Reading To Your Children

There is always a lot of debate about when to start reading to your children. A lot do say that they start to read to them when they start school surprisingly enough. But I'm sure most agree that starting much sooner than that helps their development much more.
I admit I didn't read to Oscar when he was in utero, I just didn't think reading would be a whole lot of help, plus...I do hate reading aloud and there was no chance i was going to read childrens stories to myself without an actual physical child present!

I started reading "properly" to Ozzy when he was about 6months old. (soft books don't count!)Which is when we bought his first book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I think every child should have this classic and that this was the best age for us to start reading because he could look at the book, see me reading it and it's just a better way to bond and to relax in the evening. Which at the moment, while I'm out of work I am doing with him nearly every evening.
Starting early with reading books to Oscar has probably been a whole lot better than starting him off in school because I think he would associate reading with a school chore and would probably not enjoy it as much. It just makes him more open in the long run to read and write which he has started doing already. I would rather put in a little bit more time and effort before he starts school to teach him the most that I can. Not because I'm in competition but because he deserves the best chance possible.

But of course, every family is different.
Do you read to your child in utero? Do/did you read to them as they got older and do they still enjoy it??