Kids and reading!

[-Fran-]

I learnt how to read when I was six, and after that I shortly became a book worm. I was the kind of kid who constantly ended up reading all night, and then had trouble staying awake in school. :o

I think I got this from my mother. My mom only went seven years in school, at 14 she started to work, and that was that when it came to education. But she loved to read (she still reads every day) and encouraged us kids, in her own ways to do the same. I never remember her actually telling us to read though, or nagging us about that we should. She just read herself and to us and thus showed that it was a nice thing. She gave us books, and never said a word if they went un-read, and so there was never any pressure. I don’t know if this was a conscious plan to get us to read, I don’t think it was. It’s just the way she is.

One of my earliest memories is the many visits to the neighbouring village where the school library were open to the public in the evenings. It was so exciting to choose and borrow books there together with my mom. After we had our books we went to see grandma, who lived nearby, and got milk and home baked cinnamon buns. Books were a usual gift for birthdays and Christmas as well. And even after I learned to read by myself I loved the moments when us kids snuggled up with her in her bed, and she would read H. C. Andersen’s stories to us from six large books of his collected works. Books were definitely connected with all sorts of good stuff for me.

I think it helped too that there weren’t really that much to distract you from reading when I grew up. Of course you played with your friends a lot, but there were only the two state channels on TV, there were of course no computers or Internet the way there is today, no video games, and even when the VCR came we couldn’t afford to get one until several years later. So, what to do when bored, but read! Not that I ever felt that I missed out on anything.

Well, in most ways I was like most little kids, but in some ways I guess I was rather precocious. I was never satisfied with only reading just my kid’s and youth’s books I got as gifts. I did love them, but I wanted to read everything. I rummaged through my mother’s bookshelf as well. I ploughed through my grandfather’s old books. And whenever our teacher took us to visit the big city library, I could never be made to stay in the kid’s section only. So, I read a lot of stuff that I suppose was not meant for my eyes.

My mom never stopped me from doing this. She never ever chose for me, and never said I couldn’t read this or that, never said I couldn’t touch her books. I am not sure if maybe she was being a bit irresponsible, or if she wasn’t that much aware of that I actually read so much grown up literature. And even if she maybe should have checked it up more, today I am nothing but grateful to her for not doing that. Yes, I read stuff that wasn’t meant for a kid my age, but I can’t see that it affected me badly in any way. I had, and still have, a very close relationship with my mother, and never had a problem coming to her with my problems, fears and thoughts. Had something I read affected me really badly I would have run to her crying about it, but I can’t remember that I ever did.

Well I did learn a lot. Much went over my head, I guess, but much knowledge did stick as well. I learnt that the world is not always a nice place, but I didn’t exactly grow up in fairy tale idyll anyway (even if I had, all in all, a nice enough childhood) so I knew that already, and it didn’t freak me out. I remember reading things about what went on in the world and then becoming angry because they had said nothing about this in school. I felt they were fooling us. For example, I read a lot about North American natives and their situation, and then I went to look in our history book in school, and discovered there were only two; I say two, sentences in several chapters of the history of the USA about them. I brought this up in history class, quite agitated by all the horrible atrocities I had read about, and was finally taken aside by the teacher who explained, quite annoyed, that there was simply no time to learn about every little thing, and that I should not question so much. This was in the fifth or the sixth grade, so I was 11 or 12 at the time. It was not like they tried to censor things in school, at least I don’t think so, I remember we learnt quite in depth about the Holocaust, for example. But they did pick and choose from the knowledge, and so, yes, there were a lot of things I got to understand from reading books that weren’t meant for me, that I would otherwise have missed out on.

I would love to hear about your stories of what books meant to you when you grew up. Was it something fun, maybe even magical, or was it maybe something that presented a difficulty for you, and you have bad memories connected to books and reading?

And what do you all think about kids and reading? Should kids (up to 13 years of age, I guess is the age group I am referring to here) get to read what they want, within reasonable limits, or should their reading be monitored rather strictly? I am not out to find out what is the absolute wrong, or right thing to do here, but your personal opinion. Should there be a strict age limit between kid’s and youth’s books on one hand, and grown up’s books on the other? Or is this something that you would want to decide on an individual basis? Some children are more mature and can handle different things than other kids the same age after all. I do speak from the perspective of one who is just remembering her own childhood here; I have no children of my own. So, what do you think, you who do have kids?

[madurobob]

I came from a family of professors and both my father and grandfather had small libraries. I read anything I felt like and was never told there was something I should not read. My father had some subversive Alan Ginzberg-ish stuff that I found fun.

As for kids, it really depends on the kid. My oldest, now 15, began reading at 5. he read the entire first harry Potter book in one night during first grade. He was, and still is, very introspective and rational and I've always felt he could read anything or watch (almost) any movie without any problem. I caught him watching a very gory slasher movie when he was 7 and he said "c'mon dad, its just special effects. Its not real". He won that argument.

On the other hand, I have a 7 yr old today who is very emotional and inclined to be totally sucked in by whatever he reads or sees on TV. He only reluctantly admits that Spongebob is not "real". He reads very well, but I would not give him free reign to read any book on the bookshelves becuase he is so impressionable.

So, you cannot simply say "by age X kids should be allowed to read Y". Kids' ability to read, analyze and understand what they are reading varies too much from kid to kid. Some kids should be given a free pass to the library for any book they want, some need a bit more guidance.

[-Fran-]

So, you cannot simply say "by age X kids should be allowed to read Y". Kids' ability to read, analyze and understand what they are reading varies too much from kid to kid. Some kids should be given a free pass to the library for any book they want, some need a bit more guidance.

Yes, that is my personal view as well. kids of the same age group are simply so different from each other.

[sgf8]

Wow Fran, who would ever know, your a sweet and wise woman. I had you pegged for a sexy but violent slasher male. Maybe has something to do with your avatar? I hope you have told your mother, thanks!

Reading is a very big deal to me, my children Caspian (19) and Stirling (16) started to read when they were 5 1/2 and haven't put down a book since. I have been asked for years about how I raised them and why they do so good in school and are great to discuss events with.

I read all the time also as a child, my favorite place was a library around the corner. My mom never read as she was always cleaning or doing something, so my mom was the one who forced me to read because otherwise I had to stay around the house and help her (and she wasn't a very pleasant person) She lives with me now and we get along fine (she is 84). My father read a lot, and now that my mom is here I have started taking all the books from the house (dad died 18 years ago). So now I have all kinds of books, he loved westerns, crime novels and encyclopedias. Sadly we never sat around and discussed books.

Becoming a mom I found that I really wanted my kids to be educated (in many ways) they had a bookcase and books from the beginning and we used to read together. When they were small (5-7? can't remember) I read The Hobbit to them, it was a large book with lots of illustrations, so they loved that. I read the John Christopher series about tripods taking over the world after that. My husband wasn't into reading and maybe that is part of the reason why they were never as close to him, (he also left home 5 years ago to start a new family, they have barely spoke in a year to their dad).

The kids didn't get all the cool video games, or cable TV (we did watch a lot of British Comedy). We never liked sports (Caspian loves Baseball though) and never did a lot of outdoor things. But the kids could almost always ask for books and get them, they knew if they could get me into a used book store I would buy them whatever they could carry to the register. When we travel we look for used book stores and always come home with a few extra pounds of books. We have our walls lined with books and pictures. We almost never get rid of a book and I still have all the books I read when I was a child.

This idea that children should only read X type of books has amazed me. When I went to the library I was supposed to read books in a certain section, I wondered why? My children have never had restrictions on what they could watch on TV, or read and they have always been able to stay up as late as they wanted even on school nights. I have never had problems with them at school, I don't have to wake them up and get them ready. They are out of the house before I am usually. Just very responsible kids.

We have long discussions about school, education and whatever we are reading. Caspian and I sometimes share books, we love history books especially about US presidents. We all loved the Harry Potter books, Caspian out grew them after book 3, Stirling after book 6 and I still love them. Stirling did read book 7 in about 2 days just because he wanted to see what ends up happening.

This age restriction thing alway works the other way around, I don't see a problem with an adult reading a children's book (I'm not talking about HP) I have read lots of books for all ages and enjoy them a lot. I also am in college (History major) and have lots to read in that area as well.

Caspian is a 2/3 year college student and he is now taking a sci fiction English class, I am so jealous and I'm sure many of his books will be passed on to me.

I said earlier that I have been asked hundreds of times (maybe not hundreds) what I did right with these kids. They aren't into the popular culture, popular music, sports, dance, drugs or alcohol. Both have had girlfriends (Stirling is still with her 2 years later) good looking, thinish, healthy boys. We all love to play games, and Caspian is very good with trivia, one of his favorite activities is Wikipedia. Stirling is very into the MechWarrior books and games (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong) and writes a fan fiction blog on this genre.

I gave my kids lots of freedom, only saying NO when I really needed to, they are both raving Atheists and I love having them around. I think they still like being around me also. So far so good. Grandma is now here with them and everyone gets along really well, we are crowded but oh well.

So in a nutshell (too late) we read two newspapers a day (and discuss them) and we all read all kinds of stuff. I didn't care if it was cartoons, I just wanted to see them read. Don't care a lot about having a very clean home, or knowing what B. Spears is up to.

Kids should always have access to a quiet area they can read in, maybe several places around the house, and they should see you read also. Give them a bookcase and a library card.

Probably way to much info.

Susan

[sgf8]

Oh my FSM my last post is huge! When you see it "published" it kinda hits you.

Anyway, just thought you might like this story about my sister and a book.

My sister Mary is 9 years older than I am and a big reader. The story my mom tells was that she used to check out a book from the library over and over. I think it was a book about the Am. Revolution "Silver Fox" ? They called from the library many times to say that she hadn't returned the book. Months later my mom found the book under Mary's mattress. Mary said that she heard that there had been a home break-in in a nearby house, so she was worried that they might break in and steal this book so she hid it. Funny her most precious possession was a book. Cool really

Susan

[juniper_ann]

My parents had a lot of books that they’d gotten from estates my grandfather (an antiques dealer) bought, but had never read. I read a lot, and when I ran out of kid’s books, I started reading the slimmer of the grownup books.

My parents were very, very strict on what I could watch (no PG movies unless they were specifically approved until I was 13), so it was nice to have access to things they didn’t know about.

On the other hand, I was in fourth grade (9 or 10) when I read 1984. I didn’t get the politics or the philosophy, but the torture scenes scared me witless!

I think in an ideal world, parents would know what their kid was reading, but would do more advising and discussing than forbidding--books are easy to sneak, so there's no point in making it "forbidden fruit".

[TX50]

When I was 16 my father threw all my books into the trash.

[juniper_ann]

When I was 16 my father threw all my books into the trash.

That sounds like it might have been traumatic. Why?

[fuelair]

When I was 16 my father threw all my books into the trash.
Very sad to hear that. My parents were smarter (no offence).

Will try to do a short version here - by three I was encouraged to read (and was being read to too) so by 5 I was reading the Golden Books + (all that was available). In school I discovered the library, kept them busy and never looked back. Around 8 or 9 I was introduced to the Weekly Reader Book Club and later it's teen's version and usually made up enough items to assure we met the minimum and through that discovered ownership (or discovered the concept of personal library). My mom played piano at a local jazz/strip/BYOB club and was well known for reading while she played with a three piece pretty fine band and had most of her books given to her. My first non-school book purchases were orders from Pyramid Books from the back of one of the many books she brought home (I knew where she stashed them) so by that point I was into adult stuff as well as from the 4th grade when we moved across town having access to a school library with a wider array (really good in SF, Myths and Legends, Science, Mystery - discovered Heinlein and Poe and Holmes and a lot of other stuff there)- and in my fifth grade room, I read the entire World Book while almost always managing to avoid the teacher's eye. Learned a lot that year - though most was not in the curriculum.
And then...................:) :)

[TX50]

Very sad to hear that. My parents were smarter (no offence).



None taken. I'm not my father.

My father was a cop and, as I now realise, was depressed and traumatised
by some of the things he did and saw in the job. He took it out on his family
on occasion. I hated him when I was young, but I understand why he did it
now. That doesn't make my childhood memories any sweeter though.

[-Fran-]

My parents had a lot of books that they’d gotten from estates my grandfather (an antiques dealer) bought, but had never read. I read a lot, and when I ran out of kid’s books, I started reading the slimmer of the grownup books.

My grandfather was an antique collector, and sometimes dealer, so I know what you mean, books were often part of the package. He wanted something special, he often got boxes of books in the bargain :) My grandfather did read some, but on one occassion he gave my mom hundreds and hundreds of old books in several large boxes. It was a treasure. Unfortunately, since we didn't have room for them, she temporarily stored those boxes in the basement while figuring out where to find more bookshelf space... and then we had a pipe breaking and the basement flooded... in sewage water :( About 95 % of all the books were completely soaked in the stinky water and we had to throw them away. That was sad.


I think in an ideal world, parents would know what their kid was reading, but would do more advising and discussing than forbidding--books are easy to sneak, so there's no point in making it "forbidden fruit".

Yes, I am all for talking and discussing, not simply forbidding. I guess many parents just don't have the time though, it's so much easier to just forbid, but yes, most kids will know how to be sneaky with stuff anyway. I would rather they sneaked with books than drugs and such :)

[-Fran-]

Wow Fran, who would ever know, your a sweet and wise woman. I had you pegged for a sexy but violent slasher male. Maybe has something to do with your avatar?

Really? LOL, well, that's me, a sweet woman with a violent slasher streak ;)


I hope you have told your mother, thanks!

I have :) We've talked about it several times, how much we love books, and I’ve told her I do foremost because of her.


Reading is a very big deal to me, my children Caspian (19) and Stirling (16) started to read when they were 5 1/2 and haven't put down a book since. I have been asked for years about how I raised them and why they do so good in school and are great to discuss events with.

Love the names of your sons :)


I read all the time also as a child, my favorite place was a library around the corner. My mom never read as she was always cleaning or doing something, so my mom was the one who forced me to read because otherwise I had to stay around the house and help her (and she wasn't a very pleasant person) She lives with me now and we get along fine (she is 84). My father read a lot, and now that my mom is here I have started taking all the books from the house (dad died 18 years ago). So now I have all kinds of books, he loved westerns, crime novels and encyclopedias. Sadly we never sat around and discussed books.

Becoming a mom I found that I really wanted my kids to be educated (in many ways) they had a bookcase and books from the beginning and we used to read together. When they were small (5-7? can't remember) I read The Hobbit to them, it was a large book with lots of illustrations, so they loved that. I read the John Christopher series about tripods taking over the world after that. My husband wasn't into reading and maybe that is part of the reason why they were never as close to him, (he also left home 5 years ago to start a new family, they have barely spoke in a year to their dad).

I do think reading to your kids is a great way both to make them love books, and to bond with them. I almost (but only almost) feel sorry for your ex-husband; he's the one who has really missed out on something! It's sad that some people are so stupid not to realize what they leave behind. I never knew my dad, but my mom did her best in giving me what I needed, I am sure that you do as well, and you’ll have the love and trust of your kids for the rest of your life. What will he have?


The kids didn't get all the cool video games, or cable TV (we did watch a lot of British Comedy). We never liked sports (Caspian loves Baseball though) and never did a lot of outdoor things. But the kids could almost always ask for books and get them, they knew if they could get me into a used book store I would buy them whatever they could carry to the register. When we travel we look for used book stores and always come home with a few extra pounds of books. We have our walls lined with books and pictures. We almost never get rid of a book and I still have all the books I read when I was a child.

I love used book stores! Put me in one and I could literally stay in there half a day! I’ve saved all my books too, since I was a kid, with a few exceptions of books that got lost or destroyed. A few years back, though, I actually forced myself to sort some books out, my bookshelves were overflowing and I had no money to buy more bookshelves. But that was a tough thing to do.


This idea that children should only read X type of books has amazed me. When I went to the library I was supposed to read books in a certain section, I wondered why? My children have never had restrictions on what they could watch on TV, or read and they have always been able to stay up as late as they wanted even on school nights. I have never had problems with them at school, I don't have to wake them up and get them ready. They are out of the house before I am usually. Just very responsible kids.

Yes, kids are different, and if they really don’t need such strict supervising, then why inflict it upon them? My brothers and I grew up in a very free home, we didn’t have such restrictions either and we were never punished or put down in any way. Our parents were not strict, we grew up in the country side, we had lots of animals and we could play freely. My mom did want her house to look nice, so we had a sort of deal. Don’t mess up the house too much, and you can keep your own bedrooms in any way that you want. Ours was a mom who never said “clean your room” :) . None of us grew up to be messy people; our homes now are clean and tidy. None of us grew up to be any sort of delinquents on the whole. Maybe a free upbringing doesn’t work for everybody, but it did work well for us.


We have long discussions about school, education and whatever we are reading. Caspian and I sometimes share books, we love history books especially about US presidents. We all loved the Harry Potter books, Caspian out grew them after book 3, Stirling after book 6 and I still love them. Stirling did read book 7 in about 2 days just because he wanted to see what ends up happening.

This age restriction thing alway works the other way around, I don't see a problem with an adult reading a children's book (I'm not talking about HP) I have read lots of books for all ages and enjoy them a lot. I also am in college (History major) and have lots to read in that area as well.

I know :) I sometimes enjoy reading children’s books too. There are so many great classics in children’s literature, often with great illustrations as well. I have plenty of kids’ books in my collection too, even if I don’t have kids of my own. I used to work in a library, and one time they were about to throw away almost a whole school library. I brought home hundreds of old kids’ books from the 1930s and up to the 1970s. They were thought to be outdated and was about to be thrown on the city dump. I did give a lot of it to charity later, not having room for it all, but saved some for myself as well. I couldn’t stand the thought of it being just trashed though.


Caspian is a 2/3 year college student and he is now taking a sci fiction English class, I am so jealous and I'm sure many of his books will be passed on to me.

I’m kind of jealous too, :) that sounds like such a fun class to take!


I said earlier that I have been asked hundreds of times (maybe not hundreds) what I did right with these kids. They aren't into the popular culture, popular music, sports, dance, drugs or alcohol. Both have had girlfriends (Stirling is still with her 2 years later) good looking, thinish, healthy boys. We all love to play games, and Caspian is very good with trivia, one of his favorite activities is Wikipedia. Stirling is very into the MechWarrior books and games (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong) and writes a fan fiction blog on this genre.

I gave my kids lots of freedom, only saying NO when I really needed to, they are both raving Atheists and I love having them around. I think they still like being around me also. So far so good. Grandma is now here with them and everyone gets along really well, we are crowded but oh well.

So in a nutshell (too late) we read two newspapers a day (and discuss them) and we all read all kinds of stuff. I didn't care if it was cartoons, I just wanted to see them read. Don't care a lot about having a very clean home, or knowing what B. Spears is up to.

It seems as if you simply have a great relationship with your sons. I am sure that goes a far way in letting kids develop to their full potential.


Kids should always have access to a quiet area they can read in, maybe several places around the house, and they should see you read also. Give them a bookcase and a library card.

I agree fully!


Probably way to much info.

Don’t worry! I loved reading this! You seem to be an ideal mom and I am sure your sons love you to bits :)

[-Fran-]

Oh my FSM my last post is huge! When you see it "published" it kinda hits you.

I have a tendency to do that too... make huge posts :o


Anyway, just thought you might like this story about my sister and a book.

My sister Mary is 9 years older than I am and a big reader. The story my mom tells was that she used to check out a book from the library over and over. I think it was a book about the Am. Revolution "Silver Fox" ? They called from the library many times to say that she hadn't returned the book. Months later my mom found the book under Mary's mattress. Mary said that she heard that there had been a home break-in in a nearby house, so she was worried that they might break in and steal this book so she hid it. Funny her most precious possession was a book. Cool really

Susan

What a cute story! Yeah, kids have their priorities straight, eh? :)

[-Fran-]

When I was 16 my father threw all my books into the trash.

My father was a cop and, as I now realise, was depressed and traumatised
by some of the things he did and saw in the job. He took it out on his family
on occasion. I hated him when I was young, but I understand why he did it
now. That doesn't make my childhood memories any sweeter though.

I am really sad to hear that! :( I can't help but think that that was a really awful thing to do.

But yes, it's good if one can look back and see and understand why people did what they did when one was a kid, at least it helps one to understand the situation, and maybe make peace with it. But to really forgive is another thing I guess. And some reasons are a good explanation, but never a good excuse... I suppose.

[-Fran-]

Very sad to hear that. My parents were smarter (no offence).

Will try to do a short version here - by three I was encouraged to read (and was being read to too) so by 5 I was reading the Golden Books + (all that was available). In school I discovered the library, kept them busy and never looked back. Around 8 or 9 I was introduced to the Weekly Reader Book Club and later it's teen's version and usually made up enough items to assure we met the minimum and through that discovered ownership (or discovered the concept of personal library). My mom played piano at a local jazz/strip/BYOB club and was well known for reading while she played with a three piece pretty fine band and had most of her books given to her. My first non-school book purchases were orders from Pyramid Books from the back of one of the many books she brought home (I knew where she stashed them) so by that point I was into adult stuff as well as from the 4th grade when we moved across town having access to a school library with a wider array (really good in SF, Myths and Legends, Science, Mystery - discovered Heinlein and Poe and Holmes and a lot of other stuff there)- and in my fifth grade room, I read the entire World Book while almost always managing to avoid the teacher's eye. Learned a lot that year - though most was not in the curriculum.
And then...................:) :)

And then...? :)

Hee, I do think you are better off as a kid if you read a lot at the side, there's a lot that schools won't teach you, that you could have good use for :)

[Charlie Monoxide]

This is an interesting post. I never really thought much about reading as a kid (which I did a lot of). I kinda thought all families did and was surprised to find out later that some didn't even own books?!

I was born into a largish family (6 kids) and my parents didn't really impose a lot of rules on us on what we could or couldn't read. My parents were both (and still are) avid readers, usually reading at least a book or 2 a week. After moving out on my own, a trip to visit my parents usually involved returning with a bag of books that they had read.

Kids have such great imaginations that usually wears off as they age (at least in my case). I really wish science could come up with a pill that would give adults the same sense of wonder that kids have. I move around a lot and one of my first tasks is to get a library card.

It's really too bad that kids today are given a 500 TV channel universe, graphic intensive games, and not encouraged to read.

Stephen King once said (paraphrasing), that "your own mind and imagination is the best Virtual Reality"

Charlie (off to read) Monoxide

[-Fran-]

This is an interesting post. I never really thought much about reading as a kid (which I did a lot of). I kinda thought all families did and was surprised to find out later that some didn't even own books?!

I was born into a largish family (6 kids) and my parents didn't really impose a lot of rules on us on what we could or couldn't read. My parents were both (and still are) avid readers, usually reading at least a book or 2 a week. After moving out on my own, a trip to visit my parents usually involved returning with a bag of books that they had read.

Yes, it seems like parents who likes to read sets a good example for their kids, judging by the stories here. My mother has four sisters but she was the only one of them who really read a lot, and later, among all of us cousins, me and my brothers became the only regular readers as well. Most of my cousins say they have never read much, and a few of them that they have never finished a book once in their lives :boggled:


Kids have such great imaginations that usually wears off as they age (at least in my case). I really wish science could come up with a pill that would give adults the same sense of wonder that kids have. I move around a lot and one of my first tasks is to get a library card.

I used to move around a bit when I was younger and that was one of the first things I checked out as well, the local libraries, and all the second hand stores and the like where they might sell old books :)


It's really too bad that kids today are given a 500 TV channel universe, graphic intensive games, and not encouraged to read.


I agree. Not that I think that other media is wrong in itself, but if it drowns out reading books, then it is kind of sad.

[madurobob]

I know :) I sometimes enjoy reading children’s books too. There are so many great classics in children’s literature, often with great illustrations as well. I have plenty of kids’ books in my collection too, even if I don’t have kids of my own....
I had a great time buying books for my youngest over the past few years. One of my favorites is an amazingly illustrated book about a bear going to jail for refusing to pay taxes. Sort of based on HD Thoreau's experience (in fact, the bear's name is Henry) I know - it doesn't sound like a kids book. Still, its well written and the illustrations are magical.

Lately we've been reading through the pile of Oz books from my Mother's childhood. L Frank Baum must have been the JK Rowling of a century ago - fun stuff.

Anyway, no-one should make reading appear evil or inappropriate to a kid. Banning books, strictly guarding what kids can read and constantly hassling the school board about books found in the school library are sure fire ways to drive kids even further from the joy reading.

[-Fran-]

I had a great time buying books for my youngest over the past few years. One of my favorites is an amazingly illustrated book about a bear going to jail for refusing to pay taxes. Sort of based on HD Thoreau's experience (in fact, the bear's name is Henry) I know - it doesn't sound like a kids book. Still, its well written and the illustrations are magical.


I always thought that the best children books are those that both children and grown ups can enjoy, where there are several layers that both can read into, so to speak. This seems to be such a one.


Lately we've been reading through the pile of Oz books from my Mother's childhood. L Frank Baum must have been the JK Rowling of a century ago - fun stuff.


I have these books as well :)


Anyway, no-one should make reading appear evil or inappropriate to a kid. Banning books, strictly guarding what kids can read and constantly hassling the school board about books found in the school library are sure fire ways to drive kids even further from the joy reading.

You are absolutely right! And I don't understand those people in any case :rolleyes:

[sgf8]

Just got back from the Amazing Adventure 2. The cruise was amazing but the best part was the discussions. One guy was telling me about a series of books called....well I can't quite read my notes, but they are by Phillip Pullman, "The Golden Compass", "The Suttle Knife", and "The Amber Spyglass". He says they are young adult books, far more gripping than the Harry Potter stories. Anyone else recommend them?

Susan

[JoeEllison]

I came from a family of professors and both my father and grandfather had small libraries. I read anything I felt like and was never told there was something I should not read. My father had some subversive Alan Ginzberg-ish stuff that I found fun.

As for kids, it really depends on the kid. My oldest, now 15, began reading at 5. he read the entire first harry Potter book in one night during first grade. He was, and still is, very introspective and rational and I've always felt he could read anything or watch (almost) any movie without any problem. I caught him watching a very gory slasher movie when he was 7 and he said "c'mon dad, its just special effects. Its not real". He won that argument.

On the other hand, I have a 7 yr old today who is very emotional and inclined to be totally sucked in by whatever he reads or sees on TV. He only reluctantly admits that Spongebob is not "real". He reads very well, but I would not give him free reign to read any book on the bookshelves becuase he is so impressionable.

So, you cannot simply say "by age X kids should be allowed to read Y". Kids' ability to read, analyze and understand what they are reading varies too much from kid to kid. Some kids should be given a free pass to the library for any book they want, some need a bit more guidance.
And I was a mix between though two ends of the spectrum. I could read before I was talking(long story), and at the same time I was terrified of scary stuff. I remember reading Cujo when I was 8-9 years old, and being screwed up for weeks.

That, and that old Native American guy crying about pollution... I could read before I turned 5, but I shouldn't have been left alone at the TV for another 6 years.

[dogguy]

When it came to reading my parents were exact opposites. My mother was and is an avid reader. I have never seen my father read a novel or anything else for pleasure. He reads newspapers, manuals, etc for information only. Fortunately I took after my mother and was reading fluently prior to my 6th birthday. I frequented both libraries and bookstore in my childhood and I do not ever recall my choices of reading material being restricted by my parents. My wife is also an avid reader.

Our daughter, who will be 6 in November, has just entered 1st grade. She has some learning difficulties due to prenatal exposure to street drugs and alcohol and is not yet able to read a word. She loves books however. She has a library of well over a hundred books in her room and is constantly looking through them. I read to her at least once every day. She will not go to sleep without a bedtime story, and will often bring a book to me or her mother at other times of the day and ask for a story. We are hopeful that with the proper assistance she will catch up to her peers and soon begin to read for herself. We will certainly do all we can to encourage her love of books.

Regarding her future choice of reading material, I would try to not place any restrictions. There is certainly nothing on our home bookshelves that I would not want her to read, and our ability to control what is available to her outside of our home is necessarily very limited. We would encourage her to read what she wishes and emphasize that we are always willing to discuss her reading material if she needed any explanations. To some degree the type of material younger persons choose to read will be self-limiting by way of their ability to comprehend what they are reading. As noted in some posts above, the world is not always a pleasant place. Being able to read about, and discuss with us, the more unsavory aspects of life is a relatively safe way to learn about the world that she is, and will be, living in.

[Garrette]

Just got back from the Amazing Adventure 2. The cruise was amazing but the best part was the discussions. One guy was telling me about a series of books called....well I can't quite read my notes, but they are by Phillip Pullman, "The Golden Compass", "The Suttle Knife", and "The Amber Spyglass". He says they are young adult books, far more gripping than the Harry Potter stories. Anyone else recommend them?

SusanI have not read them, but my 15 year old, who has been reading voraciously since he was five and who is very discerning, says "The Golden Compass" is one of the best out there. (His absolute favorites are Hitchhiker's Guide and the Discworld books, but he also loved Dune).

[-Fran-]

Our daughter, who will be 6 in November, has just entered 1st grade. She has some learning difficulties due to prenatal exposure to street drugs and alcohol and is not yet able to read a word. She loves books however. She has a library of well over a hundred books in her room and is constantly looking through them. I read to her at least once every day. She will not go to sleep without a bedtime story, and will often bring a book to me or her mother at other times of the day and ask for a story. We are hopeful that with the proper assistance she will catch up to her peers and soon begin to read for herself. We will certainly do all we can to encourage her love of books.

Sounds like a good strategy :)


Regarding her future choice of reading material, I would try to not place any restrictions. There is certainly nothing on our home bookshelves that I would not want her to read, and our ability to control what is available to her outside of our home is necessarily very limited. We would encourage her to read what she wishes and emphasize that we are always willing to discuss her reading material if she needed any explanations. To some degree the type of material younger persons choose to read will be self-limiting by way of their ability to comprehend what they are reading. As noted in some posts above, the world is not always a pleasant place. Being able to read about, and discuss with us, the more unsavory aspects of life is a relatively safe way to learn about the world that she is, and will be, living in.

Yeah, shielding kids from hearing about all that is bad in the world, is impossible anyway, better to teach them how to cope with it instead, and be there to "cushion the blows" so to speak.

[eir_de_scania]

Just got back from the Amazing Adventure 2. The cruise was amazing but the best part was the discussions. One guy was telling me about a series of books called....well I can't quite read my notes, but they are by Phillip Pullman, "The Golden Compass", "The Suttle Knife", and "The Amber Spyglass". He says they are young adult books, far more gripping than the Harry Potter stories. Anyone else recommend them?

Susan
I found them boring, but other find them absolutely captivating. Thankfully, one of my best friends totally agreed with me, so I didn't feel like I was the only one lacking Good Taste. Still, I think you should try "The Golden Compass" and see what you think!

You can also try Jonathan Stroud's "Bartimeus Trilogy" (The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye and Ptolmeny's Gate). Like Pullman, Stroud writes modern fantasy that while being labeled "YA" just as well could go in the "Adult" section.

Fran, I was four when I learned to read, more or less by myself! I've been an avid reader since then, you know the kind who reads the text on shampoo bottles in the shower. I can't do that anymore, unless I want to shower with my glasses on, but I still read more or less anything I can get my hands on.

Like you, I had a mother who left school at fourteen, but always read books when she was relaxing. She, in her turn, had that from her father (who left school at an even younger age...). Never any pressure, but she read to me, took me to the local library in our home town and the places we visited on holidays, I got books for my birthday and Christmas. And of course I browsed my parents bookshelves!

Most people I knew as a child (including my relatives) didn't have books in their bookshelves. Not really true. There was some, but they almost disappeared among the ornaments and family pictures. I'm glad I grew up in a home with books on the shelves - my life would have been much poorer without books.

Oh, and putting Find Local Library among the first thing to do in a new place - of course it's vital!

[-Fran-]

Fran, I was four when I learned to read, more or less by myself! I've been an avid reader since then, you know the kind who reads the text on shampoo bottles in the shower. I can't do that anymore, unless I want to shower with my glasses on, but I still read more or less anything I can get my hands on.

You say something interesting here. Though I was a bit later than you in learning to read, I have no memory of anyone actually teaching me this. I think I pretty much figured it out by myself too.


Like you, I had a mother who left school at fourteen, but always read books when she was relaxing. She, in her turn, had that from her father (who left school at an even younger age...). Never any pressure, but she read to me, took me to the local library in our home town and the places we visited on holidays, I got books for my birthday and Christmas. And of course I browsed my parents bookshelves!

This seems to be a good strategy to make kids into avid readers :) Setting a good example, providing books, no pressure.


Most people I knew as a child (including my relatives) didn't have books in their bookshelves. Not really true. There was some, but they almost disappeared among the ornaments and family pictures. I'm glad I grew up in a home with books on the shelves - my life would have been much poorer without books.

It's the same here. Most of my relatives also used their bookshelves for ornament and picture shelves. There were mostly books in ours, though, yes.

[sgf8]

It's the same here. Most of my relatives also used their bookshelves for ornament and picture shelves. There were mostly books in ours, though, yes.

My bookshelves in places are two deep with books. Other places have books with a small picture frame in front of the book.

I have one picture frame that has a picture of my boyfriend reading a Harry Potter book with our orange cat curled up on his legs. And "yes" the picture is in front of the HP books.

Susan

[-Fran-]

My bookshelves in places are two deep with books. Other places have books with a small picture frame in front of the book.

I have one picture frame that has a picture of my boyfriend reading a Harry Potter book with our orange cat curled up on his legs. And "yes" the picture is in front of the HP books.

Susan

I can beat you on this :) My bookshelf is 3 or 4 books deep (depending on the size of the books) with all the books lying down in piles. I didn't have that much room to the sides, so I got myself a shelf that is extra deep (half a meter) and which goes all the way up to the ceiling. It does manage to store all my books, but it's a bit tricky when you want to find a certain book and it's furthest in against the wall.

[sgf8]

I can beat you on this :) My bookshelf is 3 or 4 books deep (depending on the size of the books) with all the books lying down in piles. I didn't have that much room to the sides, so I got myself a shelf that is extra deep (half a meter) and which goes all the way up to the ceiling. It does manage to store all my books, but it's a bit tricky when you want to find a certain book and it's furthest in against the wall.

Give me time.

Susan

[-Fran-]

Give me time.

Susan

I believe you :)