How to Raise a Reader

KIM CARSON INTERVIEWED PAMELA PAUL, AUTHOR OF HOW TO RAISE A READER

KIM: This month, my conversation is with Pamela

Paul, the NYT Children's Books editor and editor of The New York Times Book Review. The name of your book is How To Raise A Reader. Kids are back in school, summer break is a fading memory, so it's probably a good idea to start polishing up on those reading skills, right?

PAMELA: Yes, yes, and also parents are wondering what if my child isn't reading yet or is my child a good enough reader? So at a time when people aren't really thinking about books, they're so distracted by the computer screens and their phones and everything else competing for their attention, how do you get a kid interested in books again? If you're starting fresh and you have a brand new baby, it's never too early; but it's also never too late.

Some parents despair if they have a ten-year-old boy who just wants to play Fortnight or they have a 13-year-old daughter who is on Instagram all day. So how do you get your kids off of devices? Mostly it's about giving them the right books, making sure they have the right options because some boys will say, “I don't like reading,” or, “I don't like books. They're boring.” Chances are that boy just hasn't found the right book. That's what a book club offers: excellent recommendations for all different kinds of readers. Also, your son may not like reading a book in the way that you think of a book, a novel, or a narrative with lots of text. A boy may enjoy a book on

Fortnite, Minecraft, or a joke book. Boys are attracted to those big Smithsonian-type books, National Geographic,

Ripleys, Believe It or Not. Boys are drawn to facts or comics.

They like graphic novels.

All of those things are books, and looking at all of those things is reading, so please don't look down on those choices.

We have to affirm that those are great books and provide them for kids. Start with your child's interests. K: When I was attending McGregor Elementary School back in Detroit, there was something called the "Scholastic Book

Club." Once or twice a month, the teacher would distribute the Scholastic Magazine, and contained within those pages were all the titles I could choose from, and for me, that was when the fun began! P: I love the Scholastic Book Club. They are fantastic because they have a lot of books that are targeted at kids' interests.

They have a wonderful sense of what boys and girls, all kids, like to read, and probably one of the reasons you liked it is that it puts you in control. You chose the books, you were able to say I want this and this and this, so it's extra special when that big box arrives, and the teacher starts distributing the piles of books. K: Yeah, it was great. I also remember sitting at the kitchen table with the new Scholastic Magazine and asking my mother how many books I could get? She would always say pick out what you want, and if it's too many, I'll let you know. I don't recall a time that there were ever too many.

It was a sacred time. Even now, I remember the excitement of scrolling through the variety of titles and checking off all my picks.

When delivery day arrived, and all my classmates were comparing books, I must admit I was always curious as to why the romance novels and girl-based books just didn't pique my interest. I was ordering science books about how to make invisible ink, and how to write in code. It looked as if I was planning on becoming a spy, CIA agent, or living underground with an assumed identity. I still have those books, and I just can't bear to part with them. Each morning at 6 a.m., after my dad left for work and an hour before school, mom and I would read together in bed. I have such fond memories of those times. P: You know you had a good mom because she knew that the more books your child has in the home, the more likely they are to become a lifelong learner, and that is independent of income and of education. That means you don't have to be a huge reader yourself. Even English doesn't have to be your first language. You don't need to do anything other than have those books around, and it doesn't have to break your bank either. You can get them from the library. You can keep a constant stream of books rotating in and out of your house.

And the other thing your mom did right was read with you in bed in the morning. So reading aloud is another major factor that all the research shows leads to a child becoming a lifelong reader. Your mom did all those things right. Of course, it's wonderful to read to the kids before bed. It helps them to relax and retreat into an imaginative world to slow down emotionally. It's comforting, and it's soothing, it's quiet.

There are all kinds of good reasons to read at bedtime, but that's not the only time of day. It's cool that your mom did it in the morning because it starts you off on that sound footing. K: I love turning kids on to reading! Reading, like music for me, is an escape. I always enjoyed being invited into schools on

Celebrity Reading Day, then visiting a local book store and choosing 3 or 4 books that were encouraging, entertaining, and educational in some way–maybe a lesson about being nice to the kid that everyone else ignores. And then I'd donate them to the school, and the kids could read them privately at a later date. But how do you engage a reluctant reader? P: The real challenge is that you want your child to choose to read, right? Surround your child with books and understand that they may like book that you don't. Make sure that you have those options around whether it's a Peanut Comic Book, a graphic novel, or a Sports Statistics Book. It all depends on the child. Everyone likes different things. Feel out your child.

Even if they're not reading on their own, continue to keep books in their lives, and then the other thing is this is really up to parents. It's about building the habit of reading.

More and more parents are having some kind of device shut downtime, maybe by 8 p.m., with no gadgets in the bedroom.

Or right now, we're all going to have quiet family reading time. As a parent, you have to be a model too, and that's really hard. But you can't be sitting there scrolling on your phone and be like, “Hey guys. It's time to read!” You have to incorporate books into your family culture. So let's say you go to the supermarket every Saturday morning. Stop at the library too.

That becomes part of the family routine. K: I talked to a neuroscientist about this. Do you think it's different reading a book on a device versus holding a book, touching the pages, and turning them one by one? P: The research is substantial here. It shows that children absorb and retain information better on the printed page than they do on the screen. I was worried about kids and screens and books, but kids prefer books on paper. All the surveys show even teenagers are staring at a screen all the time, at home, at school, so a book is something special. It's a collectible object, and kids love collecting. Help them to create their own little private library in their room. K: Plus, if you're ever without electricity, you still have the paper books. They'll always work in a blackout.

Visit Pamela at PamelaPaul.com or at NewYorkTimes.com

Kim Carson

Kim is an Author/Podcast/TV/ Internet personality. Watch and listen for her on WGVU TV’s Kalamazoo Lively Arts & J Schwanke’s Life In Bloom. Learn more at kimcarson.online & fb.com/kimcarson

Marlita Walker Reviews

NO TIME LIKE THE FUTURE

AN OPTIMIST CONSIDERS MORTALITY

by Michael J. Fox

“Ever since Michael J. Fox went public with his diagnosis in 1998, his life has looked, from afar anyway, almost charmed. The Foundation he started has raised a staggering $800 million to combat Parkinson’s disease.

He’s written three best-selling memoirs and even continued to act in substantive roles. His family life, with his wife of three decades, Tracy Pollan, is by all accounts a dream. His was a remarkably positive second act.”

— David Marchese, The NY Times Magazine, March 1, 2019

I, too, have looked from afar at the picture-perfect life of Michael J. Fox and believed in his charming ability to overcome this extremely difficult challenge that is Parkinson’s Disease but reading this memoir has filled me with a greater understanding of the daily difficulties that over 10 million people face worldwide. A huge fan of Alex Keaton and Marty McFly, I picked up this book to find out how Michael J. Fox is doing these days; secondarily, because I have recently found out about many people, I know who are now in the early stages of this disease. My desire is to be educated enough to empathize and support these friends and their loving caregivers. “I used to defy gravity on a daily basis, and I could run like a quarter horse. Now I’m fifty-eight years old, and I perambulate like I’m ninety. No, wait- I know a couple of ninety-year-olds who jog….An old guy with a cane hustled past my office the other day. …This is what I aspire to now: I want to move like that guy. But really, I want to move like I did as a kid.” And throughout this memoir, Fox describes the ups and downs of this desire, still wanting to move like he did as a kid. He shares his deep struggles about giving up little pieces of his freedoms: relenting about his adamant refusal to ever use a wheelchair, releasing his ability to golf, and even conceding that his remarkable acting career is over. It was a hard read because his energy and drive have been parts of his DNA over the years, but those attributes cannot carry him through these physical challenges any longer. An eternal optimist, he is now adjusting his mental attitude to one of realist-optimist. What he has found in these last few years is that it all comes down to gratitude: the blessing of looking back over his many life accomplishments surrounded and supported by his loving family, but also being willing to live in the present with acceptance. As far as I am concerned, Michael far exceeded that desire to move like he did as a kid. He has moved hearts across the world with his story and his Foundation.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Perhaps your family has not been touched by Parkinson’s Disease, but you are extremely familiar with breast cancer. Since my family carries the BRCA1 gene, our lives have been upended with diagnoses and deaths. Most of us face some type of health concern… diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s (and a myriad more). Let’s do what we can to step up in the fights against these killers that affect our families and our world.

Marlita Walker

Marlita is a native Michigander, who returned back to the area after 18 years spent in IL & PA. When not on cruising adventures with her hubby in their vintage Roadtrek camper van; she relaxes by re-arranging her home decor, walking with friends, and connecting with her 10 grands who live in TN and CA. Read more book reviews at litaslines.blogspot.com.