The age of reading is over? Or is it? Here are 8 tips for raising a young reader

The August issue of The Atlantic featured an article with a dire headline: “The Age of Reading Is Over.”

While the hand-wringing might be overblown, the statistics are sobering. Teenagers are reading less. Reading scores for school-age children across the United States are falling. As a result, teachers are assigning fewer and fewer books, leading to a vicious loop.

When I had kids, I assumed they would inherit my curly hair and my love of reading. They did neither. The hair was a lost cause, but I wanted my kids to love reading.

Studies show that reading literary fiction increases empathy. Rose Horowitch, the author of The Atlantic piece, writes that “children who had more screen time and spent less time reading had less well-developed white matter in areas associated with executive function and language.”

But beyond that, reading is fun. It’s a portal into different times and faraway places, the mind of wizards and hobbits, soldiers on the front line, moonscapes and rabbit holes. It requires something of us that passive entertainment does not, which makes it harder, but also more rewarding.

Hope is not lost, even if your kids don’t come to reading naturally. Mine didn’t, but I kept at it. It’s never too late to raise readers. Here’s how:

1. Read aloud

If you want to raise readers, you have to read to them long before they can decipher the text. When you read aloud, you are teaching a child how language is constructed, what a book looks like and how a story is formed.

We all know what it’s like to read “Goodnight Moon” three times in a row, but also, “Goodnight Moon” only takes three minutes to read. That’s nine minutes spent one-on-one with a child, teaching them the delight that a book can bring. And you don’t have to stop reading aloud once children are independent readers.

2. Prime the pump

There were books I wanted my kids to read, but it took a little cajoling. Oftentimes I started by reading them aloud, maybe a chapter over dinner, in the car or at bedtime. Sometimes I had to take the book all the way through, but often, once the plot really took off, I found my kids picking up the book on their own and finishing it.

3. Hit them from all sides

Of my four kids, two were more drawn to reading aloud or audio books, so we leaned into that form. That’s not a waste of time. They are still developing complex language skills and activating parts of their brains that don’t come from on-screen entertainment.

Some of our favorite family memories involve listening to books on long road trips, like “Echo” by Pam Muñoz Ryan or “Framed” by Frank Cottrell-Boyce. A lot of the classics — like “Just So Stories,” “Winnie-the-Pooh,” the Ramona books and pretty much anything by Roald Dahl — are still hilarious and relatable.

4. Consider all the genres

I am a die-hard fiction lover, so it was a surprise when I realized my kids mostly loved nonfiction. That was challenging to find a few decades ago, but we are now in the golden age of nonfiction for young readers.

There are so many fantastic real-life stories out there: “All Thirteen” by Christina Soontornvat, about the miraculous rescue of the Thailand boys’ soccer team; Steve Sheinkin writes gripping nonfiction about everything from bombs and football to Benedict Arnold.

Books like “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand have been adapted for younger audiences. Additionally, there are some fantastic memoir-type graphic novels, like “Mexikid,” “El Deafo” and “New Kid.” Find a genre that works for your child.

5. Books everywhere

Make books accessible. Pick them up from the library or the Little Free Libraries around town. Scatter them around the house. If you can, put a bookshelf in every room. Decorate with books. As my kids got older, I would put books they might like in strategic places, without saying a word. Signal that reading is central to your family culture. 

6. Use motivation

Before you take a trip, read a book about your destination. If you’re headed to San Francisco, read “Al Capone Does My Shirts,” about a kid raised on Alcatraz. Or the classic children’s book “Eloise” if you’re going to New York City.

Many books have adaptations or series, such as the new “Little House on the Prairie” series on Netflix. Read the books as a family, then watch the series. Your kids will probably arrive at the truth as old as time: The book is always better than the movie.  

7. Firewall the reading time

Smartphones and technology have killed reading for kids and adults. In The Atlantic story, Horowitch writes that upwards of 80% of elementary children receive an electronic device, from the school, from kindergarten onward. This is beyond frustrating. We need to speak up about the technology creep in schools. But we also need to firewall reading time in our homes. Screens will win over printed material every time. 

Consider instituting a digital Sabbath, a whole day or block of hours when phones, tablets, TVs and computers are off. Your kids will use every possible means to wriggle out of this time. Of course they will! Do it anyway. 

Or firewall car time and keep books in the car so the kids know that car time is reading time. Bring along books for the waiting room of the doctor’s office. Don’t let screens be the default. 

8. Be an example

It’s hard to be a parent. Our kids are always watching, even if we might not realize it. In that regard, we’re not going to raise readers if they don’t see us with a book in our hands. Talk about books at mealtimes.

When you’re sitting on the sidelines at a soccer game, bring along a book. Plop on the couch at night, and instead of turning on the TV, read a book. Signal that you value books, not just for your kids, but for yourself.

The other day, my son messaged me that he had finished both “King Lear” and “The Catcher in the Rye.” Just for fun. My mother heart swelled three sizes. This is the child who literally did not pick up a book of his own volition until the third grade.

If we want to have a future generation that can think critically, understand nuance, feel more empathy and just find joy in a story, we need to create an environment in which the written word can thrive.

It’s never too late, and it’s certainly not the end of reading.