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A Sneaky Way To Get Children To Read Books
Forget nagging and bribing them with Skittles. Try this instead.
Covid has affected children’s reading habits in surprising ways. Some studies have found that children have been reading — and enjoying — books more since the pandemic began. But school and library closings have cut off access for those whose homes have few books or no quiet place for reading. Other children have become hardwired to Fortnite or Minecraft, and their elders will have to work to interest them in books again as the lockdowns ease.
How can you help a child discover or rediscover the joy of reading? The parents of Daniel Handler, the creator of Lemony Snicket, found a sneaky way to do it that didn’t involve nagging, pleading, or bribing the future author with Skittles. Hayley Mitchell Haugen explains in Daniel Handler: The Real Lemony Snicket: Inventors and Creators.
“Handler’s parents helped instill a love of books in him as a child. When reading to him at night, his parents would often stop at suspenseful moments and tell him he would have to wait until the next night to hear the rest. They warned him that under no circumstances should he turn on the light and continue reading once they left the room. This tactic of raising a story’s suspense to almost unbearable heights encouraged Daniel to continue reading his books deep into the night.”
Jan Harayda is a former vice-president of the National Book Critics Circle who write about books for adults and children. She tweets at @janiceharayda.
