How do you make reading to be less of a 'task' for kids, and more of a fun activity that they look forward to? My son thinks it's a chore- like studying yet another subject. I want to make sure he doesn't dread it.

You can do extension activities from the book. E.g. if your kid is reading on Blueberries for Sal, you can bake blueberries pie with him and he will find actually reading is a very lively thing. Also, do not force the kid to read if he doesn't want to. You can read to him instead. Sometimes my kids doesn't want to read by themselves and prefer me to read to them. Once the pick up the interest, they will automatically pick up a book and read themselves. The more you give them stress they will lost interest in reading.