Reading before bed will help children relax; thereby encouraging better sleep
The digital device battle has never been so high – Georgina Fuller delves into the importance of reading to your children
Children are, as the author Emilie Buchwald famously said, made readers on the laps of their parents. But with one in three families now consisting of two parents working full-time, the onset of the digital age and the pressures of homework and after-school clubs, reading to our children seems to have slipped down our never-ending list of priorities.
One in five parents do not spend any time reading with children and a third do not think their children read enough books, according to a recent report. The study of 450 parents, by Book People and YouGov, found that around half of those with children aged between five and 11 spend less than one hour a week reading to their kids.  The study also revealed that almost six in 10 (57 per cent) of us use a tablet, mobile, TV or film to distract our child but only one in 10 of us use a book. 
Claudia Winkleman, presenter and ambassador of Book People?s Bedtime Story Competition, said she does everything she can to try and encourage her three children to read. ?I always try and get my kids off a screen and I love them reading books,? she says. ?I said to them quite recently, ?guys, you know what, even if you?re just pretending, if I could walk into the kitchen and maybe you?re all just lounging around and you?re all just sitting t...