The Myth of Raising Good Readers

 Every time I look online for advice on raising readers, one of the top two tips is always for the parents to read a lot. The author of the post or article will then spend a paragraph or two claiming that people who read a lot, in front of their kids, will inevitably raise kids who love books. 

Well, I'm here to debunk this myth.

I have four kids who range in age from 17-11. They all are proficient readers who have been known on occasion to rave about a book they read. But do any of them reach for a book without at least a little cajoling from yours truly: they do not. 

Another tip from the so-called experts is to create a literature-rich environment. 

I am the queen of literature-rich environments. When they were small, I labeled furniture and household objects with bold, clear lettering so they could get used to seeing and trying to decode the written word. We made letter sounds and spent hours upon hours reading together. I had library parties for the neighborhood kids complete with Rice Krispie bookworms. We had stacks of books that we used for reading, making reading forts, and just leafing through to look at pictures when we were bored. Our house was literature-rich AF. 

And even with teenagers, library trips are frequent, there are books in every room of the house, and I don't hesitate to engage with them about the books they are reading or read aloud to them. 

So what gives?????

Why don't any of my four children gravitate towards reading as a form of relaxation, fun, or even curiosity?

Well, they do, kind of. 

There have been times I've caught my 16-year-old with a manga, just grinning from ear to ear. She almost always sets it down when she sees me and tells me how much she loves what she's reading and what is happening in the story. 

And there was the time my 13-year-old read The Talented Mr. Ripley for fun. I decided to read it too and we had a lovely book club at a local cafe. 

My 11-year-old killed it at Battle of the Books this year, reading all ten books and really loving some. He told me I had to read Stuart Gibbs and then he went on a deep dive into that author's work. 

And, my 17-year-old asked me for my opinion on the list of books her English teacher offered to them to read in the last quarter of school. We talked through the options and she picked Circe (I highly recommended it) and we were able to discuss feminism, greek myth vs. history, and what makes a story pull us in. 

But these are kids who would go on a trip and not bring a book...or maybe only bring one. They have been on six-hour-long flights and never once pulled out the book in their carry-on. #blasphemy

I take solace in something I heard recently on the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. The host said that your kids will do most of their reading after they leave your house. After. As in not now. 

Maybe my timeline is too short. Maybe, they are different from me when I was their age--I had limited access to computers and no concept of social media or apps, and my school course load was much less rigorous. Maybe, like with most things in parenting, I'm impatient for the results and getting tired of the work. 

I guess this is the opposite of a debunking...this is more of a confirming. Or, better yet, it's a wait-and-see. The results are not in yet. 

Someday I may go on vacation with my kids and see that they have brought a couple of books. Someday we might read the same books and discuss them when they don't have the pressure of mandatory reading for school weighing on them. Someday their homes might be filled with books...or at least they might have a shelf devoted to their favorite manga or Stuart Gibbs.

Even though I'm getting tired of the work, I won't quit. When it comes to my kids I find that giving up is literally impossible. 

I will always start book discussions over dinner and read the books they are interested in so we can talk about them. I will always keep a house full of books. And you can bet your bottom dollar I will always read in front of them. I mean, someone has to read all the books I've accumulated around here. 🤷‍♀️