There’s considerable pressure on parents to maintain a consistent reading schedule with their children. But what should be a fun bonding exercise between parent and child, is often far more stressful. If your child is particularity overtired or overexcited come bedtime, getting them to lie beside you whilst your voice lulls them to sleep, quickly becomes the stuff of fantasy.

I like to think we’ve perfected the story-time routine though, and although much of our success is down to sheer persistence, I do have some additional tips that have really worked for us that I thought might be helpful.

Create a fun (but relaxing) sleeping environment for your child

It’s hard to strike the right balance. You want their room to be an extension of them; somewhere to store their toys, and spark imaginative play (so your living room gets the odd break!), but you also need it to be calming come 8pm.

Good storage is absolutely key to ensuring their room is able to serve this dual purpose, and kids bedroom storage is actually far easier than you might think. Good quality shelving and hanging storage gets toys and books off the floor & makes a feature of them, whilst midsleepers provide essential under-bed drawers, cupboards, and even additional play space for your child.

If you’re OCD about clutter, you can also get a cabin bed with tent for kids to hide away all the day’s clutter and toys that might distract from settling down at story-time.

Be silly

Forget the image you’ll see in magazines, story-time is actually more noisy than tranquil - and this is no bad thing. Once you’ve come to terms with this, you can really start to get the best out of your time with your child.

I honestly believe there is no one better at reading to children than my other half. I’ve even considered renting him out to Waterstones for kids events. He really gets into character, and has a different voice for each. I instantly know when story-time is in progress as the squeals & laughter are instantly recognisable.

The trick is to not take yourself too seriously. If you stumble over a word make a joke of it, and don’t be afraid to ad-lib. Another tip is use props from their room to bring characters to life (whack a jumper over your head if you’re a witch or a hag for example). Children are more likely to follow the story & recall it afterwards if you make reading more fun for your child and really get into it with them.

Challenge your child regularly

Although there’s a strong temptation to stick to tried and tested titles, vary your child’s library regularly and add in books recommended for your child’s age group (or indeed above). These will hopefully follow your child’s interests and what they’ve been learning in class, and should spark conversation between you both about anything that’s excited or concerned them.

When they’re ready, get them to help you out with the reading. What will start out slow at first, should give them greater oratory confidence in the classroom and beyond.

Ask questions

When you’ve finished a story, ask them questions about the story and the individual characters. Encourage them to take the story beyond the page and into next day’s play-time. Creativity will greatly aid concentration, independent thinking and memory - all essential for cognitive development, and fully transferable skills that will help them throughout their school life.

Don’t ever threaten to take it away

We’ve all been there; your child has refused the dinner you’ve spent an hour cooking, had a paddy and screamed that they “don’t love you anymore”. As a quick punitive measure, it’s easy to restrict their access to the things they love - and story-time is often one of the first things to come to mind. But don’t.

Story-time isn’t a treat and should be a regular feature of your nightly routine. It’s also a great way of putting the night’s frustrations to bed. Get it right, and you can quickly turn a tantrum into the parent/child bonding experience you’ve no doubt envisioned.