Kids Reading - An Interlude

When I was a kid, we didn't have remote controls for the tv's.  We kids WERE the remote control!

And when I was a kid, we had the Hardy Boys.  I read 50+ of those books.  Why?  That's pretty much all you had.

Sure, there were other books but nowhere near the selection that kids have today.  If your child is a sports nut there are several series of books, for different ages, your child can read.  Like horses?  Books.  And, if your child likes magic and wizards?  Books, books and more books.

My kids are pretty big readers, mainly because, when they were younger, we always read to them at night and then transitioned them to reading every night.  [We're pretty sly, huh?]  Now, it's just part of the routine.

What made me think of posting regarding kids books and reading to your kids? My Anathem-reading buddy reminded me of the following Princess Bride quote as he is reading an abridged version of The Three Muskateers to his 9 year old:

"Has it got any sports in it?

Are you kidding? Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Revenge. Giants. Monsters. Chases. Escapes. True love. Miracles.

It doesn't sound too bad. I'll try and stay awake.

Oh. Well, thank you very much. It's very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming."

[I read all seven of the Harry Potter books out loud to my son. As a parent experience, that one is going to be tough to beat. We started when he was probably about 7, and we were able to pretty much read them straight through Book 6 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince). We had to wait almost a year for the last book. By then, he could have read them on his own, but we still did it together.]

[Contrast this with my girls who, when they were very young, ALWAYS selected the longest, most boring book to read EVERY night. You couldn't even skip pages because, well, did I mention that WE READ THE SAME BOOK EVERY NIGHT! My son loved Go Dog Go. We read that a bunch, too.]

As far as book recommendations for kids--well, I'm not equipped. They should ask their friends about what they read. And, of course, the teachers know. My oldest daughter LOVES sad books. ["I was reading this book about a little girl, and she got kidnapped, and the kidnapper stole her kidney for his son, and then she got rescued, but her other kidney went bad, and she needed a kidney donor, and it turned out that she got a kidney donor who was the daughter of the kidnapper, and they became great friends, but the kidnapper's daughter died during the kidney transplant, and they she got close to the son who had her first good kidney, and she married him, and they had a little girl but she died in childbirth. Isn't that great?]

I will post about American Pastoral in the next day or two. I will not "recommend" or "not recommend"--I'm not anywhere near worthy second-guessing the Pulitzer people.

Remember, RIF.