Reading to children

Reading is different from story telling.
When you are reading to children - the emphasis is on the written text, story line, comprehension. The Objective is language development (listening skills, reading skills, and comprehension skills) 
When you are story telling the emphasis is on story, drama, emotions, imagination, related explorations, etc. The Objective is overall development (any concept, any subject, many subjects, integration of learning, holistic experience etc. Dev. of  many skills: expression, thinking, imagination, etc.
So if you want to know more about story telling - click here.
Also click here to read 250 ways of story telling.
If you want to know some guidelines on how to do READING - read on:
How to read to kids: 

1. When you start reading - specially for the first time - give an overview of the book and story - build anticipation. Also its a great idea to tell them who wrote the book and who illustrated and publisher and anything else thats on the cover of the book.
2. Ensure children can see the illustration and the text clearly. So sit close together - keep the book facing kids. Move the book around, either as you read or at the end of the page, so that each child can see the illustrations. This is very important because the children are "reading" the pictures as you read the words. In picture storybooks, the illustrations show a lot of the story action. Try not to block the illustrations with your arm as you turn the pages.
3. Use a finger or a pen / pencil to point to words as your read them.
4. Read Slowly. Try to synchronize the movement of finger below the word with the sounds in the word.
5. When you switch to a new page - let the children first soak in the visual. Otherwise they might be seeing the visual when you are reading the text. So let them see the visual - even point out something that they want to (usually children exclaim) and then read
6. In some way - get the children to focus on the text too. From how many words, counting words n fingers as you read, which starting with sound /s/, children acting out the verb when you read verb, stopping and asking what word it is, what sound it is, and so on - invent your own ways to directly or preferably indirectly guide the children to ee the text. However, this is purely optional - hence under do it. Let children on their own see the words.
7. Voice modulate words to make children interested in the words - specially words which do not have pictures (a, and, their, here, it, pretty and so on).Read with expression. Change the pitch (high-low), tone (gentle-rough), and volume (soft-loud) of your voice to show different characters or create a mood.
8. Become forgetful reader - stop at a word acting as if you do not know how to read it ... let children read it out to you - or tell from memory.
9. Don't just read for reading - read for meaning - Ask for substitute words, sentence in their language, related thoughts and so on. When doing this shut the book for few seconds indicating that this sentence is not in the book.
10. Pace your reading to fit the story. Let your voice reflect anticipation. A short pause can create suspense. Do not read too quickly. The children need enough time to look at the pictures and think about what they are hearing.
11. Get involved. Let your facial expressions show the story content by smiling, frowning, showing surprise, angers, etc.
12. Point to characters or objects in the pictures as you read about them. Show motion, - But don't take away from the story with too many extra motions. Use only those which seem natural and comfortable for you.
13. Ask the children to take part in any story that has a repetitive phrase.Children love this.
14. When you have finished reading, close the book and say, "And that's the story of *xxxxx*. Wait a few moments. This gives the children time to ask questions or make comments. Do not ask, "Did you like the story?" or "Wasn't that a good story?" They will want to please you with a "yes" answer and may not give their true ideas.
15. Also - sporadically - play the fool - purposefully - hold book upside down, read right to left, mis pronounce some words,etc. Typically do this with a book children are already quite familiar with.

All above are guidelines - not rules. Break all of them - experiment - see what ticks your group of children - that is the key - the best readers - customise, improvise and surprise. This way they popularise :-)