How I Made Learning to Read Fun and Engaging for My Child
Estelle Bardon tells us the story behind the creation of MyLibook, a unique personalized book series to support early readers.
By Tzvetelina Sabkova.
Several experiences led me to the idea of creating MyLibook.
I was diagnosed with dyslexia in my childhood and my memories about learning how to read are anything but fun. Fast forward to parenthood, and my older daughter was considered a slow learner at the age of three. I knew I wanted to help her in every possible way in order to make learning to read fun and engaging.
I switched her to a Montessori school and her teacher advised using Bob books. But initially she was not interested in the books. I kept encouraging her and six months later she read her first Bob book independently. However, I noticed that each time I created homeschooling activities using her name she was more engaged.
The idea of creating my own book started to emerge. What if I wrote an early reader book series that progressively built children’s confidence and was personalized to keep young readers engaged and interested?
It turned out that my observation of my daughter’s positive reaction to personalization was confirmed by scientists who have investigated the topic. In this abstract of a study published in 2014, experts found that
“children exposed to personalized content showed significantly better knowledge about the words that were in the personalized sections of the books than the words in the non-personalized sections.”
After creating and testing several prototypes on friends and family I collected very positive feedback and countless big smiles. And that is how MyLibook was born!
What is MyLibook?
MyLibook is an original book series that supports early readers at the beginning of their personal reading journey. Reading is around children from very early on. Infants hear their parents read to them, toddlers help turn book pages, look at the pictures, and start recognizing letters. Later on, early readers are able to connect the letters and make sense of the words in order to understand the story. All these steps prepare us for a lifelong relationship with books.
To encourage children on their reading journey, MyLibook offers a variety of tools that are fun and easy to use:

- With the MyLibook personalized series, children will have the unique experience of reading a book where they are the hero. Every book is written using small sets of single-syllable, short vowel words and early reader sight words in order to allow children to read independently. The series is designed in a progressive style, advancing learning as you move through the seven books of each set.
The 12-page books are designed for easy reading and confidence building. Once children have read the full books by themselves, they can even color in the books!
- A blog with phonics and sight word game ideas, tips, and homeschooling resources for parents, grandparents, and caregivers to bring fun into teaching methods at home.
- Free printables based on the MyLibook series for Early Emergent Readers.
How is MyLibook different from other books?
MyLibook is not a personalized children’s storybook. The personalized books currently available are storybooks that need to be read by adults.
MyLibook is not a mass-produced phonics book. Phonics books are adapted to early readers but do not offer the personalized element that is proven to increase reader engagement.
MyLibook is the first personalized early reader books series that has been designed to motivate children to learn how to read. In our previous article Ellie Angel, a Kindergarten teacher gave us her opinion on how MyLibook creates engagement for early readers:
- “The process of learning to read is multifaceted but the motivation factor and the engagement factor play an important role, and seeing their name in a book is very powerful for a child.”
- “[With MyLibook, children] are not bored because it is too easy, yet equally they are not frustrated because it is out of reach.”
- “The illustrations are cute. The stories are fun and heart-warming, which helps children connect to the story even more.”
You can order the MyLibook early reader series on our website MyLibook.com (use the coupon LAUNCH to get 15% off and free shipping — for limited time only).
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