Just 3% of fathers read to their children, a survey has found.
The majority (87%) blame work commitments, but over a third (34%) said they are just too tired to read to their youngsters.
Even mothers struggle to find the time to indulge in the activity - while nine in 10 (89%) said they did read to their children, more than half (55%) said they were distracted by cleaning while 39% said they got sidetracked by cooking.
The poll of 2,000 parents was commissioned by Happy Films/CITV to mark the launch of their children's show Bookaboo, which encourages parents and children to read together.
It found most parents believed bedtime was the best time to read to a child - just 5% read to their youngsters during the day.
But the vast majority recognise the importance of reading. Just 13% said they read to their child every couple of weeks or less, while 5% could not remember the last time they shared a book with their child.
Lucy Goodman, creator of Bookaboo, said: "It's important development wise that young boys are able to share a book with dads, granddads or male carers and it can be fun and rewarding too.
"Our research is showing that dads are just not finding time to do this."
