5 ms·

I don't particularly buy any of the explanations given in the article, or ITT for that matter. I had tons of screen time as a child, that didn't stop me from re

I don't particularly buy any of the explanations given in the article, or ITT for that matter. I had tons of screen time as a child, that didn't stop me from reading a ton then or now. Schools (and I) were just as test-focused back then. I wasn't getting book recs from my peers so that doesn't make sense to me either. Maybe I'm an anomaly here but I never found the books targeted at children/teens especially interesting. Around 8-9 my mom gave me a book, a couple hundred pages long, intended solely for adults, but it was about something I was passionate about. I loved it and never stopped reading after that. My advice: if you want your kid to read, give them books they'd be interested in. Not 'age appropriate books', just books. Read books yourself and talk to your children about them. Build a personal library and lend books liberally, to children, friends, family, everyone. A culture of reading and enjoying books is your best bet for instilling a love of reading in your chilld.

aetherson 2y ago
Do you have kids? "Give your kids books they'd be interested in" is kind of classic meaningless advice. Like, sure, of course that's what you want to do -- except, if you have a kid who doesn't have an existing strong reading habit, how do you find books they'd be interested in? Like, that's the goal! You can't just assume the solution. I have a nine-year-old daughter who definitely does read, but isn't a voracious reader, and I've tried a lot of different things to up the amount of time she spends reading. It's tricky. One of the things that I've found is she's more willing to invest in graphic novels than prose novels, but I don't feel like at this point graphic novels deepen her literacy.
- bjornlouser 2y ago
  You've probably already seen these, but just in case: https://www.mangaclassics.com https://www.mangaclassics.com
  - 2024throwaway 2y ago
    These are... not books. I'm not saying they are not worthy of consumption or anything like that, but A: I doubt very many teachers would accept a "book report" written about a graphic novel and B: consuming graphic novels, by their nature, is not purely reading. Your brain/imagination has far less work to do, as you don't have to mentally picture the scenes/people/actions, they are right there for you to look at.
    - gknoy 2y ago
      These are... not books. you don't have to mentally picture the scenes/people/actions I sort of see what you're saying, even if I don't agree with it. I think the really neat thing about these, are that they present _classic stories_ in a way that is more appealing, and more easily digestible, to kids who might never have considered them otherwise. I remember when I was in middle school, my English teacher had a box in the corner of comic book adaptations of about a dozen "classic" stories. Several were stories by Poe, and similar 1800s-era classics. (Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, etc.) I devoured them (despite loving reading "regular" books too). I've forgotten most of the plots, but remember having enjoyed reading them. Some of them, I've never read the originals, but for others I had already read (or subsequently read) the more-detailed originals. (Anything Sherlock Holmes, at the time, was something I enjoyed.) Reading these stories as a manga makes you lose out on a lot of details, but probably makes it a lot easier to digest some things. Pride and Prejudice, for example, has pages of details of peoples' social lives, and the complex interactions of several younger and older women, along with descriptions of gardens and houses, and I know that I definitely had trouble keeping track of who all the ancillary characters were. Having visual representations of these characters might make it easier to track that. You lose out on the richness of Austen's prose, but you keep the core character developments, relationships, and emotional interactions that form the basis of the stories.
      - skydhash 2y ago
        That makes a while since I've read physical books, but the great things I liked when I was a child was books with illustrations. Not the one with a picture every two pages, but one that tries to paint the atmosphere of the books. For short fictions (150 pages), I'm OK with the cover, but for anything longer a few full pages pictures kinda kept me in. It anchored me in the story. I'd enjoyed The Malazan Book of the Fallen more if I had this edition: https://subterraneanpress.com/erikson-gotm/ https://subterraneanpress.com/erikson-gotm/
- WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
  > I've tried a lot of different things to up the amount of time she spends reading... she's more willing to invest in graphic novels than prose novels If you haven't yet, push out beyond fiction. In my experience, libraries have a really divergent collection of large, illustrated volumes. When I was 5-10 I read comic strip books - but also encyclopedias. Specifically World Book; Britannica was too dry. note: I've no complaint with graphic novels. Sons 1, 2 & 5 were big into them. One is writing fiction. Two was into physics and anime, is now into psychology and early Japanese film making. Five performs+crafts his own music videos.
- Domenic_S 2y ago
  I have kids, my older is 11 and reads almost whenever she can. She loves to read herself to sleep at night. We've taken her to the library since she was a baby where we'd find new baby books to read to her. Over time, we stopped picking out books for her and let her wander the isles, picking whatever seemed interesting to her. She usually chooses a wide assortment of things from comics to YA fiction. My son is much more interested in screens, but he still reads a lot. Whenever we restrict the screens his next default is to read. We read a lot to both of them as infants & toddlers. We have a couple bookshelves worth of books in the house, but honestly they spend almost their whole reading time on new-to-them library books. We've hit the library checkout limit pretty much every time we go! And it's no waste - every book is returned read. > if you have a kid who doesn't have an existing strong reading habit, how do you find books they'd be interested in? I'd start by taking them to the library and letting them explore. Chances are they'll find something that interests them!
- humansareok1 2y ago
  >how do you find books they'd be interested in? Like, that's the goal! You can't just assume the solution. What a strange question? If they are interested in fantasy movies give them a fantasy book. If they're interested in mystery, the same. If they're interested in Dinosaurs, the same. How is this some great challenge? The things you like to read about are the same things you already like... Are you implying you know nothing about your daughter?
  - jobs_throwaway 2y ago
    Agree it seems odd. One thing the children in my life are NOT lacking is random interests. Sports books are a great avenue and often highly accessible for younger readers. Pretty much any hobby/niche interest has books that are suitable. Kid likes animals? Give them 'The Soul of an Octopus'. Kid likes scifi movies? Give em 'Childhood's End'. Its really not a challenge when you know them well.
- ars 2y ago
  Try the Fablehaven series for her. For the the mid-teens, Mistborn series.
  - caf 2y ago
    That was about the age when my daughter got heavily into the Warriors series.
- jobs_throwaway 2y ago
  I do. I've given my son who's an avid swimmer a non-fiction book about a group training to try and make the Olympics. I've given my nephew interested in space 'The Right Stuff'. Both devoured the books and went off on their own reading journeys from there.
- IncreasePosts 2y ago
  I have kids and it seems like fine advice. You find books they'd be interested in by knowing about their hobbies, interests, and personality, and finding books that match that in some manner, and then pitching it to them, regardless of whether it is age appropriate or not. Of course it is hard to do - at least, harder to do than saying "I have a 5 year old, and this book says it is for 5 year olds, so I will have them read it".
Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
I agree with you. Age appropriate usually have terribly boring stories. To be fair, the same is true for tv shows and movies, I can't stand any "per child" tv show, we moved immediately to disney classics and then onto Miraculous Ladybug (mine are 3 and 5 years old). As for books, we have a very fun series of "choose your own adventure" books that really hooked them, they love making their choices
quirk 2y ago
This is good advice. My 9yr old reads adult fiction, so long as I have read it and don't think there's anything too "adult" in there. I'm saving Heinlein for his teen years lol.
- jobs_throwaway 2y ago
  Yeah, a bit of supervision at that age is appropriate, but my advice is don't screen their books for too long! If they're mature enough to be actively seeking out mature titles, you trying to gatekeep them isn't going to prevent them reading what they want to for long. Better to let them make their own choices and discuss sensitive topics with them as adults.

aetherson 2y ago

Do you have kids? "Give your kids books they'd be interested in" is kind of classic meaningless advice. Like, sure, of course that's what you want to do -- except, if you have a kid who doesn't have an existing strong reading habit, how do you find books they'd be interested in? Like, that's the goal! You can't just assume the solution. I have a nine-year-old daughter who definitely does read, but isn't a voracious reader, and I've tried a lot of different things to up the amount of time she spends reading. It's tricky. One of the things that I've found is she's more willing to invest in graphic novels than prose novels, but I don't feel like at this point graphic novels deepen her literacy.

bjornlouser 2y ago
You've probably already seen these, but just in case: https://www.mangaclassics.com https://www.mangaclassics.com
- 2024throwaway 2y ago
  These are... not books. I'm not saying they are not worthy of consumption or anything like that, but A: I doubt very many teachers would accept a "book report" written about a graphic novel and B: consuming graphic novels, by their nature, is not purely reading. Your brain/imagination has far less work to do, as you don't have to mentally picture the scenes/people/actions, they are right there for you to look at.
  - gknoy 2y ago
    These are... not books. you don't have to mentally picture the scenes/people/actions I sort of see what you're saying, even if I don't agree with it. I think the really neat thing about these, are that they present _classic stories_ in a way that is more appealing, and more easily digestible, to kids who might never have considered them otherwise. I remember when I was in middle school, my English teacher had a box in the corner of comic book adaptations of about a dozen "classic" stories. Several were stories by Poe, and similar 1800s-era classics. (Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, etc.) I devoured them (despite loving reading "regular" books too). I've forgotten most of the plots, but remember having enjoyed reading them. Some of them, I've never read the originals, but for others I had already read (or subsequently read) the more-detailed originals. (Anything Sherlock Holmes, at the time, was something I enjoyed.) Reading these stories as a manga makes you lose out on a lot of details, but probably makes it a lot easier to digest some things. Pride and Prejudice, for example, has pages of details of peoples' social lives, and the complex interactions of several younger and older women, along with descriptions of gardens and houses, and I know that I definitely had trouble keeping track of who all the ancillary characters were. Having visual representations of these characters might make it easier to track that. You lose out on the richness of Austen's prose, but you keep the core character developments, relationships, and emotional interactions that form the basis of the stories.
    - skydhash 2y ago
      That makes a while since I've read physical books, but the great things I liked when I was a child was books with illustrations. Not the one with a picture every two pages, but one that tries to paint the atmosphere of the books. For short fictions (150 pages), I'm OK with the cover, but for anything longer a few full pages pictures kinda kept me in. It anchored me in the story. I'd enjoyed The Malazan Book of the Fallen more if I had this edition: https://subterraneanpress.com/erikson-gotm/ https://subterraneanpress.com/erikson-gotm/
WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
> I've tried a lot of different things to up the amount of time she spends reading... she's more willing to invest in graphic novels than prose novels If you haven't yet, push out beyond fiction. In my experience, libraries have a really divergent collection of large, illustrated volumes. When I was 5-10 I read comic strip books - but also encyclopedias. Specifically World Book; Britannica was too dry. note: I've no complaint with graphic novels. Sons 1, 2 & 5 were big into them. One is writing fiction. Two was into physics and anime, is now into psychology and early Japanese film making. Five performs+crafts his own music videos.
Domenic_S 2y ago
I have kids, my older is 11 and reads almost whenever she can. She loves to read herself to sleep at night. We've taken her to the library since she was a baby where we'd find new baby books to read to her. Over time, we stopped picking out books for her and let her wander the isles, picking whatever seemed interesting to her. She usually chooses a wide assortment of things from comics to YA fiction. My son is much more interested in screens, but he still reads a lot. Whenever we restrict the screens his next default is to read. We read a lot to both of them as infants & toddlers. We have a couple bookshelves worth of books in the house, but honestly they spend almost their whole reading time on new-to-them library books. We've hit the library checkout limit pretty much every time we go! And it's no waste - every book is returned read. > if you have a kid who doesn't have an existing strong reading habit, how do you find books they'd be interested in? I'd start by taking them to the library and letting them explore. Chances are they'll find something that interests them!
humansareok1 2y ago
>how do you find books they'd be interested in? Like, that's the goal! You can't just assume the solution. What a strange question? If they are interested in fantasy movies give them a fantasy book. If they're interested in mystery, the same. If they're interested in Dinosaurs, the same. How is this some great challenge? The things you like to read about are the same things you already like... Are you implying you know nothing about your daughter?
- jobs_throwaway 2y ago
  Agree it seems odd. One thing the children in my life are NOT lacking is random interests. Sports books are a great avenue and often highly accessible for younger readers. Pretty much any hobby/niche interest has books that are suitable. Kid likes animals? Give them 'The Soul of an Octopus'. Kid likes scifi movies? Give em 'Childhood's End'. Its really not a challenge when you know them well.
ars 2y ago
Try the Fablehaven series for her. For the the mid-teens, Mistborn series.
- caf 2y ago
  That was about the age when my daughter got heavily into the Warriors series.
jobs_throwaway 2y ago
I do. I've given my son who's an avid swimmer a non-fiction book about a group training to try and make the Olympics. I've given my nephew interested in space 'The Right Stuff'. Both devoured the books and went off on their own reading journeys from there.
IncreasePosts 2y ago
I have kids and it seems like fine advice. You find books they'd be interested in by knowing about their hobbies, interests, and personality, and finding books that match that in some manner, and then pitching it to them, regardless of whether it is age appropriate or not. Of course it is hard to do - at least, harder to do than saying "I have a 5 year old, and this book says it is for 5 year olds, so I will have them read it".

Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago

I agree with you. Age appropriate usually have terribly boring stories. To be fair, the same is true for tv shows and movies, I can't stand any "per child" tv show, we moved immediately to disney classics and then onto Miraculous Ladybug (mine are 3 and 5 years old). As for books, we have a very fun series of "choose your own adventure" books that really hooked them, they love making their choices

quirk 2y ago

This is good advice. My 9yr old reads adult fiction, so long as I have read it and don't think there's anything too "adult" in there. I'm saving Heinlein for his teen years lol.

jobs_throwaway 2y ago
Yeah, a bit of supervision at that age is appropriate, but my advice is don't screen their books for too long! If they're mature enough to be actively seeking out mature titles, you trying to gatekeep them isn't going to prevent them reading what they want to for long. Better to let them make their own choices and discuss sensitive topics with them as adults.