Key #1: Don’t talk about every book. Sir Francis Bacon said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”2 Allow your children to taste, swallow, and chew. You don’t need to discuss every book you read aloud or every book your child reads on his or her own. When you demand that every book be discussed, it takes the leisure right out of reading and causes books to lose that all-important pleasure connection. Trust that the book can speak directly to your child, even if you never intervene with a conversation or discussion.
