On a recent Saturday morning seven of my grandchildren from two different families came to my apartment for an ice cream breakfast, now a once-or-twice a year Grandpa tradition. After they’d eaten their fill of ice cream covered with fruits, chocolate chips, butterscotch or chocolate syrup, and whipped cream topped with the customary cherry, we crossed the street to the used bookshop, where each of them selected a book and I gladly hauled out my wallet.
On our return, the gang settled right in with their books, ranging from the Hardy Boys, a toddler board book that made barnyard noises, and a romance Western for the 14-year-old. Believe me, for this lifelong reader, it was a sight as beautiful as an oceanside sunrise.
That enchantment with the printed word lasted only a few minutes, as the mom who was shepherding these lambs, my daughter, had places to go, but it brought a revelation: It’s not enough to teach kids to read books; we need to teach them to want to read books.
Anyone who keeps up with education in the United States is well aware that millions of American kids can’t read at grade level. Less well-known, perhaps, are the anecdotes and data showing that many college students, including those in the Ivy League, lack the stamina and concentration skills needed to get through a novel or a biography.
Many experts rightly point to our culture’s obsession with screens as a major factor in this decline in literacy and reading, a trend that includes adults as well. Board a subway or an airplane these days, go to a coffee shop or a park, or spend some time in a public library, and you’ll find those with a book in their hand vastly outnumbered by those with a phone. They may be working or reading a digital book, but odds are that many of them are skipping haphazardly from their emails to an editorial to YouTube videos of playful kittens. They’re “reading,” but what they’re experiencing is an entirely different critter than opening a book, even a light novel like that Western selected by my granddaughter.
If you’re looking for tips on how to make your kids bibliophiles, search online for “How do parents teach children to want to read?” Take a look at some of the articles, and you’ll find answers, many of them the same, from any number of experts, teachers, and parents. Read to them at bedtime when they’re little, we’re told. Keep plenty of books around the house. Take them regularly to bookstores or libraries. Let the kids see you reading books.
Because of my recent time spent with the grandkids, two points from these lists resonated with me. First up is to let them choose their own books for reading. You’ll need to vet those if they’re unfamiliar to you, especially if they’ve been published in the last 30 years, but otherwise let them select the books. In my own elementary school reading days, some of my favorite “books” were Classics Illustrated, basically great tales from English literature, like “Romeo and Juliet” or “Two Years Before the Mast,” done up as cartoons. When the grandkids went to the second-hand shop, they picked the books, vetted by me or my daughter, and came away with some decent selections.
Second, when reading aloud to the little ones, give voice to the characters in certain stories. Before going to the bookshop, my two-year-old granddaughter asked me to read “The Little Red Hen” to her. I decided to have some fun and do voices for the duck, the pig, and the cat who refused to help the hen harvest the wheat and bake the bread. “Read it again,” she said when I finished, which I did. She then took the book and said, “I’ll read it.” She couldn’t really reproduce the story, but those dramatized voices stuck with her, and it was a hoot listening as she imitated my duck, pig, and cat voices.
What was missing from the three online lists I examined was any mention of screens, which are a major – some would say the major – reason for today’s growing illiteracy and diminishing interest in books. For most people, children and adults alike, books simply can’t compete with phones. The former induces and requires a deeper sort of attention than the latter, and relies less on instantaneous entertainment.
A good friend of mine, for example, was once a reader, enjoying both histories and crime novels. In the last five years, his phone has replaced his bookshelves. For hours a day he follows the news, gets hooked on a string of videos, and chats with AI. The screen has cast its spell, and the books lie unopened and unread.
If you want your kids to want to read, close all your screens and pick up a book.
Jeff Minick is a father of four and grandfather to many. A former history, literature, and Latin teacher, Jeff now writes prolifically for The Epoch Times, American Essence Magazine, and his Substack.
This culture article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal, a project of 1819 News. To comment on this article, please email [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
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