Oisín McGann has been writing and illustrating stories in his copybooks since he was six years of age. These days he is one of Ireland's favourite illustrators and writers with books such as Rat Runners and The Evil Eye. His online courses teach budding writers the skills of storytelling as well as the specific aspects of writing for children and young adults. Here he gives RTÉjr his top tips for encouraging your children to get into reading!
1. Have books around. You can’t start too early. Have cloth books in the cot, picture books around the house and soon.
2. Lead by example. Children should see their parents reading.
3. Read to your children a lot. Bedtime stories are brilliant however you should also read at other times in the day. Reading to your children is great as it makes reading a shared enjoyable experience.
4. Appeal to your child’s interests. Encourage your children to read about what they are interested in be it football, nature, fashion, sci-fi, film/tv characters. What is important is that they are reading.
5. Devices vs books. For immediate information and fact finding devices are great. However for immersive reading and drawing your children into a stories books are best because there are no distractions.
Follow Oisín @Oisinmcgann and check out his work on his website!
