I have reading kid, I want to make sure he becomes a reading adult...

May 5, 2024 8:18 PM

I just read this article about kids who read for pleasure no longer reading for pleasure at around 9 years old. I have a 7 year old who reads for pleasure. What should I be doing over the next two years to make sure he stays a reader?

Right now he reads mostly series books. Recent favourites have been the Scooby Doo Choose Your Own Adventure books, The A to Z Mysteries, Ballpark Mysteries, stuff like that. Past favourites the Dogman books, The Bad Guys, The 13/26/39 etc. etc. Storey Treehouse books.

I have him the first Harry Potter for his birthday and he's enjoying it.

He also loves reading big reference books. The Smithsonian/National Geographic etc. encyclopedia of whatever.

I got him a kobo before he went on vacation so we wouldn't have to carry stacks of books on vacation. He enjoyed it and used it a lot. I kind of suspect that he didn't read as many "full books" as he had in the past because I really loaded it with maybe 15 different complete series, which allowed him to hop around between books instead of finishing what he's reading.

We've been doing audio books since he was 3 or 4.

So that's his reading life. Now tell me, how do I make sure the reading for pleasure? While I would love it if as an adult he reads at least some more literary choices, and I would love it if he read some more literary stuff now, I certainly read enough trashy series books and pulp fiction as a kid and teenager and it didn't make me incapable of reading more serious books as an adult, so I would like him to eventually read more Bridget to Teribithida kinds of books not just Dogman, I think the more important thing is that he keeps reading.

So, I have two years to steer him away from the path to aliteracy. How do I do that?

posted by If only I had a penguin... to Grab Bag (52 answers total)

Don't let him have a smartphone or a tablet.
posted by kickingtheground at 8:25 PM on May 5 [10 favorites]

Response by poster: Right...thank you I should have mentioned our screen situation. We don't own a tv. He does have a tablet, which he can use for an hour a day and can "buy" an extra hour on the weekend. He found a PC game that he's into so now sometimes he uses his hour of screentime for that instead. I was actually thinking as I read this article that maybe I should contrive some way to go back to our pre-pandemic screen-free life, but this does feel like a thing its nearly impossible to undo (having screens) once it's been done.

I was considering a system where one of the things that could "buy" screentime is reading time, but I don't want to set up a situation where we're treading reading like a chore and screens as the rewards, so that's probably a bad idea.

Also should have mentioned, since the article talks about the importance of peer recommendations that he's currently in a public school where i think the reading levels and behaviours are wildly uneven, and I don't think anyone else in his class is reading at his level. The books available at school are below his reading level and while other kids get sent home with readers, he doesn't because the teacher says they don't have readers at his level so he should just read whatever. He brings home magic treehouse books, which we read all a couple of years ago. I've never seen him read the books he brings home from school. I don't think they suit him.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:34 PM on May 5

My daughter is a voracious reader, at 13. I’ve always made reading a part of our winding-down routine at night. I read to her until she was a comfortable enough reader that I was “too slow”, and now we read at opposite ends of the couch. I think modeling this behavior is important, plus taking her to the library at least weekly and letting her pick out whatever she wants. She definitely went through a phase of reading books that I deemed “beneath her”, but hey at least she was reading. She got way in to American Girl books, then other historical fiction geared towards children, and recently finished All the Light We Cannot See. If you limit your child to books you deem proper or appropriate, you’ll take the fun out of it.
posted by sacrifix at 8:37 PM on May 5 [11 favorites]

Do you guys go to the public library? There’s a lot to be said for being able to physically wander around as a kid and choose a variety of print books that pique your interest instead of getting served ebook recommendations. When I was a kid I definitely read kid books, trashy adult romances, and literary fiction, because despite being otherwise very strict my parents let me choose whatever I wanted from the library. The freedom and the ability to exercise and hone my own taste was thrilling and those library visits me into a lifelong reader.
posted by stellaluna at 8:48 PM on May 5 [38 favorites]

I'd like to gently push back on the no screens idea. It's possible to have a whole world of books literally at your fingertips in a way that was almost impossible to imagine just a few years ago. A Kindle or equivalent ought to be strongly considered.

Maybe I'm in a unique situation because I'm disabled, but he should be encouraged to find things to read that he can enjoy, whatever that looks like. You might not always agree with his tastes, I know my parents would have found some of mine weird, but just... Model reading, talking about good books you've liked, etc. That's all I can suggest.
posted by Alensin at 8:51 PM on May 5 [24 favorites]

Accept pleas for “one more chapter” even though it’s after bedtime.

Place a flashlight in kiddo’s room “for emergencies.” On occasion, look the other direction when kiddo is doing some “emergency” reading.
posted by oceano at 8:54 PM on May 5 [11 favorites]

Make a habit of sitting and reading together at the same time.

Bring books for him to read during downtime, like if you’re waiting for something.

We’ve started using the local library branch, getting recs from the children’s librarian (who is especially good at finding books for advanced readers who may not be ready for advanced subjects) and sometimes sitting there reading together at the library where there aren’t many other things to grab our attention.

We’ve enjoyed pairing some reading with movies or shows. So reading Ivy and Bean and then watching the series. You can also read some of the same things so you can talk about them together.

You could also go with rewards for minutes or books read kind of like a read a thon. The reward doesn’t have to treat reading like a chore but more as an incentive for more rigorous engagement.
posted by vunder at 9:02 PM on May 5 [5 favorites]

Things that probably made a difference for me around that age included making friends who were readers and, in addition to written fiction, taking up other printed-matter hobbies like comics and role-playing games too. Having a few favorites in printed form to collect / treasure might also lead endowment effect to work in his favor. Really, that's four suggestions that amount to just engaging with reading in a bunch of ways. Some will probably stick.
posted by Wobbuffet at 9:16 PM on May 5 [1 favorite]

I wish I knew. My twin daughters were voracious readers until they were about 13. It continues to break my heart, but they have lost all interest. We waited until about that age to let them have phones or even watch much TV. Some combination of the vastly increased amounts of school work, increased need for socializing, and desire for the easiest, simplest possible entertainments have curtailed almost all reading for pleasure. I can only hope that they recover it at some point. I've almost accepted that there's nothing I can do now.
posted by uberfunk at 9:16 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

Don't push it as much as you let them pull it. Avoid having them be overwhelmed. Build in enough outside time to preserve their eye health (there was a big article about the role of outdoor light exposure and need for glasses). Keep them physically active so that reading is an energetic activity instead of a low-energy addiction.

Realize that there are other ways to take in information - the important thing is that they continue to seek new information, and process it thoughtfully.
posted by amtho at 9:33 PM on May 5 [3 favorites]

Are there any children's book clubs in your area he can join? That may help the peer recommendations, and perhaps reading at his level since it sounds like his school isn't much help with that. Is it feasible to start one if there isn't one already?

For me, many moons ago, the main thing was watching my parents read. My friends didn't read much, I didn't get recommendations from friends, but both of my parents read. Decades later, I still read Agatha Christie, who was the most notable recommendation I got from my parents. Modeling behavior is just so important with most things, including reading.
posted by Meldanthral at 9:41 PM on May 5 [2 favorites]

Don't push it and just let them enjoy things. I was an avid reader deep into the adulthood (early 20s or so, I just got a job and now I don't have as much time for reading, though I still read when I can!) and I can say for sure that the biggest part of it came from my parents never pushing the reading onto me. Well, my mom never did. My dad tried to through criticising the genres I liked and trying to make me read stuff he considered "worthy", which ended up in me hating whole genres, haha! So my advice here would be to stay kind of aside but be there for if your child wants to discuss the book they just read or invite you to watch a movie based on their favorite book, etc.
posted by torturedpoet at 9:50 PM on May 5 [4 favorites]

You mention that you want your child to read more literary material and I would suggest you don't worry so much about what they read.

My father is a voracious reader, but mostly reads history and memoirs. My partner love graphic novels. I love fiction. All reading counts. Magazines, comics, almanacs, big book of facts, news stories. Just let your child pursue their interests.

You could also try a family book club, which we have done (with cheese, crackers, wine, and mocktails). Read the books your child is assigned at school. Read what they are reading. Talk about what you are reading and why you like it. Take them to meet an author they like.
posted by brookeb at 10:08 PM on May 5 [15 favorites]

Instead of the how much and what that he is reading, focus your energy on the reading comprehension skills so many people lack. If he has a favorite book, series, comic, etc, read it too and ask him questions about it. Engage him in conversation. Ask why he thinks characters made the choices they did, what kind of stories he likes and dislikes and why, what he thinks the writer was trying to do with the story like explore an idea or spook the reader or make a really lovable character or show what a different place or time or lifestyle would have been like… ask him silly scenario questions (“okay but what if pikachu were the main character instead of Harry Potter? Would he just zap his horrible aunt and uncle?”) and have fun with it. Get him thinking about the stuff he reads. Reading is a skill just as much as it is a habit.

I wouldn’t worry about screen time in this context or the content of what he is reading. Help him understand what he reads better so he can better understand what he reads in the future, whatever that may be. If he shows interest, graphic novels can be a huge boon for kids and there are some really amazing ones these days, it’s not just superheros and creepy manga. Never say anything to disparage what he reads, even if you think you’re being subtle. Have lots of books in the house that are all fine for him to read in terms of content but may be above his reading level or about things that only minimally interest him. Let him pick them up or not, just have them around, within his reach. Make sure he understands that he can always ask you questions about anything he is reading if he doesn’t understand or is concerned about something, or if he just wants to talk about it.
posted by Mizu at 10:29 PM on May 5 [5 favorites]

I think of what my family did and it was:

1) Supported whatever genre of books I was reading. Was I reading every single book with dragons at the library? Great! Was I spending all my allowance on Rex Stout murder mysteries at garage sales? Wonderful! Have I decided I suddenly will read nothing but Archie comics? Let’s grab an anthology off the magazine rack!

2) Complete free range at the library. I could checkout any book from any section at anytime. Did I read stuff that gave me nightmares? Yes. But without that I would have never found so many books that I loved that kept me reading.

3) Budget for letting me pick out my own books at the bookstore once in a while. My Mom must have hated all the Calvin and Hobbs collections I’d get, but she never let on.

I read about 80-100 books a year plus another 100 or so comics/manga/graphic novels and I read widely across genres with an almost even split of fiction/non fiction. I go to the library every week. I’m in my 40s. My parents did good here.
posted by lepus at 11:33 PM on May 5 [15 favorites]

He needs to be seeing the adults in his life read for pleasure, preferably on a daily basis, and needs encouraged to do the same himself. It needs to be the time-filler, something that's picked up in free moments, not saved for after the kids are in bed, or on breaks at work, or a big production of "read your 30 minutes now" with a timer. It needs to be NORMAL.

Best case scenario, that is what he's been seeing and mimicking since he was about a year old.

And he should have zero adults or older siblings allowed to complain about how reading is a chore, or they hate it, or it's stupid, or any of that sort of ignorant nonsense.

And be generous with what he's allowed to read. Don't restrict it, especially, to things that are easy enough, and be even more careful about restricting for content. Kids can handle a lot of difficult concepts, especially when they're in book form, as opposed to other media.

And keep up with vision checkups... vision issues can screw things up and it can get missed all too easily.

Do that, and it's ridiculously easy to create life-long readers.
posted by stormyteal at 11:38 PM on May 5 [7 favorites]

Try reading his books along with him (get your own copy or just borrow his when he's not busy reading it) and make your own private book club! Together with him, develop a list of discussion questions and delve into them, maybe over a cup of tea or glass of whatever beverage he enjoys. Invite other family members to participate.

Having a community of readers who are into the same books you like is a big part of continuing to enjoy reading.

And encourage him to seek out other kids his age who are also readers, as has already been suggested.

Also, you can't "make sure" your child stays a reader. But you can certainly point him toward building lifelong habits that will help him continue to enjoy reading, God willing.

And screens are a valid way to enjoy books. I'd be lost without my Kindle and Everand apps. There are ways to lock down phones and tablets to allow only certain apps to be used at various times of day, of course.
posted by rabia.elizabeth at 1:51 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Let them read what they want. I feel that "literary reading" is what turns a lot of kids off from reading. I say this as an English major: almost all literary reading I was forced to do made me not want to read those books. 99% of literary books in school were depressing downers who killed off pets and I don't think anyone related to Holden Caulfield, was down with Lord of the Flies, or enjoyed dredging through Crime and Punishment.

Let the kid get his joy from reading fun series. His taste will expand, but his school reading will become depressing soon as is.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:15 AM on May 6 [10 favorites]

one of the issues is replicating what seems like an idyllic childhood where most of fellow mefites built the habit for lifelong reading.
I would highly suggest reading Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home. A good third of the book has prescriptions for teachers to improve deep reading skills which is something you could employ at home as well.
posted by Lucubrator at 3:40 AM on May 6

You mention that you want your child to read more literary material and I would suggest you don't worry so much about what they read.

Seconding this.

I was a voracious reader throughout most of my life - I slumped a bit in my 40s (live overwhelm), but I'm starting to come back. My brother was not really a reader-for-fun as a teen, but then picked it up again in college. My parents did things exactly right - by not passing judgement on what we were reading, whatsoever.

The one and only time I remember either of my parents questioning my reading in any capacity was when I was ten and my father noticed I was whipping through Watership Down at a fast clip, and he suspected I was just skimming it; but then when he quizzed me about a couple of the chapters I'd just read and I passed with flying colors, he apologized. My parents otherwise stayed hands-off about what I chose, even when it looked like it may be above my level (because often it wasn't); I'd wander into the living room and pick up random books and start flipping through them, and my parents might have seen me pick up something "adult" but they just held their tongues and figured I'd get bored and put it down if I didn't understand it and they wouldn't have to say anything anyway, and that usually was the case. They also let me check out whatever book I wanted from the local library - or multiple books, as was more often the case. (The kids' librarian would cringe when she saw me at age eleven because I read through the entire kids' chapter book section in only two weeks and she had no idea what to do with me.) So I never had limits put on my reading - and so it was total freedom, even if I wanted to read something easy now and then.

As for my brother, my parents never nagged him to read "serious stuff". Instead they got him a subscription to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED all through high school because it was the only thing he would read for pleasure. They just held their tongues and paid for it and told themselves "well, at least he's reading." He didn't get the "read something more than a magazine!" lecture so reading never became a chore. And then when he got to college he had a roommate who introduced him to Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and that was his gateway to moving beyond magazines, because now he was ready. Within a year he was recommending books to me.

I leave you with this - I've heard that Dr. Seuss repeatedly had schools ask if they could use his books in their school lesson plans and he always refused. He refused, I've heard, because he wanted kids to have something in their lives that was a reading option that no one would be telling them they had to read; he believed kids needed some kind of reading option that would be 100% their choice rather than something a teacher or parent was telling them they had to read. In order for reading to be fun, you need to have the freedom to choose what you're reading.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:23 AM on May 6 [11 favorites]

Screen reading does not work cognitively as well as physical page reading-- more prone to skimming, less satisfying interactions with the object-- so barring some sort of access issue that would necessitate buying an actual Kindle, just get them books. Time spent on the tablet will slippery-slope to time on computer games and socials, or unhappily reading while actually jonesing for the computer games and socials that are over in that tab right there. (In the early days of smartphones, adults and established readers used to write poignantly about this phenomenon all the time, from painful firsthand experience; since then, journalists, presumably at the behest of tech companies, have created the convention that anti-screen takes are vaguely unfashionable and close-minded, but if you've experienced a screen yourself, you know how this works.) If the kid is 7, you're in a golden period for limited pushback if the the tablet were to "break" and just not be replaced; it'll quickly be forgotten.

Limited vocabulary and syntax skills are a huge barrier to kids' accessing more complex literature in the teen years, so while he's still of the age for reading aloud, make sure to read a variety of books from different eras (not just the Scholastic favorites of the past five years) and with different prose styles. Work on being a good out-loud reader yourself: read at a pleasantly deliberate pace, use your voice and intonation to show the shape and logic of long sentences, deliver the author's jokes convincingly, do accents, pause to ask the meaning of harder words. Read some poetry (Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein are great), since rhythm is a vehicle for meaning in prose as well as verse.

Family read-alouds (plays, verse) and karaoke are also great ways to promote an overall culture of enjoying language.
posted by Bardolph at 4:25 AM on May 6

Just be aware that these tactics can backfire. I did family reading time, reading out loud, library and bookstore trips, the works. I have one voracious reader and one son who cringes if I suggest a cosy reading hour. (He’s 13, and loves basketball and piano playing right now.) I actually have faith he’ll get all the information he needs out of life; he’s the kid who reads the manual or self-teaches. But he felt a bit alienated until I got us tickets to an NBA game and stopped trying to convince him he loved books more.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:37 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I think you've already got him set up right for this. As a children's bookseller, I think there is a gap between the Dog Man age group and early teen and kids get pickier at this stage. (Nothing wrong with that; a lot of adults are picky about books and no one thinks it's strange.) It's great that he likes nonfiction because that will keep him reading, even if finding fiction he likes is a struggle for a while.

Strongly agree with going into a library-- or a bookstore-- to discover books. As with adults, so much of the appeal of a book is just in the way it's written. You can download samples for free but there is something about sitting with a stack of likely-looking books and reading a few pages of each. A knowledgeable librarian or bookseller can help a lot too.
posted by BibiRose at 4:40 AM on May 6

Response by poster: Screen reading does not work cognitively as well as physical page reading-- more prone to skimming, less satisfying interactions with the object-- so barring some sort of access issue that would necessitate buying an actual Kindle, just get them books.

I've searched and searched before buying his e-reader and wasn't able to find anything about this. Do you have any citations on reading books vs. reading on an e-reader? If he were equally inclined to read on both I have to say, stocking the e-reader is way cheaper than buying books. I think he's actually less likely to skim because you can't really flip between pages the way you can in a physical book, but I think he jumps between books a lot more.

Also, while I'm in here I just want to note that my comments about aspiring to have him read more literary things (either as a kid or as an adult) are definitely not something I'm enforcing or commenting on. I'd absolutely rather he be reading formulaic silly fart jokes series books than not reading at all. I bought him all those Bad Guys books and had the last few 13/26/39 Storey Treehouse books shipped from Australia. And hell, I enjoy an occasional Dan Brown or Terry Fallis book myself, so who am I to judge? The only limit I do put is that sometimes for audio books in the car I do say that I'm done with the annoying series books (the half-hour backyard detective stories he loves so much and there are 50 million of them and they're all the same and I've heard them all 50 times) because I'm sick of them and I'm trapped in the car, but if he wants to listen to them other times, that's fine (and he does).

Thanks everyone for the tips and experiences and advice. Keep it coming. I'm taking it all in.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:45 AM on May 6 [2 favorites]

Speaking as an adult who was a voracious reader as a child and is still a voracious reader as an adult, your child will either stick with it as they grow up or they won't, really. I come from a family who doesn't read for pleasure; the only reason I am the bookworm I am is that my paternal grandmother was a reader and she took me to get my first library card. From then on, I was hooked. If I had ever been pressured or strongly urged to read more than anything else, I might have stopped doing so out of sheer stubbornness.

The biggest difference is kids have access to phones and tablets now so it's a struggle for parents out there. I would just let him be who he is, make sure he has ready access to books of all stripes (shout-out to all of us who read what would be considered age inappropriate books when we were kids!), and then just go from there.
posted by Kitteh at 5:20 AM on May 6

I was a voracious reader as a young child and I am a voracious reader as an adult. The middle years? Not so much. Here's why:

School.

My middle school assigned reading was awful and sucked all of the joy out of reading for me. For a while I still read around our assigned lists, but between my increased extracurriculars and other requirements of being a teen/tween, I was just too tired of reading to make space for reading for fun. Finally in very late high school I had an English teacher who assigned work based on whatever we wanted to read as long as he approved it, and I finally got to read for fun for school again. And then once I got to college I had so much work to do I didn't have time for anything else but school work. Once college was over, with some space, I started reading again and have never stopped.

Some lies:

E readers are bad. False. I am able to read so much easier on an e reader than I am on paper. I got my kindle in 2012 and the before/after consumption ability is noticable. If I had had a kindle as a kid it would have solved a lot of logistical problems for me and I would have read even more.

If your child stops reading for a while they will never read again. Also false. Source: my personal lived experience.

Screens should be avoided at all costs. Idk, I definitely watch more TV than almost anyone I know, but I also read more books than almost anything I know. I also watched a TON of TV as a child and still read. I like to consume media.


tl;dr my own experience says not to sweat it so much. Just make reading time available, access to reading available, and talk about what you're reading. And if your kid comes home one day in 6th grade railing about how much he hates the book that's been assigned to him at school, engage him in a conversation about it.
posted by phunniemee at 5:22 AM on May 6 [11 favorites]

One family habit we created during the pandemic was Reading Dinner. We (kids 11 & 13) were already spending so much time together that dinner time was no longer for asking how everyone's day went. I made up Reading Dinner one night. Instead of talking, we could read whatever we wanted. It's a habit we continue even now. When anyone suggests Reading Dinner, we just grab a current or new book and read together silently while we eat. Over the years it has helped paper over some phases where the kids didn't like "family time". Along with many of the things already mentioned (modeling reading, not gating topics or books, going to the library) I think it's a small thing that has contributed to both my kids enjoying reading.
posted by cocoagirl at 5:23 AM on May 6 [8 favorites]

I am still an avid reader in my mid-40s; I started in kindergarten and never stopped. The best thing my parents did for me, hands down, was to let me choose my own books 100% of the time. Did I read some things before they were “age appropriate”? Yeah, absolutely. I definitely did not understand A Clockwork Orange when I pulled it off the shelf in 5th grade. But it didn’t scar me at all either, I just didn’t get it. Being allowed to read whatever I wanted meant that reading was always an adventure for me - it still is. (And lest anyone think that cost a lot of money, it didn’t, we were very poor, but I was - and still am - a massive library user.)
posted by okayokayigive at 5:54 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

I know everyone has their own reasons they are "adult readers", for me it was both my parents modelling the behaviour and them leaving books around that caught my interest... some were not exactly age appropriate, but the covers and descriptions interested me and so I read them. This may not work if you use eReaders, but if you talk about a book or series you are reading with your child and tell them what you like about it, (assuming you are comfortable with them reading it) they may want to read it.
I know I grew out of children's books very quickly and enjoyed getting these glimpses into "adulthood".
We also went to the library together, but eventually I just went on my own (around your child's age, I think)... it was a nice place to get away and just browse. My parents never stopped me from reading anything I brought home either.
posted by Laura in Canada at 6:55 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Here's a thought:

If you can avoid it, never have a "book emergency."

That's what I called it (pre-kindle) when I ran out of new things to read at home and didn't have a way to get more (no transportation to the library, library was closed).

Always have another book available.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 6:58 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

When I was a child I was an avid reader. As adult, how much I read varies hugely. I have to read a lot of things for work and a lot of it is quite technical and my brain is frazzled at the end of the day. So outside vacations, I struggle to read much new to me material and end up I re-reading things or picking low brow/low effort new things to read. So expect your son's reading to fluctuate as he takes on more school/hobby and eventually work commitments.

I will say that at this time, the idea of carting a physical book around with me is completely alien but I do have the kindle app on my phone and read on that or on my tablet. At this time, the only physical books I buy are reference materials for various hobbies, mainly because they tend to be large format with photos/diagrams etc. There is joy in sitting on your sofa with a cup of coffee working through a topic, taking notes on my tablet. But that is not the bulk of my reading.
posted by koahiatamadl at 7:00 AM on May 6

A friend of mine had two kids with autism and ADHD.

Friend never gave or handed the kids books unless they begged for them - instead, there were lots of suitable Childrens/YA books that just happened to be sitting quietly around on the loungeroom shelves and were never mentioned out loud, or just happened to be sitting on the back seat of the car and were never mentioned out loud.

Friend knew that if the kids were expected to read, they wouldn't read, but that if the kids felt like they were being a bit sneaky/mischievous/getting away with something/forbidden fruit they would read like nobody's business.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:09 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

Encourage her to write. This is what made me continue reading (and started me writing). I would put together whatever story in a "book" (folded in half pages, written on both sides, typically two sheets, that is eight pages). I would read them to my father who bought them for a token amount and saved them.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 7:21 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Seconding chariot's recommendation to just leave good books around the house, rather than pushing any particular book.

Also one thing the Kobo e-readers can do, that Kindles can't: run the Overdrive app directly on the device. So you don't have to checkout library books using a phone or other device. My kid likes searching for and checking out library e-books herself, without having to ask me to do it for her on my phone. (She is too young for her own device, and besides we want to keep "e-reader" and "ipad" in entirely separate categories of activity). One thing to note is that they do not have *any* parental controls, so your kid will have total free range of the library. I'm still working out how much supervision to use there.
posted by hovey at 7:21 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

When I had periods of reading less in childhood (and adulthood!) it was always because something changed in the other conditions of my life, not that something changed in my desire or orientation towards reading. Either school gave more homework, or my social life became more challenging, or I started new extracurriculars, and those things diverted time and/or attention away from reading books. When life was harder, I needed easier downtime than reading. It really perturbed my mother, who often tried to limit screen time in response, but during those times I needed screen time to relax and was not actually capable of reading, so I did a lot of laying around listening to music and pretending to read instead.

I think the best thing you can do is continue giving your kid access to whatever books they want, and have compassion and understanding for how their needs and desires will ebb and flow over time. And, if you want to guard their reading time, maybe do that more by advocating for less homework from the school and by teaching your kid to learn about and manage their own energy/stress/attention levels in general, rather than becoming didactic about reading specifically. (I agree with your instinct that turning reading into a reward-generator is probably a counter-productive idea.)
posted by CtrlAltDelete at 7:42 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

I was also a kid who liked to read that stopped during high school and college and now read books constantly. School and activities really cut out the time left for reading, but more than that, the idea that every assignment was about finding the secret meaning behind literature really killed my love of reading for enjoyment. Ick.

I don't know a ton about raising kids, but I certainly model the idea that I read books for fun as a grown up, and I don't spend a lot of time trying to find out what the author was "really trying to say."
posted by advicepig at 8:21 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

The reason I own a Kindle Paperwhite is because my kid knows there is nothing on it but books. I talk often about how I am using that to read so I do not get distracted. Kid now owns a Kindle Paperwhite of her very own. I think taking the approach that all reading is good reading is great. That said, push back on the teacher and ask them to still send something home just like the other kids.
posted by notjustthefish at 8:27 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

Do you have any citations on reading books vs. reading on an e-reader? If he were equally inclined to read on both I have to say, stocking the e-reader is way cheaper than buying books.

Here's a recent review: Dynamic reading in a digital age: new insights on cognition https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2023.08.002 . tl;dr, reading words within a stable physical/material context (always on the same page in a book) aids attention and comprehension. Money sentence from the abstract:

Comprehension tends to be less effective when reading on screens than on paper, particularly with texts that require a deeper understanding or when reading under time pressure.

I would expect this effect to be intensified with a young child who's just developing the cognitive habits necessary to sustain attention and follow extended reasoning in a text. I'll PM you with a couple of additional links on this. There may be workarounds in contexts where it's absolutely necessary to use a screen, but with a young kid, it's not clear why one wouldn't just stay safe and stick to physical books. They're dirt cheap on the used market, anyway.
posted by Bardolph at 8:29 AM on May 6 [1 favorite]

What you really want is for that other kid your kid likes to be a reader. If the coolest kid in the class is a reader all the kids who want to be cool will be readers. If your kid is an isolated loner, and they come across another isolated loner and bond, and that other isolated kid is a voracious reader, your kid is going to want to be a reader.

I suggest trying to set up fun social times for your kid that involve reading. What about taking your kid and a friend or two, to the library as a social occasion? Swap out the kids that don't look at the books while they are at the library for ones that do, and cycle through a dozen kids your kid likes until you find a couple who read and are compatible, and whose parents are delighted that you take their offspring to the library most Saturday mornings.

What about a sleepover without devices but with books? What about looking for a kids book club, through your library? What about enlisting an adored aunt allo-parent to provide reading opportunities? What about reading the books your kids is reading and discussing them with him? What about taking him to a big second hand book sale and giving him a generous budget and both of you filling a couple of cartons with books. You can also offer your kid sick days when they are not very sick, that involve staying mainly in their room, mainly in bed, quietly reading. My mum did this. If I threw up I got the next day off school automatically, to ensure I was fully recovered/didn't bring norovirus to the whole class. Can you possibly find your kid an older reading buddy through a reading buddy or big brothers/big sisters program? What about finding a younger kid to be a reading buddy, where you kid gets to be the admired older kid who is loved for being a voracious and enthusiastic reader.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:38 AM on May 6

Honestly, as someone who worked as a children's librarian for years, your child does not sound like he is on the path to aliteracy. His selection is varied and the series books he's reading are a great stepping stone to middle grade novels (Mysterious Benedict Society, Percy Jackson, Serafina, etc). There are plenty of middle grade series that your local librarian can guide him to. Reading for pleasure happens best when kids explore their own reading interests.

Do you read recreationally? Seeing parents read models the activity for kids. Definitely take plenty of library trips. Show him where the middle grade fiction is and then just let him browse.

Reading aloud (as mentioned above) is also great for building a social bond, and useful for talking about some of the difficult topics that can sometimes appear in middle grade fiction. For example, as he progresses in the Harry Potter series, there are descriptions of murders that may be unnerving to a nine year old, but if you are both reading the book aloud together, it provides an opportunity to talk about scary or difficult topics together. Reading aloud can also help you get into that more literary fiction that he may not be as self-driven to otherwise (with the caveat that if after a few chapters he is actively disinterested in the book you're reading together, it may be worth trying a different book).
posted by donut_princess at 9:18 AM on May 6 [3 favorites]

Ive only seen it mentioned a few times, but I think it's really important to remember that they need *time* to read. I was one of those kids who read nonstop through my childhood, and my parents didn't really do anything special beyond read themselves and give me free range at the library. But I also read so much because that's what there was to do - no tv, no internet, loved far from other people so I couldn't hang out with kids my age much.

I stopped reading so much in highschool because I was in half a dozen clubs and band and theatre on top of school work, and I'm sure it's only gotten worse in the modern day. I simply didn't have time, especially if I wanted to hang out with friends. College was even worse.

It continues to be a struggle to find or make time to read, because I really only enjoy reading in a solid chunk of time - I'm not the sort of person that can read a chapter or two and then come back later. I need an hour at least, and how often do I feel like I can carve out and hour to nothing but read when my list of chores and tasks and projects is neverending?
posted by unsettledink at 9:19 AM on May 6 [5 favorites]

Take him to the library frequently, and let him see you checking out books, too. Talk about books you are reading. Go to events where authors appear. Read the same books he does, once a while, and exchange your reactions. Track the number of books he reads at home, and at the library (if they ever do similar contests) -- and go out for ice cream at milestones. Do the same for long books, or for finishing a series.

Get him a dumb Kindle (so not exactly a "screen" as usually decried), and set him up with access to your library's e-book collection for instant download to the Kindle. My youngest reads faster this way than she would if she was waiting for me to drive her to the library, and I'm a damn library trustee so it's not like I don't like going there.

Never check on what he's reading, only that he is reading.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:55 AM on May 6

Go ask the children's librarians a question, and use it as a pretense to introduce him. They'll probably remember him, and always greet him. Talk to them about books for him, but let them shift the conversation from you to him.

We did that with our kids, and they are still monster readers. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 9:57 AM on May 6

Nthing that screentime is the biggest thing. One kid was into computers and we stopped strictly limiting screentime when he was around 11, and that's when he stopped reading. Another was less into computers and didn't get a tablet until she was around 14, and that's when she started reading a lot less. (But she never stopped completely, in part because she didn't have a phone at school and spent a lot of time reading in the library there, but mostly due to personality.)

For family harmony reasons, I wouldn't try to strictly limit teens' screentime, but having specific daily periods without screens may encourage other ways of engaging with the world (maybe or maybe not books, but art/ outdoors/ cleaning their rooms are all nice too).

Talking excitedly about the books I'm reading probably doesn't help but I do it because it can't hurt.

Encouraging audiobooks can be a good idea for some people. My non-reader eventually started listening to podcasts and shifted into the occasional audiobook. Never poo-poo audiobooks as less good.

Noting the genres they're most interested in helps too; my non-reader's audiobooks are all nonfiction and self-help. Then you can recommend relevant books you come across.

My family took vacations to places without internet; everyone read a lot more there.
posted by metasarah at 10:41 AM on May 6

Response by poster: I just picked my son up from school and he told me he was in the reading nook this morning and was so into his book he didn't notice everyone going out for morning recess and didn't realize he missed recess until all the other kids came in. So maybe I am overthinking. He was reading "Weird But True 2."

(and yes, they apparently noticed he was missing at recess, but were looking for him outside and didn't think to check the reading nook in the class).
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 12:55 PM on May 6 [7 favorites]

You've gotten some great advice here about making reading material available, encouraging all genres that kid gravitates to in different periods of childhood, making reading social, and modeling your own reading for enjoyment. The one thing I'll add is that if you want kids to keep read for pleasure as teenagers, it's important for parents not to be even silently anxious about their kids' reading habits any more than you are about their enjoyment of other fun activities. It is very easy for reading (or anything) to turn into "eat your vegetables" and so lose its luster at an age when kids are naturally becoming more autonomous and less eager to seek parental approval. Adults who love classical music don't love it because it gives them better math scores. So yeah, just remind yourself that losing yourself in a book is super fun and try not to worry about it, bc ironically, letting go of the investment in it as something important for the future is probably the best way to keep a love of reading feeling natural.
posted by ojocaliente at 1:50 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

This thread is long and you probably don’t need any more advice but

I second and third everyone upthread who said:

1. Let them read whatever they want without regard for literary quality

and

2. It’s school that ruins everything

As a former esol/reading/ELA teacher, I totally agree that the huge, dense, dry, frequently low-quality text burden that starts crushing schoolchildren around fourth grade is largely responsible for avid readers checking out. It makes avid reading adult teachers check out too. You can’t do much about the crap they have to read in school and for testing, but definitely push back on reading too much crap for homework if you can.
posted by toodleydoodley at 4:38 PM on May 6 [1 favorite]

I am not being smug here, because I have a lot of reading angst of my own in terms of long periods of basically not reading after being a life long reader. Smart phones and psychiatric drugs (that I need) basically made me a non-reader that as a school librarian I felt a lot of shame about. I did get my reading mojo back when I was a judge in a children's book award, and I have a lot of relief about it. However, both my kids, at 23 and 26, have been life long readers. And whereas I love audio books, they both prefer physical books. I think what helped is visits to the library, and thrift stores, and book stores, and being excited about books in general. I also made it a point of giving them books for holidays/birthdays- ones that I think they will want to read, not just the ones I wanted them to read. And I do that to this day. I visit them in their adult lives, and we go to book stores and I buy them books still. We actually have a family book group where we agree to read certain books. The first was Crying in H Mart, and oh man, that was a tough book to read with my kids! And when they were young, I never said no to what they wanted to read. My younger kid read Twilight in 3rd grade, and I got a lot of flack for it. But I read Fire Starter at that age, and I didn't get the parts I didn't get. Now, having said all of that, there might be a time where you kid isn't reading as much, and that will be hard, but don't think it means they will never read again. I know lots of kids who go through phases, the point is, to never stop trying to get them to read.
posted by momochan at 4:58 PM on May 6 [2 favorites]

I want to talk about walking back screens since you mentioned that. We are doing that and it is working. I realize that wasn’t the question but it came up and want to give you some strategies.

Screen time is not only limited in length it’s limited to a specific time of day. If kid doesn’t watch between the hours of 3:30pm and 5:30pm, it’s not happening.
Screen time is limited to two locations only: kitchen counter and couch. It doesn’t leave those two areas.
Screen is password protected and requires and adult to put in password. Kid does not have access to App Store.
Adults have changed their screen time habits. Fairness is really important to kids. We talked about screens as a whole family problem. I got a dumb phone. I sincerely try to limit my non-work screen time to the same rules my kid has.
More active play. A lot more. Replaced all screen time requests with “let’s wrestle” or “let’s bike ride” or “let’s play pretend figurines!”

The end result has been about 30 min of screen time a day with an initial time period of “I hate this,” followed by “you must give me all your undivided attention always,” followed by “sometimes play with you and sometimes I play on my own.”
posted by CMcG at 5:59 PM on May 6 [3 favorites]

There is a lot of research on this topic. It's google-able. I can't do it well on my phone sorry. Unfortunately a lot of well meaning advice from the Olds like myself is not really relevant to the world that young people are in today. Screens offer many many options for socialising and accessing content that compete with books, and have changed the landscape. I would encourage you to look at the research, which does support reading by your own choice, seeing it modelled by adults, and for pleasure. But don't take my word for it! Read some of the many studies that English teachers like myself are also frantically perusing as we try to make this happen.
posted by jojobobo at 1:15 AM on May 9

I read whenever I could, as a child. Walking to the store reading, reading at school when I could get away with it, begging to read at restaurants...I don't read as much now, it ebbs and flows, but I certainly still love books.

My parents did the recommended reading aloud at night, until I was nine or so. Other than that, they just had a positive attitude towards all reading. I had comic book subscriptions when I was little, and then a science magazine and one about dog training in my teens. I think subscriptions based on special interests are a great way to periodically remind a child how exciting new reading material is.

On literary reading: Try to examine why you're valuing certain books so highly, and what it is about reading that you want to develop in your child. Why do you want him to read? Steering him towards classics will almost certainly extinguish his love of books, and quickly. He can sense which books you approve of. Remember that those classics were just stories, when they were written, and that today's stories are relevant as well.

While the library is great and freedom of choice is important, I also think parents can really help with the executive functioning part of finding new books. My mum did that. She made sure to regularly select books I might enjoy. She made clear that they were just to try out, no obligation to read them at all. (An important part of being a happy reader is learning how to ditch books when they aren't working for you.) The offer of different books by interesting new authors just picked for me, no work on my part, was very helpful. It's not like I loved them all, but I loved enough of them to help me learn that I want books in my life. She would give them to me as little surprises after special challenges like exams, or when I was sick, or when I was simply having a bad day. I got a book for every report card (not tied to any grades), and also for long trips. Used kids' books are very cheap and often available in big boxes.

I think your instincts are correct; don't tie reading to any rewards. If anything, make reading be the reward. You want reading to be intrinsically motivating.

I think if at any point you do notice your kid is reading less, there are still a few things you can do. Limiting other time sucks is important. That may include screens, but it could also include schoolwork. If your kid is a perfectionist (like I was, as a child), you might need to help him learn when projects are "good enough", and how to prioritize relaxation. You might need to be very protective of a quiet hour right after school, for example, that he can use to unwind and possibly read. A small ritual I enjoyed in my family growing up was "book breakfast" - a semi-regular tradition of everyone grabbing a book for a quiet and cozy breakfast. This was always initiated by the kids, but first introduced by my mum.

Another thing you can do for a true reset is to create times when there's nothing to do but read. This could be a long train ride (that's how I finally got into Narnia), or a vacation in a remote area, or just regular days out in a field or on the beach.

Good luck, though it doesn't sound as if you'll need it!

PS: Have you read Harry Potter? You know your kid best, but I read the first two parts at nine, and I was extremely scared of snakes emerging from our bathroom for quite a while. The later books, especially, seem way too much for a seven-year-old. In the fourth one, a man is forced to cut off his own hand.
posted by toucan at 12:20 PM on May 9

I wholeheartedly endorse recommendations to go to the library as well as to bookstores. I traveled on back roads in the US, stopped at many book stores and libraries; it's an awesome habit. book people are civil, well-read, engaged, there are books, a clean bathroom, and readers. The habits of visiting libraries and bookstores supports the habit of reading. And get age-appropriate magazine subscriptions.

Video keeps pushing itself into my life, and I fear a little for the future of literacy.
posted by theora55 at 4:33 PM on May 9