Reading With Your Child

Find appealing reading material to motivate your bored reader

Some kids can’t wait to get back to their latest book. If a book isn’t handy, these kids will read magazines or even cereal boxes!

Then there are the bored readers. They are much choosier. If the first page of a book doesn’t grab their interest, they’ll put it down.

To find more appealing books, ask yourself a few questions:

• What are three things that interest my child?
• What are three activities he and his friends are involved in?
• What are three adult activities he might like to try some day?
• What were the last three books or magazines that he seemed to enjoy?

Suppose your child loves sports. There are a variety of sports books that might be of some interest. You could also look for how-to books with tips on improving his game. Or, you could find a biography of one of his favorite sports figures.

If he is also interested in history, you could look for a book on the history of the sport. Or look for a novel about his favorite sport. Adult sports writers like John Feinstein have also written fun kids’ books with sports themes.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2008 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2008 The Parent Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Paul Kropp, Raising a Reader: Make Your Child a Reader for Life, ISBN: 0-385-47913-1 (Doubleday, 1-800-733-3000, www.randomhouse.com/doubleday).