By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

#BookBloggerHop | How Young Is Too Young

The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Billy @ Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog.

How young do you think children should be when they start reading?

(submitted by Julie @ JadeSky)  

I don’t believe there is any one particular age when children should start reading. Reading is developmental, so ages will vary. Though I do believe you should start reading to your child very soon after you bring home your bundle of joy. They are never too young to hear a story.

My oldest daughter has always loved books. Reading became the only way I could calm her down until she learned to read on her own, which was at the crazy young age of just under 3. I’ll never forget the day she came to me wanting to read to me. It was a new book we had gotten from the library, so she had never heard it before, and she read every single word. You can guess that I tested her with multiple age-appropriate books to see whether she really could read, and she read everything I gave her. It felt so spontaneous that I still marvel over it.

Now, my younger daughter did not follow the same path, even though we read to her and did all the little things parents do to help kids understand what words are and what they mean, just like with the oldest. She learned in school when they taught it, so between five and eight-ish. She struggled a bit more than kids normally do but all the testing could never pinpoint why. She’s doing great in college, so she obviously got what she needed when she needed it.

What age do you think children should be when they start reading?

34 Replies to “#BookBloggerHop | How Young Is Too Young”

  1. Louise H says:

    I totally agree on both points. Kids learn at their own time and pace, reading to and with them is the important part.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      Stories are so important for children. Reading time is bonding time and it teaches them how to let their imagination soar.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. writerravenclaw says:

    Children learn in their own way. I was five when I read my first paperback book ‘Katie’. My daughter learnt to love reading through the Harry Potter books. We read them together, so bonded over the magic of reading. My son dislikes reading, mostly because he is dyslexic and struggles, but he loves manga comics and will read that way.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Louise says:

    I read to both my kids from being babies and though the older one enjoys books and is a very advanced reader the youngest would rather do anything besides read! x

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Louise says:

        So true! She is certainly her own person and nothing anyone says will get her to do something she doesn’t want to do!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Books Teacup and Reviews says:

    I started reading to my daughter (going to be 3 in Nov) but she is not interested in looking at book or listening it. She is too active to sit. I don’t think she will start reading until she is at least 4. I hope she proves me wrong.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      Awww…but it’s great that she’s so active. It’s possible she’ll be a more kinesthetic learner. I wonder if she’d enjoy if you make up a story to tell her that is based on what she’s doing.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Books Teacup and Reviews says:

        Problem is she is so into playing that she wouldn’t listen sometimes and because of that she has speech delay as well. So I doubt anything I say she doesn’t understand and also it sometimes hard to distract her to something else.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Staci Troilo says:

    I was reading aloud to my kids when they were in my womb. It’s never too early. I wouldn’t do anything to make a struggling child more frustrated, but I don’t think you can start too soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I agree. It’s never too early. And yes, frustrating your child only makes things worse. My mantra with my youngest over just about everything was “Relax. She will do it in her own time.” ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Teri Polen says:

    The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. I started reading to my sons soon after they were born. When the youngest was in first grade, we were told he was reading below his grade level. I was shocked because his kindergarten teacher hadn’t mentioned anything. By the end of the year, I had him reading at a fifth grade level. He’s still a reader – not so much with fiction, but my oldest doesn’t read unless it has something to do with sports or workouts. Can’t win them all, I guess, lol.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      Lol. They will like what they like. Neither of my girls enjoys fantasy nearly as much as I do even though that’s what I would often read to them and buy them. I tried. ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Mae Clair says:

    I love the idea of parents reading to their children from the time they’re infants. After that, I think each child will learn at a different pace, but that reading should always be encouraged as soon as possible. I don’t think there is a “too young” in this circumstance.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Lori says:

    I think that kids, given enough input, will learn to read with the same ease that they learn to speak. Of course, it will be on their own schedule, just like speaking is. But baby brains are weird and amazing things, and what they can learn with enough input is amazing. I also learned to read by age 4, just by paying attention to what was being read to me by my darling and very patient father. Your daughter learning before age 3 is nuts, but I’m not all that surprised. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Jonetta (Ejaygirl) | Blue Mood Café says:

    I started reading to my niece when she was about six months old, when she could sit in my lap and stare at the book. We were old school so I read her the classic nursery rhymes, investing in a beautifully bound book that carried the original words. I read them over and over, acting out each tale. By the time she was two, she was reciting them with me. I signed up for the Discovery books when she was five and whoever was doing the science, knew what they were doing because her behavior, interest in and capture of those stories were exactly as they predicted. Needless to say, my niece’s reading was off the charts, well above the scale and she’s as much a voracious reader as I am. Her son is just like the both of us (I have him enrolled in the Amazon Kid’s Book subscription on my dime) and had to up the reading level for him. He actually calls me to talk about some of the stories and took one of the books to his first day of school this week. He’s nine years old.

    They’re never too young.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I remember my great-grandmother reading the classic fairy tales to me over and over again. I spent most days with her and she was a voracious reader too. I had forgotten about that. Your niece and great-nephew are very lucky to have you in their lives 🤗

      Liked by 1 person

  10. nickimags @ Secret Library Book Blog says:

    I totally agree that reading to children as earl as possible is so important for them and adults it’s great for bonding. Also you can force them to read, they’ll learn in their own time, much like everything else in life.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      It is so great for bonding, even as they get older. My daughter and I still talk books every time we’re together ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  11. WendyW says:

    My oldest, a boy, was never a big reader, but my youngest a girl, loves to read. It’s an interesting question why some kids take to books and love them, and others don’t care for them as much.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      It is and I wish I understood. I know there are lots of theories. So I guess there is not one reason why or else no one knows. Lol.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. dinipandareads says:

    I don’t have kids but if I did I think I would start reading to them right away. I don’t think there’s any age that’s too young to start reading or to foster a love for reading/books! I’m not quite sure at what age I started to read but I do remember having to learn English when I started KG (cos I went to an international school) and some of my earliest memories after that are of me holing myself up in the library as often as I could!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      International schools fascinate me. I don’t know exactly why. So, everyone is taught in English? I loved libraries growing up. They were always magical places for me.

      Like

  13. D. Wallace Peach says:

    I agree, Tessa, that reading to our kids is the most important part of learning to read. Kids naturally love stories and books, and I remember my daughter calming down as an infant if I opened a picture book. My kid and grandkid learned to read early too, but that’s not as important as exposure to books. Supporting literacy starts young!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Grab the Lapels says:

    I’m really glad there are more graphic novels for tweens and kids. Reading is reading, in my opinion. I do recall a professor I had circa 2005 who mentioned his little granddaughter, probably two years old, watching him read the newspaper while he sat in his chair. So, she sat in her little chair and held a book like he was holding the newspaper, only her book was upside down. I think that moment of mimicking, of seeing someone read, is just as important as reading. Modeling for children, and what not.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I completely agree. I was surrounded by voracious readers as a child, so it was only natural to me to read all the time because all the females in my family did it too ❤️

      Like

        1. Lady Tessa says:

          More stuff with their hands. My dad hunts, fishes, and just spends his days outside doing whatever. His father made sculptures out of wood and tinkered in his shop and my other grandfather tried to turn everything into wine. Lol.

          Like

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