This post is an advertisement feature, written in collaboration with the Great Little Trading Company.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an avid reader. I could read before I started school, and I would devour books as a child, coming away from the library with stacks of 10, only to return a week later having read them all. But it’s not a trait that I’ve passed on to my eldest son. Despite my best efforts in reading to him, he’s shown very little interest in books and stories and the huge emphasis that school places on the importance of reading and writing has been a worry for me. Slowly but surely, he is starting to find a glimmer of excitement about books and stories, so I’ve wanted to make the most of this and create spaces for him in his room that can fuel that passion.

Creating a Reading Nook

Max’s new bedroom is far bigger than his previous one, and I knew that I wanted to use the extra space to create a reading nook for him. We are big fans of The Great Little Trading Company, having bought lots of their products over the years and having worked with them previously. Their Play Teepee was the perfect choice for Max’s reading nook - it gives him a place that he feels is special and a bit secret, and he loves cuddling up in there together for a story before bed, and will often take in books to look through on his own. He’s loved adding a bit of his own personality to it with some string lights which hang at the top, and a throw and cushions to make it ‘a bit cosy’.

Clever Book Storage

I think that having books on display and easily accessible is really important. The Greenaway Bookcase lets your child see all the front covers, and you can hang it low to the floor so that they can easily reach the books.

Find what they love

One thing that I’ve tried really hard to do over the years is to discover what really appeals to Max. It turns out it’s not the imaginative stories that captured my imagination as a child - Max likes factual books far more than fiction! The Usborne question and answer lift the flap books have been a wonderful discovery for him, and nature books always seem to have a big appeal for him, so we have lots of science and garden based books. Even if your child doesn’t seem keen on reading, I guarantee there will be a subject that captures their interest.

Give them independence

The Cloud Book Holder is ideal for storing bigger books, or ones that Max wants to take into the Play Teepee with him. I love that it gives him a bit of independence in choosing books when you can have them so easily accessible. He also has a step so that he can reach the very top shelf of the bookcase, so there’s no book that’s out of his reach if he wants to look at it.

Let them show their personality

I also wanted to be able to create spaces where Max could display the things he loves - his creations, his toys, and the things that he feels make him ‘him’. At his age, you really start to see them becoming aware of who they are, their likes and loves, and their personalities.

The Ladder Bookcase was the perfect choice for this room. It’s slightly smaller than other bookcases, which meant that it fit perfectly in our space (others had obscured the light switch or come too close to the door), but it fits absolutely loads. The bottom shelf is brilliant for storing all of those huge picture books that don’t seem to fit in regular sized bookshelfs (Max seems to have quite a lot of these!) and the upper shelves are ideal for displays.

I’ve been creating little themes on it for Max - using his Lego creations, and his Toy Story toys - and he loves playing about with it. I’m sure as he gets older he’ll be creating his own little displays soon!

And of course, little prompts to letters and words all around the room help them familiarise themselves with reading - we have Max’s name sign, the little ROAR letters (which I bought from Hobbycraft and we painted together one rainy afternoon), and the “read” sign above the bookcase.

Thank you so much to GLTC for helping us to put together a room that really inspires reading. It’s been wonderful to see Max enjoying his new space and really developing a love of books which I hope will continue as he moves into Year 1.

Disclosure: We were sent the items mentioned by Great Little Trading Company in exchange for this blog post. All words and opinions are my own.