My kids are 19 and 22 now, both off at college. They both still read for pleasure. When we traveled, I always tried to find a book for them that was set in the place we were going, which was why, at age 11, in an Edinburgh museum, our daughter stopped in her tracks when she heard a particular sound and dragged us all, thoroughly confused, into a side room to witness the workings of the Chaos Clock. We’d never heard of it, but she’d read all about it. A book about the French resistance connected my son to history on a trip to the Loire Valley. I feel like hunting out those books for them was so valuable and helped form a permanent link between a place, its history, and the stories written about it.
That’s amazing! What a wonderful way to prep for a trip that can have benefits for the whole family! I’m adding that to my list of reading rituals as a pre-travel ritual. Thank you so much for sharing!
When my two older kids were younger we read at night as part of their routine and we did the same with the younger two for some time but as bedtimes with 4 kids got more complicated we stopped reading to them at night, which felt like breaking a parenting rule. I am so tired at night, sometimes reading them books was just another task. But now I love our reading practices. We have been parallel reading with my 4th grader in the evening, which started when we are on vacation in the beginning of the summer. He likes to ask what our books are about and guess based on the covers. We also recently made some adjustments in living room to make it more reading oriented now we are out of the phase of book rippers and dumpers, so we have books lots of places. Audiobooks have also been a new family activity. And reading stories at meal times is something we do from time to time. Just not at night, I can't do it. And of course, we use our library a ton. Sometimes I am there multiple times a week.
Yes, a fellow not-at-bedtime-reader! We should start a club. I'd love to learn more about how you made your living room more conducive to reading--I'm always curious about how people are setting up their physical space to encourage reading.
Much like Sarah Miller, we have a front facing book case that was in one of my kids bedrooms but we moved it into the living room which does make such a difference to have the covers forward facing and I rotate books there about 1 time a week. We moved some of the chapter books for one of our readers into the living room so there are more visible because before they were in our "library" that was a linen closet. We have a library book box with all our books from the library and a magazine and newspaper bin too. And we added another reading chair and more pillows. Basically we have lots of different types of words about and lots of comfortable places to read them.
What a beautiful post, Sri — and thank you for sharing my note! I love seeing how different families create their own book parties, rituals, and routines, and this is such a great way to show that one size does not fit all but we are all together in our quests to raise readers, even if we all do things a little bit differently (because we should!).
These are great suggestions! I'm trying to find ways to help instill a love of reading in my foster kids (who more often than not are far behind grade level and have never had someone model a love of books to them!), so thank you for this list!
This is my favorite post of yours so far! I leaned into reading as a way to escape a pretty chaotic environment. I also didn’t have much access to TV--and even though I wish I hadn’t gone through what I did, I’m so grateful for books and stories. They saved my life in so many ways! Sounds dramatic, but it’s true 😉
Thank you, Katie! I'm so glad you found books as a way to get away and escape from reality (I'm sad you had to do that though). Books are life saving, full stop.
I love this so much, and I was nodding along at the other habits/suggestions.
Marc's experience reading to his son in Creole reminds me of mine reading to the boys in Arabic when they were younger, and Claire's comments about the library are very relatable too. We even have a favourite librarian and they perk up whenever we get there and she's the one at the desk! She's always so full of excellent suggestions and really excited about youth books.
Also, you've reminded me of the religious obligation with reading for Muslims. Literally, the first word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the Quran was "Read".
Okay, I had no idea that was in the Quran! Reading that sent shivers and thrills down my spine. Clearly, reading is a formative, necessary, part of the human experience!
I really enjoyed this peek into your past and learning about Saraswati. I'd say my upbringing was similar. I was always a bookwork but have two parents who aren't particularly interested in reading. My mom doesn't read and my dad only reads business-related self-help books about management. BORING. My mom always took me to the library and the park on the weekends. I feel like your book picnic idea is the perfect blend of both and I might try it out this weekend! I'm pleased to report that I'm finally finding a read-aloud rhythm at home with my 1st grader. Now that she's (slowly but surely) learning to read, she's more interested in being read to before bed. We've been focusing on The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Babysitters Club graphic novel series and she actually asks to be read books again!
I think your dad and my dad could start their own book club 😂 I think you and I both serve as good examples that you don't need to go crazy or over the top--just keep exposing your kids to books and the love / appreciation for them will take root.
I love that you're finding your groove with reading out loud. If you decide to do a book picnic, I'd love to hear how it goes!
I totally relate to books being considered sacred and held in high regards in our childhood. We had a small library in our locality and I used it visit it everyday. But, I feel, the majority of my reading habit comes from my father, who had subscribed a monthly magazine for each member of the family(perhaps 3 or 4 for himself). I wish to introduce the same culture to my daughter and the idea of "book picnic" is just amazing!
I love this article. My mom and sisters read to me the 7th of 8 children. I stayed awake at times until they read to me. I loved to read and go to the library. I will post today my article on how the library saved my life.
So many helpful and creative ideas! I love reading picture books to my toddler but really can’t wait to read chapter books as he gets older, introduce Harry Potter and eventually “parallel read”. What dreams are made of!
I’m definitely excited to share some of my favorite books when my toddler gets older. We’ll just bide our time… one page, one book, one reading ritual at a time. 😊
This is so great! I think everything you’re doing (& all those you profiled, too) to encourage reading is wonderful! I come from a family of readers & we would discuss the books we all read at the dinner table - but even moreso we had all of these “inside jokes” when we’d quote or make reference to some character or scene that we all knew. Proud Book nerds, haha!
Now, with my son who is 25 but reads at a 2nd or 3rd grade level, I’ve been doing a combo of Grown-up Read-Aloud and Storytime Glee - I can read a chapter of a YA or older book to my son & practice my “acting” skills at the same time. He thinks I’m nuts, but it’s so fun! :)
Ooh, I'm saving the idea of "book club dinners" for the future. That sounds absolutely delightful and I'm so jealous I didn't get to experience that growing up!
I loved reading books (and magazines and newspapers and cereal boxes, etc.) when I was a kid. Our house was full of reading material and my parents were very generous with money for the book order we would get from our teachers--I could have up to $13/month to spend, which was enough for multiple books in the 80's. There were regular trips to the library, too. One of my most special memories was the year my aunt gave me a boxed set of the Anne of Green Gables books--I think I was in middle school--I still have those books!
My kids are not as voracious readers as I was--they have many other options for entertainment! We do many of the same things that you mentioned. Also, we often stop at public libraries on road trips--a good place for bathroom breaks, play areas, and book/media sales. We went to the library at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon last month on our camping trip! I strew library books that might pique their interests--this month's hits were Mexikid and Bea Wolf. We listen to audiobooks and work on puzzles or do art/sensory play. We have big fact books to look through in our road trip bag and always a couple of magazines in the car/stuck in my purse. Books and reading are part of our everyday life!
The idea of doing rest breaks at public libraries is so GENIUS. I'm literally frothing over the idea and want to immediately plan a road trip to do the same thing. And to then have book souvenirs?!!! Chef's kiss.
Also, I still have the OG Anne of Green Gable's book set I was gifted as a girl too. One of my most cherished possessions.
My kids are 19 and 22 now, both off at college. They both still read for pleasure. When we traveled, I always tried to find a book for them that was set in the place we were going, which was why, at age 11, in an Edinburgh museum, our daughter stopped in her tracks when she heard a particular sound and dragged us all, thoroughly confused, into a side room to witness the workings of the Chaos Clock. We’d never heard of it, but she’d read all about it. A book about the French resistance connected my son to history on a trip to the Loire Valley. I feel like hunting out those books for them was so valuable and helped form a permanent link between a place, its history, and the stories written about it.
That’s amazing! What a wonderful way to prep for a trip that can have benefits for the whole family! I’m adding that to my list of reading rituals as a pre-travel ritual. Thank you so much for sharing!
I love, love this post Sri!
When my two older kids were younger we read at night as part of their routine and we did the same with the younger two for some time but as bedtimes with 4 kids got more complicated we stopped reading to them at night, which felt like breaking a parenting rule. I am so tired at night, sometimes reading them books was just another task. But now I love our reading practices. We have been parallel reading with my 4th grader in the evening, which started when we are on vacation in the beginning of the summer. He likes to ask what our books are about and guess based on the covers. We also recently made some adjustments in living room to make it more reading oriented now we are out of the phase of book rippers and dumpers, so we have books lots of places. Audiobooks have also been a new family activity. And reading stories at meal times is something we do from time to time. Just not at night, I can't do it. And of course, we use our library a ton. Sometimes I am there multiple times a week.
Yes, a fellow not-at-bedtime-reader! We should start a club. I'd love to learn more about how you made your living room more conducive to reading--I'm always curious about how people are setting up their physical space to encourage reading.
Much like Sarah Miller, we have a front facing book case that was in one of my kids bedrooms but we moved it into the living room which does make such a difference to have the covers forward facing and I rotate books there about 1 time a week. We moved some of the chapter books for one of our readers into the living room so there are more visible because before they were in our "library" that was a linen closet. We have a library book box with all our books from the library and a magazine and newspaper bin too. And we added another reading chair and more pillows. Basically we have lots of different types of words about and lots of comfortable places to read them.
Can I move in? 😅
Ha! It's become my new favorite room--I didn't have strong feelings about it before but I love what's happening there.
What a beautiful post, Sri — and thank you for sharing my note! I love seeing how different families create their own book parties, rituals, and routines, and this is such a great way to show that one size does not fit all but we are all together in our quests to raise readers, even if we all do things a little bit differently (because we should!).
Thank you! I read your note and knew I had to share it. I'm truly fascinated by all the different ways we can show up to support reading.
Same! It’s like DITL stuff for me :)
Yes, same!!
These are great suggestions! I'm trying to find ways to help instill a love of reading in my foster kids (who more often than not are far behind grade level and have never had someone model a love of books to them!), so thank you for this list!
You are so awesome for being that model for them! I hope these ideas are helpful and hope you share whatever ends up working best for you.
This is my favorite post of yours so far! I leaned into reading as a way to escape a pretty chaotic environment. I also didn’t have much access to TV--and even though I wish I hadn’t gone through what I did, I’m so grateful for books and stories. They saved my life in so many ways! Sounds dramatic, but it’s true 😉
Thank you, Katie! I'm so glad you found books as a way to get away and escape from reality (I'm sad you had to do that though). Books are life saving, full stop.
I love this so much, and I was nodding along at the other habits/suggestions.
Marc's experience reading to his son in Creole reminds me of mine reading to the boys in Arabic when they were younger, and Claire's comments about the library are very relatable too. We even have a favourite librarian and they perk up whenever we get there and she's the one at the desk! She's always so full of excellent suggestions and really excited about youth books.
Also, you've reminded me of the religious obligation with reading for Muslims. Literally, the first word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in the Quran was "Read".
Okay, I had no idea that was in the Quran! Reading that sent shivers and thrills down my spine. Clearly, reading is a formative, necessary, part of the human experience!
Thank you so much for sharing your story, Noha!
Isn’t it so cool? I didn’t know it was a Hindi teaching either so that was awesome to learn.
Best post you've ever written, Sri (and that's saying a lot). And thank you, as always, for the shoutout.
Thank you so much, Sarah!
I really enjoyed this peek into your past and learning about Saraswati. I'd say my upbringing was similar. I was always a bookwork but have two parents who aren't particularly interested in reading. My mom doesn't read and my dad only reads business-related self-help books about management. BORING. My mom always took me to the library and the park on the weekends. I feel like your book picnic idea is the perfect blend of both and I might try it out this weekend! I'm pleased to report that I'm finally finding a read-aloud rhythm at home with my 1st grader. Now that she's (slowly but surely) learning to read, she's more interested in being read to before bed. We've been focusing on The Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Babysitters Club graphic novel series and she actually asks to be read books again!
I think your dad and my dad could start their own book club 😂 I think you and I both serve as good examples that you don't need to go crazy or over the top--just keep exposing your kids to books and the love / appreciation for them will take root.
I love that you're finding your groove with reading out loud. If you decide to do a book picnic, I'd love to hear how it goes!
I love these suggestions, especially excited to try out a Book Picnic for those days we need to escape the house!
Yes! It saved my sanity!
I totally relate to books being considered sacred and held in high regards in our childhood. We had a small library in our locality and I used it visit it everyday. But, I feel, the majority of my reading habit comes from my father, who had subscribed a monthly magazine for each member of the family(perhaps 3 or 4 for himself). I wish to introduce the same culture to my daughter and the idea of "book picnic" is just amazing!
How lovely! Combining reading and receiving mail (the fun kind) is a wonderful combination.
I love this article. My mom and sisters read to me the 7th of 8 children. I stayed awake at times until they read to me. I loved to read and go to the library. I will post today my article on how the library saved my life.
What a wonderful memory, William! I look forward to reading your article about how the library saved your life.
So many helpful and creative ideas! I love reading picture books to my toddler but really can’t wait to read chapter books as he gets older, introduce Harry Potter and eventually “parallel read”. What dreams are made of!
I’m definitely excited to share some of my favorite books when my toddler gets older. We’ll just bide our time… one page, one book, one reading ritual at a time. 😊
This is so great! I think everything you’re doing (& all those you profiled, too) to encourage reading is wonderful! I come from a family of readers & we would discuss the books we all read at the dinner table - but even moreso we had all of these “inside jokes” when we’d quote or make reference to some character or scene that we all knew. Proud Book nerds, haha!
Now, with my son who is 25 but reads at a 2nd or 3rd grade level, I’ve been doing a combo of Grown-up Read-Aloud and Storytime Glee - I can read a chapter of a YA or older book to my son & practice my “acting” skills at the same time. He thinks I’m nuts, but it’s so fun! :)
I love it! Put that acting skill to good use! 😂
Ooh, I'm saving the idea of "book club dinners" for the future. That sounds absolutely delightful and I'm so jealous I didn't get to experience that growing up!
I loved reading books (and magazines and newspapers and cereal boxes, etc.) when I was a kid. Our house was full of reading material and my parents were very generous with money for the book order we would get from our teachers--I could have up to $13/month to spend, which was enough for multiple books in the 80's. There were regular trips to the library, too. One of my most special memories was the year my aunt gave me a boxed set of the Anne of Green Gables books--I think I was in middle school--I still have those books!
My kids are not as voracious readers as I was--they have many other options for entertainment! We do many of the same things that you mentioned. Also, we often stop at public libraries on road trips--a good place for bathroom breaks, play areas, and book/media sales. We went to the library at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon last month on our camping trip! I strew library books that might pique their interests--this month's hits were Mexikid and Bea Wolf. We listen to audiobooks and work on puzzles or do art/sensory play. We have big fact books to look through in our road trip bag and always a couple of magazines in the car/stuck in my purse. Books and reading are part of our everyday life!
The idea of doing rest breaks at public libraries is so GENIUS. I'm literally frothing over the idea and want to immediately plan a road trip to do the same thing. And to then have book souvenirs?!!! Chef's kiss.
Also, I still have the OG Anne of Green Gable's book set I was gifted as a girl too. One of my most cherished possessions.