Introduction
Academicians and teachers are increasingly being concerned at the declining reading habit in children. Since the last decade or so, the increasing influence of the television, the Internet, and other visual media have gradually taken children and young adults away from the world of books. While children spend a lot of time watching cartoons and chatting through the Internet, there are very few, except the most motivated kind, who would settle down with a book and read it to completion. Many experts believe that there are many important factors like lack of commitment from teachers and elders, lack of availability of good books, and even the lack of good authors that contribute to the dwindling reading habit in children. It is in this backdrop that an analysis of how a creative atmosphere can be created for children to stimulate them to read becomes important.

Analysis
Many schools and educational institutions give importance to exposing children to books so that they will develop the urge to read them gradually. Just like children who are exposed to TV get attracted to TV programmes, experts believe that exposing children to an environment that is enriched with good books will create good readers out of them. For this, it is necessary that they are exposed to the world of books, not necessarily reading them but at least playing around with them, since a very young age.
The concept of a book club
Book clubs are wonderful tools that ensure that children will read a book in detail. Unlike libraries, book clubs involve the members to a much higher level. Book clubs prompt readers to discuss books that they have read recently. It is this facility that helps to discuss books that makes book clubs stand out as literary discussion centers than mere providers of literary content [Kathy, 2004]. In the book clubs that are meant for children, books, after being read can be enacted on stage with parents providing the vital backstage support. This can enhance the creativity of the child and also helps in his or her social and mental development. While family therapy is considered as a very good technique to enhance the skills of physically challenged children, it also can be used as an effective technique to bolster the mental and physical faculties of normal children as well. In addition, when children interact with other children, they develop healthy competition between them, which encourages them to read and explore books [Mahoney, and Perales, 2003]

Books and materials that may be used to enhance creativity
The nature of books and materials used in a children’s book club or library is very important. Materials that are brightly colored, non-toxic and safe need to be used to ensure that children do not get hurt when they play with them. The books must have large fonts, easy language, and also short stories that can be easily understood by children. In addition, the materials available in the club must correspond to the stories that the children have learnt. For example, it is a good idea to use props in a classroom or children’s educational centers to encourage children to read books. The story that they learn through the books may be enacted by the teachers using props, which will give the students a clear idea of the material that they have read. Similarly, props may be used to aid in the visual and physical co-ordination of the child. Mythologies and animal stories are great entertainers for children because of their gaudy dresses and animated gestures and hence they must be included in a children’s library.

Activities in a book club
It would be a nice endeavor to encourage children to read aloud. Some volunteers may be selected from a group of kids, and they may be asked to read aloud from the books available with them. This will ensure that elders can catch and correct mistakes. This will also enhance the reading and comprehension ability of the kids. Kids will learn vital language aspects like pronunciation and pauses that must be used in everyday language. Similarly, reading aloud to children also helps them develop their imagination and creativity. Children become inquisitive when parents or teachers read aloud stories to them that are animated and interesting. In fact, many teachers opine that reading aloud to children is far better in arousing creativity in children than the animations in the story books [Guignon, 2002]

The role of parents and elders
Parents and elders can play a very important role in enhancing the reading experience of little kids. They can read aloud stories to children, involve themselves in the plays and skits, encourage children to act out a play, teach children to enjoy books, or simply make them curious so that kids read the storybooks [Guignon, 2002]. Parents also will understand and appreciate the perspectives of children if they discuss what the kids have read. This ensures that the bond between the children and the parents are maintained at a very healthy level [Hanney and Kozlowska, 2002; Dale and Thoreson, 1999]

Piaget proposed four stages of development:

• The Sensorimotor Period when the child relies on its senses to define circumstances. A child who believes that a toy is "gone" when he or she no longer sees it, is in this stage.
• In the Preoperational Thought period the child attains representational skills and thinks in its own egoistic terms. A child who believes that a taller glass will have more water in it than the adjacent smaller glasses is in this stage. The child does not take into account that the water level can be decided by those who fill it.
• In the Concrete Operations stage, the child can accommodate another person’s views.
• In the Formal Operations stage, a child can think abstractly and logically.