We were pretty poor when my oldest son (he's 20 now) was little and about age 15 months his favorite "game" was to bring me a note pad and pen where I would draw letters and teach them to him as well as spell out words like Mom, Dad, Cat, Dog. . .etc. He started reading really simple books at age 18 months and could read books like the "
topsy turvy" books by age 2. My younger boys didn't start reading until they were about 3.