Bringing Up Bookmonsters

A playful guide for parents on how to nurture their distracted, plugged-in child into a voracious reader and fill in their educational gaps at home, rooted in developmental psychology

A playful guide to raising kids who love reading—perfect for parents trying to fill educational gaps at home

How can you turn your distracted, plugged-in child into a voracious reader eager to devour every book in sight? By speaking to their inner bookmonster, of course! In Bringing Up Bookmonsters, wife-and-husband team Amber and Andy Ankowski suggest fun strategies rooted in developmental psychology—absolutely no flashcards or timers required.Talk to your baby bookmonster: Narrate your actions as you do chores and have babble “conversations.” A love of reading starts at birth with a love of language!Build a bookmonster habitat: Keep books in the toy box and alphabet magnets on the fridge.Turn storytime into playtime: Try making mistakes your bookmonster will catch. (“Let’s read The Dog in the Hat!”)From playing literacy-building games in the car to filling your home library to adapting screen time, raising your bookmonster can be a whole lot of ferocious fun!

About the Author

Amber Ankowski earned her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she extensively studied children's language development. Her research has been published in academic journals including Child Development Research, Infant and Child Development, and Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition. She teaches psychology at UCLA and lives in LA.Andy Ankowski studied creative writing while obtaining his BA in English at the University of Notre Dame. He is currently an award-winning advertising copywriter and creative director who specializes in explaining complex products and services in simple - and often laugh-out-loud funny - ways. He lives in LA.