When I reflect on my own experience as a young father helping my kids learn to read, I realize now that I made many mistakes. A lot of those mistakes were made out of shear ignorance. I tried to teach my children by applying pressure to perform well. And I am not a teacher by trade. I didn't understand the necessary activities and building blocks needed to aid in developing cognitive ability and language skills. I made reading time a tense chore rather than an enjoyable discovery. I wish I had this conversation with New York Times children's books editor Maria Russo when my kids were young. Sage advice from our conversation includes "Leave the teaching to teachers. Your job as a parent is to help your children discover the joy of reading."

I hope you enjoy this conversation about the book How to Raise a Reader with Maria Russo.

Music bed in this episode is Happy Ending by Scott Holmes under Creative Commons non-commercial use license.