I love to read and it was really sad for me when I realized that my daughter didn't seem to have any interest in reading at all.  In fact, getting her to read for school was like pulling teeth.  I realize that my love for reading is probably partly genetic, but when I started to think about it, I realized that my mom always made reading fun when I was a child. It never felt like a chore, so I enjoyed it much more. 

Here are some tips to get your kids reading books:

1. Take them to the library often. Start when they are young and make it a weekly habit. Let them pick out their own books and don't question their choices, unless they are totally inappropriate. 

2. Encourage your children to take a book along for a long car ride or when they will be someplace where they'll need to be quite.  

3. Every once in awhile, take your kids to Borders or Barnes and Noble and let them pick out a few books to buy. 

4. Ask them about what they are reading.  If you child is reading Harry Potter or the Twighlight series, read it too so that you can talk to them about the book.  

5. Don't discourage reading magazines, even if they don't have any educational value.  Yes, we'd like them to read something other than a gaming magazine, but reading is reading and they've got to start somewhere.  Encourage them to read more without discouraging reading what they already are. 

6. Use positive reinforcement to encourage reading. When I was a kid, my mom paid us kids for reading books. I think we got a penny for each page we read.  I'm usually not for bribing my kids, but I have been known to allow my daughter more TV time for reading a book and telling me what it was about.  I may have even bought her candy in the past for doing it. To me the end result was worth the one-time bribe.  

7. I used to let my kids watch TV for a half an hour before bed.  I changed that to allowing them to read for a half hour before bed.  Their was a little dissapointment at first with my change of rules, but they soon got used to it and now they love their reading time. 

8. Get your kids a bookshelf or some place where they can store all of their books and acces them easily. Make sure they have a quiet, well-lit area where they can read. 

9. Read with and to your children. As they get older, read in the same room.  Sometimes it's nice to have someone to read with even though you are reading completely different things.  

There is nothing that makes me happier than seeing my kids reading books.  Encourage your kids in any way you can to read more and hopefully, they'll find that they truly enjoy what reading can bring to their lives.