My kids (10 & 8) used to be the most voracious readers. My older one read every Harry Potter, all of Land of Stories, the entire Percy Jackson series, and many others. Thousands of pages. Then at the end of 4th grade last year, she just stopped. There have been some others here and there, but mostly she just picks up a graphic novel and reads bits and pieces throughout the day. She doesn’t want to read anything that isn’t in a series and I can’t even get her to start one at that. I don’t know what happened or how to get back on track. Graphic novels are like their magazines/social media in that they’re quick and easy to jump in and out of. I see that as the negative as you noted but also the positive. We all need things that are fluffy fun reading on the side. But how do I get them back to the real stuff, short of giving away all the graphic novels?
Talk about what you read around your kids. This was so motivating for me. My mom, grandma and great aunt were always talking about books. It was so obvious how much they enjoyed reading that I wanted that too! I didn’t have that until I found the right genre of literature at age 10, but I stuck with it reading lots of different types of books from age 6 on.
I was recommended a lot of books popular with girls at the time (1990s) about kids with cancer or friendship drama, and I found this extremely boring and/or depressing. When I found Sherlock Holmes, the mystery was so compelling, I had to keep reading to find out what happened and why! I found other mysteries some for kids and some for adults that I could read. I went from wanting to like reading to actually loving it. And I’ve spent the next several decades reading mysteries for fun and a host of other things, all because my family made their love of reading visible and inspiring.
Audiobooks in the car with my kids is one of my favorite tricks! It’s nice to share a book as a family, and this is a great way to push them into higher level reading.
Thank you for this. I have strongly advocated for a love of reading in my son's life. He does indeed have quite the vocabulary for a 6 yr old, according to his teachers. This post gave me the warm fuzzies and validated perhaps maybe the only thing I have done so far I can confidently say I've done right as a parent. ❤️ I may fail at times everywhere else, but we shall read and love stories together, if nothing else.
This is EXCELLENT! Melanie offers the best resources here. These could all be printed into a book for parents! While I read to my kids through middle school and always took them to the library I regret not creating this routine — kids go to your room 30min before bedtime to have quiet time to yourself. With that my kids would have been primed for sleep at bedtime, I would have gotten to bed earlier and they would have been MUCH more likely to read a book than watch TV in the living room. My kids are high schoolers now. My daughter is an avid reader but by middle school my son stopped book reading and I have not found a way to get him back to this. I’m inspired to try starting a 30m before bed routine now!
I recommend magazine subscriptions — The Week Jr. when kids are in elementary and middle. Now we get National Geographic and ones specific to their interests (maybe future professions) — architecture, design, etc. Kids are VERY excited to receive things by mail! My kids would race to the mailbox every week for The Week Jr to be the first to read that issue. It is a reward to have your kids fight over who gets to be the first reader!
As a librarian and reading teacher, I agree with nine of these points but strongly disagree about graphic novels. Sentence complexity, vocabulary, and story structure are all richly present in graphic novels. Considerable research supports this.
That was the one point with which I disagreed as well. My son (who enjoys all kinds of books) LOVES the Science Comics graphic novels, and I think they’re great. I think ONLY reading graphic novels is the same as ONLY any other genre - you’re missing out on lots of good books - but I think they’re worthy books just the same.
Wow! This is so right! Thank you! Reading did not come naturally to me as a busy kid. If there had been addictive tablets and phones and video games around as a kid, I would have never picked up a book. Unlike a video game, reading takes time and effort to appreciate. Glad I was given the chance.
The headings are things not to do (they harm reading habits) but the words underneath are positive instructions to build good reading habits. Maybe you should signal the change by saying “instead.”
In about the 4th grade, I discovered the joy of reading. My Side of the Mountain, Black Beauty, The Yearling, Little House on the Prairie. It's fun looking back because I am a nature lover, and it seems the books I fell in love with as a child show that.
My mom took me to the library all the time around that year, and I am sure that her doing that was what helped me have that breakthrough. She also bought me huge sets of books like Nancy Drew and others, at garage sales, so I had lots of fun "easy" books to read too!
I remember reading in The Shallows years ago that even just the regular old Internet was frying our brains for reading - the author begins the book saying, "Is it just me or are you noticing that it's getting harder and harder to read?"
The chronic overstimulation from screens makes it so hard to go back and just be with a real book. But the good news is that if once we power through that feeling, the skill comes back (assuming we had it in the first place).
We have age-appropriate encyclopedias as well, so we aren't just googling things; we are letting them really engage with material, even non-narrative material, and I have found a lot of parents bringing back in encyclopedias and other physical resources more lately.
I love Melanie's advice of keeping things easy to access for fun hobbies like reading (and crafts and games and puzzles and sports) - that bit of advice is really helping me create a warm and fun home for my family and me.
Love this! My kids have gotten into audio books recently, and they love it! Excited for them to see that there are a variety of ways to enjoy good books ☺️
Love this! My only argument is kids with ADHD who struggle to visualize what they are reading in their heads thrive with graphic novels and it may continue to encourage their love for reading while their brains develop this skill
My kids (10 & 8) used to be the most voracious readers. My older one read every Harry Potter, all of Land of Stories, the entire Percy Jackson series, and many others. Thousands of pages. Then at the end of 4th grade last year, she just stopped. There have been some others here and there, but mostly she just picks up a graphic novel and reads bits and pieces throughout the day. She doesn’t want to read anything that isn’t in a series and I can’t even get her to start one at that. I don’t know what happened or how to get back on track. Graphic novels are like their magazines/social media in that they’re quick and easy to jump in and out of. I see that as the negative as you noted but also the positive. We all need things that are fluffy fun reading on the side. But how do I get them back to the real stuff, short of giving away all the graphic novels?
Do a parallel readalong or read aloud with her. Also, ask her why she doesn’t want to read! (Hope is not lost 💛)
Talk about what you read around your kids. This was so motivating for me. My mom, grandma and great aunt were always talking about books. It was so obvious how much they enjoyed reading that I wanted that too! I didn’t have that until I found the right genre of literature at age 10, but I stuck with it reading lots of different types of books from age 6 on.
I was recommended a lot of books popular with girls at the time (1990s) about kids with cancer or friendship drama, and I found this extremely boring and/or depressing. When I found Sherlock Holmes, the mystery was so compelling, I had to keep reading to find out what happened and why! I found other mysteries some for kids and some for adults that I could read. I went from wanting to like reading to actually loving it. And I’ve spent the next several decades reading mysteries for fun and a host of other things, all because my family made their love of reading visible and inspiring.
Audiobooks in the car with my kids is one of my favorite tricks! It’s nice to share a book as a family, and this is a great way to push them into higher level reading.
Thank you for this. I have strongly advocated for a love of reading in my son's life. He does indeed have quite the vocabulary for a 6 yr old, according to his teachers. This post gave me the warm fuzzies and validated perhaps maybe the only thing I have done so far I can confidently say I've done right as a parent. ❤️ I may fail at times everywhere else, but we shall read and love stories together, if nothing else.
This is EXCELLENT! Melanie offers the best resources here. These could all be printed into a book for parents! While I read to my kids through middle school and always took them to the library I regret not creating this routine — kids go to your room 30min before bedtime to have quiet time to yourself. With that my kids would have been primed for sleep at bedtime, I would have gotten to bed earlier and they would have been MUCH more likely to read a book than watch TV in the living room. My kids are high schoolers now. My daughter is an avid reader but by middle school my son stopped book reading and I have not found a way to get him back to this. I’m inspired to try starting a 30m before bed routine now!
I recommend magazine subscriptions — The Week Jr. when kids are in elementary and middle. Now we get National Geographic and ones specific to their interests (maybe future professions) — architecture, design, etc. Kids are VERY excited to receive things by mail! My kids would race to the mailbox every week for The Week Jr to be the first to read that issue. It is a reward to have your kids fight over who gets to be the first reader!
As a librarian and reading teacher, I agree with nine of these points but strongly disagree about graphic novels. Sentence complexity, vocabulary, and story structure are all richly present in graphic novels. Considerable research supports this.
That was the one point with which I disagreed as well. My son (who enjoys all kinds of books) LOVES the Science Comics graphic novels, and I think they’re great. I think ONLY reading graphic novels is the same as ONLY any other genre - you’re missing out on lots of good books - but I think they’re worthy books just the same.
Wow! This is so right! Thank you! Reading did not come naturally to me as a busy kid. If there had been addictive tablets and phones and video games around as a kid, I would have never picked up a book. Unlike a video game, reading takes time and effort to appreciate. Glad I was given the chance.
The headings are things not to do (they harm reading habits) but the words underneath are positive instructions to build good reading habits. Maybe you should signal the change by saying “instead.”
In about the 4th grade, I discovered the joy of reading. My Side of the Mountain, Black Beauty, The Yearling, Little House on the Prairie. It's fun looking back because I am a nature lover, and it seems the books I fell in love with as a child show that.
My mom took me to the library all the time around that year, and I am sure that her doing that was what helped me have that breakthrough. She also bought me huge sets of books like Nancy Drew and others, at garage sales, so I had lots of fun "easy" books to read too!
I remember reading in The Shallows years ago that even just the regular old Internet was frying our brains for reading - the author begins the book saying, "Is it just me or are you noticing that it's getting harder and harder to read?"
The chronic overstimulation from screens makes it so hard to go back and just be with a real book. But the good news is that if once we power through that feeling, the skill comes back (assuming we had it in the first place).
We have age-appropriate encyclopedias as well, so we aren't just googling things; we are letting them really engage with material, even non-narrative material, and I have found a lot of parents bringing back in encyclopedias and other physical resources more lately.
I love Melanie's advice of keeping things easy to access for fun hobbies like reading (and crafts and games and puzzles and sports) - that bit of advice is really helping me create a warm and fun home for my family and me.
Love this! My kids have gotten into audio books recently, and they love it! Excited for them to see that there are a variety of ways to enjoy good books ☺️
Love this! My only argument is kids with ADHD who struggle to visualize what they are reading in their heads thrive with graphic novels and it may continue to encourage their love for reading while their brains develop this skill