The new school year is almost here. And if you are like most parents in Trinidad and Tobago, you are already thinking about it — whether that looks like organising the school bag, buying new exercise books, or lying awake wondering whether this term is going to be different from the last one.

If you have ever tried to get your child to read — and been met with resistance, indifference, or the now-familiar phrase "reading is boring" — I want to offer you a different approach.