How it’s done
A fixed day, a short visit to wherever there are books in quantity — a public library, a bookstore with armchairs, even the book fair when it comes around — and the golden rule: what he takes home, he chooses, no vetoes on literary quality.
Picked the dinosaur book for the fifth time? Perfect. A comic? Perfect. A book that's "too easy" or "too hard"? Perfect too. Your only legal play for influence: choosing your book with visible enthusiasm, in front of him. A reading appetite is caught by scene, not by decree.
What it builds — the why
The identity of a reader — which comes before and matters more than the skill of reading. A girl who associates books with sovereignty and ritual (and not with evaluation) has the habit won for life.
How it changes with age
0–2 Babies
3–5 Early childhood
6–9 Childhood
10–12 Preteens
What to watch for in your child
The child who devours and the one who rereads the same book twelve times are both reading well. Watch your own face at the checkout: a micro-flash of disappointment at their choice teaches more — and worse — than any sermon about reading.