Reading with children is the highlight of the day for parents

A survey into kids and parents reading habits has found that mums and dads in England and Northern Ireland are spending more time reading to their children for pure pleasure.

Researchers discovered that parents spent an average of one hour and 26 minutes a week reading with their children this year, an increase on the 2009 stats of one hour 18 minutes, and most parents (71 per cent) consider it the highlight of their day.

Over 1,000 mums and dads were quizzed for the poll for reading scheme Booktime, which found that 60 per cent of parents and carers of children aged four to six read daily with their child for fun, and worked their way through an average of 46 books per child per year.

However, 18 per cent of mums and dads felt too stressed to read with their kids at the end of the day, with 41 per cent claiming their youngster's tiredness stopped reading together, and 30 per cent citing their own tiredness as a barrier to sharing a book at bedtime.

And - thankfully - the humble book remains the main reading "device" for bedtime stories, with 86% of respondents saying their child prefers to be read to from a book rather than other media such as e-readers or laptops.

(Would anyone really use an e-reader for their children's bedtime stories?!)

Is the bedtime story and sharing a book an important ritual in your family?