Comments on: What If A Billion Kids Were Reading And Nobody Noticed?

By: booktwo.org Notebook » Stop Press for May 16th through May 23rd

booktwo.org Notebook » Stop Press for May 16th through May 23rd — Thu, 24 May 2007 00:34:31 +0000

[...] What If A Billion Kids Were Reading And Nobody Noticed? – Booksquare appeals for us to give the kids something to do. A commendable request. [...]

By: Christine Whitlock

Christine Whitlock — Thu, 17 May 2007 20:21:17 +0000

“As for the one who suggests that desperate readers read the French portion of the hair-care products, well, some of us took beginning French for six years in a row. We need to pretend we learned something. Itâ€™s not like weâ€™re trying to fake our way through the German instructions!”

I’m utterly guilty of faking my way through the French sections…I took Italian in high school and college.

By: J.S. Peyton

J.S. Peyton — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:01:38 +0000

“How to bring in the casual reader? Give them something that captures their imagination. Tell a story, remember that the story is not always what you think. Be relevant. Be, most of all, readable and interesting.”

So true! I’m a lifelong bookworm myself (my mother still recalls how unlike other children who liked to hang in the toy section when they went to the store, I liked to loiter in the book section, but children’s books, of course : ). But I always tell those tragic people who say, “I don’t like to read” or “I don’t like to read a lot” one simple thing: “You just haven’t read the right book.” There’s a book (more than one most certainly) for everyone; you just have to find it.

By: Kassia Krozser

Kassia Krozser — Sat, 12 May 2007 04:45:09 +0000

I am delighted when fellow bookworms show up. It’s like solidarity. For the record, I am indeed all of the examples cited in my lead. The only place I cannot read — much to my everlasting regret — is the car. I am always the driver because being the passenger without something to read is near-impossible.

You can have your nose stuck in a book your entire life. As long as there are no obstacles in front of you, it’s all good. I should note that by reading , I do not always mean a physical book. Some of our fellow humans come from a gene pool that still subscribes to the oral story tradition. Fans of books-on-tape (CD, MP3?) are related to the original fans of the story.

How to bring in the casual reader? Give them something that captures their imagination. Tell a story, remember that the story is not always what you think. Be relevant. Be, most of all, readable and interesting.

It’s all quite simple!

As for the one who suggests that desperate readers read the French portion of the hair-care products, well, some of us took beginning French for six years in a row. We need to pretend we learned something. It’s not like we’re trying to fake our way through the German instructions!

By: Christine Whitlock

Christine Whitlock — Fri, 11 May 2007 18:44:38 +0000

“You can try to take away the books. Itâ€™s a waste of your time and energy, but we wonâ€™t stop your fruitless endeavor. Youâ€™ll learn.”

Too true. That’s when bookworms start reading ingredients labels on medicine bottles, or the backs of cereal boxes. Desperate readers will even read the French portion of the directions for their hair-care products.

You’re right, though. Teens ARE reading, more than ever, and not just blogs and texts. They’re reading Harry Potter and some of the best young adult fiction is being gobbled up. But the media hates painting teenagers in a positive light, and it’s way more fun to point to video games and say, “WOE! Kids today! They sit inside and play video games and become violent miscreants instead!”

By: Dan Brown

Dan Brown — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:44:57 +0000

If they get you while you’re young, there is no cure. You’ll be addicted to a good piece of literature for the rest of your life.

(Yes, i too was one of those kids who devised a torch system to read under the covers )

By: Brian Hadd

Brian Hadd — Thu, 10 May 2007 21:14:48 +0000

Blogging calls up me, Kassia and other booklovers--can we bring "casual readers" here? How? The Hood Company

By: Mark Long

Mark Long — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:49:47 +0000

Once of the saddest things my wife and I saw at a bookstore recently was a woman walking up to her young daughter, who was sitting in a chair engrossed in reading a book, to impatiently say, “C’mon already. You can’t have your nose stuck in a book your whole life!”

By: SusanGable

SusanGable — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:24:24 +0000

“There is no twelve-step program to cure reading addiction.”

Why would you WANT to?

Susan G., A True BookWorm from Way Back