NPR

Raising Kids Who Want To Read — Even During The Summer

Long summer days leave lots of time for books. What's the best way to encourage kids to take advantage of that time?
Source: LA Johnson

This piece combines two interviews from 2015 and 2016.

You sneak them into backpacks and let them commingle with the video games (hoping some of the latter's appeal will rub off). You lay them around the kids' beds like stepping stones through the Slough of Despond and, for good measure, Vitamix them to an imperceptible pulp for the occasional smoothie.

Books are everywhere in your house, and yet ... they're not being consumed. Because it's summer, and kids have so many other things they'd rather do.

Daniel Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia and the author of , doesn't champion reading for the obvious reasons — not because research suggests

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
As Theaters Scramble To Reach New Audiences, Three Get $1 Million Each
The Mellon Foundation announced grants of $1 million to three theaters: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Long Wharf in New Haven and Portland Center Stage.
NPR2 min read
A Bus Plunges Off A Bridge In South Africa, Killing 45 People
An 8-year-old child is only survivor. The passengers were headed to an Easter festival before the bus plunged off a bridge on a mountain pass and burst into flames.
NPR9 min readWorld
Fractures In The Grand Alliance Between Black And Jewish Americans
The Grand Alliance between Black and Jewish leaders, known largely for shared work on Civil Rights in the 1960s, has a complicated legacy--and an uncertain future between these communities.

Related Books & Audiobooks