Neha Agarwal is the mother of a 2-year-old. Born and brought up in Bangalore she currently stays in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh where her husband and she have started the first Mall & Multiplex. To satiate her creative side she designs logos, manages social media platforms for the business and makes kids return gifts & invites. She has a bit of a green thumb and does a little bit of gardening too! She shares her golden tips on getting kids to fall in love with reading and books.
I got these black and white books for my son when he was just 6 months old. I had read it somewhere that babies like to see things in contrast, hence I had to buy it. Well, he did not like that or simply just thought I was crazy! I did pick up peek-a-boo books and touch and feel books but he just wasn't even half a bit excited as much as I was to get him to read.
And then this happened:
Then when he was about 1.5 years old, he had his set of favourite toys- construction vehicles! The reason being, during that time he would see a lot of them at our project site. So I decided to get him books on construction vehicles, and his favourite being Diggers, and he loved it! I was thrilled! Finally! So we bought more books on other vehicles, aeroplanes and submarines and it hasn't stopped since then.
My child and I have read more than 100 books, which is more than my personal library collection!
How has it helped him:
I have seen over time how his vocabulary has expanded. Some of the books we 've read had things that even I didn't know! How a ship works, how submarines dive in, different aeroplane parts. Just so amazing how they open up your mind. And most importantly makes you think and question the purpose.
Here's what I tried with my son that made him fall in love with books– would love to know if you find them useful too!
Mansi Zaveri
Janani S Koushik
Rati Ramadas Girish
Anisha Bajaj
