Simple tips for raising lifelong readers

By Becca Hamby

Hi! I’m Becca Hamby — Tome Society co-founder, former high school librarian, and current homeschool mom of three. The two questions I hear most often from other moms are: "Do you have any book recommendations for my kids?" and "How can I get my kids to want to read for fun?" For the first question, I always point them to the current and past Tome Society Book Award lists. In this post, I’m tackling the second — how to help kids get hooked on reading and discover the joy of stories that keep them turning pages.

Tip #1: Start with Great Books
If kids aren’t reading well-written books with page-turning plots, it’s no wonder stories can’t compete with all the other entertainment options in our world. At Tome Society, we carefully select titles for the Tome Society Book Award that are recently published, high-quality, and high-interest. If a book doesn’t make us want to keep reading, we know it won’t grab the kids either.
If you’re not sure where to start, pull up your child’s grade-level Book Award list with them and let them choose three titles that look most interesting. Then do a quick internet search together to read the summaries and decide where to begin.
Here are a few tried-and-true favorites that have hooked my own kids:
Tome Book Award Authors Guaranteed to Kick-Start a Reading Obsession
(Check age-appropriateness for your child.)

• Gary Schmidt
• Jennifer Nielsen
• Alan Gratz
• Taryn Souders 
• Gordon Korman 
• McCall Hoyle 

Classic Picks We’ve Loved

• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• The Black Stallion by Walter Farley
• The Island Stallion by Walter Farley
• Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

​Tip #2: Make It a Family Thing
My family loves listening to audiobooks together in the car. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed everything from compelling, kid-friendly biographies of famous men and women to the Harry Potter series — and, of course, plenty of Tome Book Award titles. On a recent road trip, we binged the first book of The Hunger Games series.
Our family rule is simple: as long as Mom and the two older kids are in the car, we listen — we can catch Dad up later. If starting a family audiobook feels a little awkward at first, make it special. Try something like, “We’re going to start listening to one of my favorite books from childhood — and to celebrate, we’ll grab ice cream while we listen.” A few bumps at the start are normal, but pick a great book and stick with it. I promise — they won’t complain for long. 
If audiobooks aren’t your jam, another excellent option is family read-aloud time. We’ve done this since the kids were little, and the books have grown up with them. It was Goodnight Moon and Little Blue Truck when they were toddlers, and now we spend a few minutes before bed escaping into Narnia, Middle-Earth, and other fascinating worlds whenever we can. Even just a few shared reading moments each week will pay off in a big way.
However your family finds time to do it, experiencing stories together not only builds a shared love of reading but also sparks some of the best conversations. For instance, while reading The Hunger Games, we found ourselves asking: Do we see instances of violence as entertainment in our own culture? What parallels was the author drawing between Panem and Ancient Rome? Questions like these show how powerful shared stories can be — they open the door to deeper conversations you might not have had otherwise.
What book do you want to share with your kids?

Tip #3: Make It a Habit
To truly get hooked on a story, kids need consistent time inside that story. Set a goal of at least 20 minutes of reading a day — and stick to it. If motivation is an issue, connect reading with clear boundaries: no video games until the reading is done. If your family’s schedule makes daily reading tricky, try a weekly goal instead — for example, 100 minutes over the course of the week or no Saturday morning screen time. You can also frame it as a reward: read 20 minutes every day this week and celebrate with ice cream on Friday night.
The method is flexible, but the expectation should be steady. Frequent reading is the key to helping kids truly engage with their books.

Tip #4: Try Immersive Reading
Immersive Reading is the practice of reading a print book while listening to the audiobook at the same time. My kids often use this method in our homeschool when tackling more challenging texts. For example, my 6th-grade daughter was able to enjoy the unabridged versions of Robinson Crusoe and Oliver Twist last year because she wasn’t bogged down by the difficulty of the language.
When kids are just learning to read — or when they struggle — the act of decoding can make reading feel like a chore. But we want reading to be a joy! Immersive Reading removes that barrier, allowing kids to dive straight into the story without the battle. An added bonus is that they both see and hear the words pronounced correctly, which builds vocabulary and strengthens fluency.
In our home, Immersive Reading has been a game-changing tool for unlocking age-appropriate stories that might otherwise feel out of reach.
At the end of the day, what matters most is that our kids see reading as a gift, not a burden. Tools like immersive reading, family reading time, daily habits, and the right kind of stories can help us open that door for them. When we point them toward great books, give them a little support, and cheer them on, we’re helping them unlock something that will last a lifetime—a true love of books.