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| I Love to Read! |
(CNN) -- You're reading an excerpt from CNN.com by James Patterson, Special to CNN
Sorry, moms and dads, but it's your job -- not
the schools' -- to find books to get your kids reading and to make sure they
read them.
Here's some good news: This can often be as easy as teaching
children to ride a two-wheeler or to throw a baseball.
Case
in point: When our son, Jack, was 8, he wasn't a gung-ho reader.
We
told him he didn't have to mow the lawn (hooray!), but he was going to read
every day (boo).
We also
told Jack we’d help him find books we promised he would like: the Mom-and-Dad
"Reading Can Be a Joy" Guarantee. We picked out "The Lightning
Thief," a
book in the "Warriors" series, "A Wrinkle in Time," etc.
Here's a simple but powerful truth that many
parents and schools don't act on: The more kids read, the better readers they
become.
The best way to get kids reading more is to give
them books that they'll gobble up -- and that will make them ask for another.
Yes, it's that simple. 1 + 1 = 2. Kids say the No. 1 reason they don't read
more is that they can't find books they like.
Author of Dream: Creating a Better World
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