In a world where endless streams of content are instantaneously available for our consumption 24/7, taking the time to read a book seems almost counter-intuitive.
There are no moving pictures or sounds to hold our attention. No “likes”, comments or shares for “interaction”. No exciting edits or effects.
Just words that you have to read, make sense of and picture in your head.
Nevertheless, we’ve worked hard to make reading the default medium of entertainment in our household, over and beyond smartphones, TVs and games.
Twelve years into our parenting journey, it’s time to check in and ask ourselves: Has it really been working?
EVERY CHILD READS DIFFERENTLY
To me, a key sign of success is my kids’ excitement for the library.
Each month, we lug home 20 to 40 books at a time, our bags straining and groaning under the weight of our hauls.
Bookstore outings are even bigger treats, because they know that they get to keep the books we buy.
These are often read at breakneck speed: My boys (among the oldest of my five kids) can finish a 300-page novel in two to three hours, while my oldest daughter, aged seven, breezes through 50 to 80 pages in 30 minutes.
However, it wasn’t always like this.
