Not every child falls in love with stories straight away – and that's perfectly OK. Some children are fascinated by animals, football, space, sport, history, inventions or how things work. For these children, non-fiction can be the key that unlocks a lifelong love of reading.

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Non-fiction books help children build knowledge about the world while developing important reading skills such as vocabulary, comprehension and retrieval. They encourage curiosity, spark conversations and allow children to explore their interests in greater depth.

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As a parent of three boys, I've seen first-hand how different children's reading preferences can be. One enjoyed a mixture of fiction and autobiographies, another preferred almost exclusively non-fiction, while the third happily disappeared into fantasy worlds. The important thing is not what children read, but that they read.

Whether your child enjoys books about footballers, animals, ancient civilisations, science experiments or incredible true stories, non-fiction can be every bit as engaging, exciting and enjoyable as fiction. Finding books that match a child's interests is often the first step towards building confident, enthusiastic readers and helping them discover that reading can be a pleasure, not a chore.