There’s just too much more that interests them. Even when I cut off all TV and other electronic stimulus, they prefer to do other things. They prefer to write books rather than read them. They have a mountain of books to choose from and I buy more all the time. I can make them listen to me read to them if I force them, or I can bribe them to read with something they want. The second only works temporarily if at all.
Unless.
If there is a book they see and want and I go get it for them, they read it right away. Sometimes they read it over and over again. This happens sporadically and I can’t seem to force it.
I wonder if this might have something to do with the amount of information available to them and an instinctive need to filter it. Does that make sense?
What do you think? Do you have the same issues? What do you do about it?
Kate Policani 
With five kids, I have a few different ”types” when it comes to reading. My 14-year-old and my 8-year-old love to read, and read pretty much any book they can get their hands on (though they do have their favorite genres). My 5-year-old is just now learning to read, and is ecstatic about it; she sleeps with her books. But my 15-year-old and my 11-year-old are both not big readers at all, so I’ve had to compromise a bit with them. Case in point: I all of my kids books for Christmas every year. But I do it on a very individualized basis. I don\’t chose based on age-group or what’s popular. Instead, I chose based on each kids’ personal interests. My eldest is a major animal lover, considers herself a hippie, and is overall a tree-hugging love muffin. So, I buy her books about animals and the environment. Not my cup of tea, but she loves them. My 11-year-old is into style, fashion and girly things, so I get her books about princesses and fashion design. recently, I started getting her the ”Dork Diaries” series, and she LOVES it. Mostly because it’s so girly it makes me want to throw up. But she loves it, and that\’s the point. Anyway, that\’s how I do it. Also, if any of yours likes fantasy, I have a book to recommend… *whistles*.
Thanks for the recommendation! My two younger kids are still too young to tell what kind of readers they’ll be but the older is more of a nonfiction fan or humor. Tough cookie and not excited about reading.
What age group?
Four and eight. The eight year old is just starting to feel comfortable with reading to herself.
Oi. The page put in some weird code that messed up my post… lots of /’s for some reason. Sorry! Pfft.