If you have ever opened a book only to watch your toddler wriggle off your lap and toddle cheerfully away before you finished the first sentence, please take heart. You have not failed at reading, and your child is not behind. You simply have a perfectly normal toddler, and reading with one looks nothing at all like the cosy, still scene on the front of a parenting magazine.
Forget the perfect reading moment
Toddlers are built to move, every busy inch of them. Expecting one to sit quietly through a whole story from start to finish is a bit like expecting a puppy to ignore a bouncing ball. So instead of fighting it, let reading happen in short, scattered bursts. A page here, a few words there, a book read aloud while they climb over the back of the couch. It all counts, and it all sinks in far more than you would ever think.
Sturdy board books are your very best friend at this age, tough enough to survive being chewed, dropped, sat on and carried about the house by one corner. You will find plenty of them in our baby and toddler collection, all gently used and just five to ten dollars.
Make the book part of the play
Let your toddler turn the pages themselves, even if they gleefully skip half the book to get to the picture they love. Point at the pictures, make the animal noises, let them slam the book shut and fling it open again. When a book is something to do with their hands rather than something to sit still through, even the busiest toddler will keep coming back to it of their own accord.
And yes, read the same book for the fortieth time if that is what they ask for. Repetition is exactly how little ones learn and feel safe, even on the nights when it sorely tests your patience. One day soon they will be reading those very same lines back to you from memory, and you will be glad of every single repeat.
Small moments, big love of books
The goal at this age is wonderfully simple. You want your child to feel, deep down, that books are warm, fun and theirs. The sitting still part comes later, quietly and all on its own, with no pushing required. Until then, keep a few favourites within reach and follow their lead. You can browse our books and top up the basket whenever a new favourite is needed.
So put down the pressure and pick up a board book. A wriggly, page-grabbing toddler who loves books is exactly what you are after, even if it never once looks calm or tidy. The love is the thing, and the stillness will follow in its own good time.