit of that decision. My kids are avid readers.
Over the years, we have laughed, cried, gasped, and bonded together over many beautiful books. We’ve made memories flipping through picture books on the couch and laughed over inside chapter book jokes around the kitchen table. On occasion, we have shared tissues and tears simply because we were so sad to have finished our time in a lovely novel. The characters had become like close friends and we were not quite ready to let them go.
If you can relate, chances are, you are raising a reader in your home as well.
One of the easiest ways to raise low tech kids in a world that pushes devices on kids at earlier ages every year is to replace screen time with the wonderful world of books. Parents who recognize the importance of reading to their kids in the early years often wind up with children who can’t put down their own books once they learn how to decode independently.
If you have been observing your kids blossom into bookworms and devour stories on their own for a while, you will recognize your family in lots of the examples below.
21 Signs You Are Raising a Reader
Here are 21 indications that you are raising a bookworm AND that you are an awesome parent who has created a stellar reading environment for your kid…
#1 You know you are raising a story lover when…
You have witnessed your kid reenact scenes from their favorite stories. Your little reader gets ample free play inspiration from the books they read.
#2 Rest assured, your kid loves books if…
A trip to the bookstore or library elicits the kind of excitement you remember feeling about an outing to the movie theatre as a child. My kids have never actually been to a movie theatre but they would gladly spend hours in a library.
#3 You might be raising readers if…
Books feel like old friends to your children. Your kids reference things characters did in order to explain something in real life. They bring up stories as if they are old memories of their very own.
#4 You are definitely raising an avid book reader if…
Your kid spends way longer on the commode than necessary because they are wrapped up in a good story.
#5 You are raising a kid who loves to read if…
Your child packs a book with them wherever they go. In the same way that most adults have a smartphone in their palm at any given moment, your kid is usually holding a book. My oldest daughter and I usually have to have multiple renegotiations regarding how many books she is allowed to bring on our family road trips because she wants to bring so many!
#6 Mama, know that you have created a reading environment for your child to thrive in if…
Your house is littered with books.
While some moms pull off a Chip & Jo style farmhouse complete with shiplap and clean white everything, you consider your home décor ‘Shabby Chic Book Nook’ in your current season of life.
Your husband has assembled more than one Ikea bookshelf in order to accommodate your colorful collection of picture books, chapter books, and literary classics.
Your children consider the bin of books attached to the toilet paper holder an essential part of your bathroom décor and ambiance.
Your house may not be winning any awards in Better Homes and Gardens, but your kid is an avid book reader and that is what matters to you.
I spend a considerable amount of my chore time putting away books, organizing shelves, and making room for new reads. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
#7 You know you have raised a reader if…
Your child has asked you to turn down the radio in the car so that they could concentrate on the story they were reading.
A good chunk of the sibling squabbles in your home revolve around volume and brothers or sisters interrupting a sibling’s reading session.
#8 Your kid is probably an avid book reader if…
They commonly use descriptive words and refined language that is not typical for children their age.
People are frequently impressed by your kid’s advanced vocabulary, strong communication skills, and spot on insight.
#9 Kudos to you, Mama, for providing a vibrant reading environment for your child…
You have paid multiple fines to the library since becoming a mom. Your kids always twist your arm to check out more books than you told them they’d be allowed to check out in the parking lot.
An assortment of library books are strewn throughout your home in laundry baskets, reusable grocery bags, and beneath beds.
You hurry to pay library fines online to avoid embarrassment before a trip to get a new batch of books.
You have asked the librarian if you could purchase used, damaged, or unread books from their donation shelf.
#10 You know you are raising a reader when…
Your kid makes insightful connections between stories they have read and things they observe in real life.
#11 You are definitely raising readers if…
You and your kids share inside book jokes and special story references that only you guys would understand.
Your child has said “remember when” and then brought up something that happened in a favorite book multiple times over the years.
#12 You are the mom of an avid reader if…
Your child requests new books for birthdays and holidays. They consider hardback books, classic sets, and complete series to be coveted treasures worthy of the very top of their Christmas list.
#13 You have succeeded in helping your kids love reading if…
Your child stays up late reading by lantern, lamp, or starlight. You frequently find your kid beneath the covers with a flashlight enthralled in a grand story.
You low key love this as a mom and pretty much always oblige when your kid petitions for “just one more chapter” or “a few more minutes, please!”
#14 You know your kid is an avid book reader if…
They have cried over the loss of reading time.
While screen time is used as a reward and punishment in most homes, reading time is a form of currency in yours.
Though it pained you to do so, you have revoked bedtime reading privileges from your child as a disciplinary consequence on occasion.
Your kid considered this to be an absolute travesty and bartered to lose absolutely anything else besides reading privileges.
#15 You know you have a kid who loves to read if…
Your child has participated in at least one summer reading challenge, book club, or reading log chart and they loved every minute of it.
You didn’t have to force them to read.
Your kid kept track of their reading log all on their own and disappeared into their books in much the same way that Alice disappeared down the rabbit hole.
#16 You have created a reading environment that helped foster your kid’s love of reading if…
You can hardly remember a day when you didn’t read your kid something.
A poem, a picture book, a joke on the back of a cereal box, a chapter of a novel, a bible story.
More days than not since becoming a mom, you have read to your little one and now you are reaping the fruits of that incredible investment of your time.
Your child is an avid book reader!
#17 Take heart Mama, you are raising readers if…
Your kids spend more hours reading than they do on screens.
#18 You know you are raising a reader when…
You overhear your young child recommending a good book to a friend.
#19 Your child might be an avid book reader if…
They have exhausted their entire bookshelf and are beginning to dream up stories of their own.
#20 You are definitely creating a reading space for your book lovers to thrive in if…
Your children light up when they notice the new rotation of books you have put on the shelf, book bin, coffee table, etc.
#21 No doubt that your kid has fallen in love with story if…
They binge audiobooks in the same way that most kids their age stream cartoons.
Leave a comment below and let me know which one of these avid book reader signs reminded you most of your child.
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