This weekend we went out to an early dinner and afterwards we decided to putz around the bookstore rather than go home and drive each other crazy until bed time.
The girls always run straight for the Frozen section and Doodle grabs whatever he can get his hands on (this time was a pre-teen sci-fi thick chapter book). As they perused the books and played nicely at the train table, I set on a mission for chapter book ideas for Honeybun.
She started reading chapter books in the fall but has been all over the place. We’ve read the entire Kirsten set from the American Girls series (which thankfully my mommy still had since they no longer publish the original girls’ stories). She’s also read Peter Pan and we read Treasure Island together (the Treasury of Illustrated Classics versions). The rest of her reading has been a myriad of randomness that she’s received as gifts: Dolphin Tale 2, The Magic Kitten, Nancy Clancy.
And while I’m not against her reading lots of different types of things, I want to make sure she is reading quality books so wanted to see what else was available to us for the future. I remember my favorite chapter books when I was older and I know I definitely wasn’t reading chapter books at six years old so I don’t have a lot of favorites in that young reader’s category.
So I started browsing over the chapterbook selection as labeled for 5 to 8 year olds and I have to say and I was pretty disappointed at what I saw: Judy Moody, Captain Underpants, Bad Kitty, Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. What will those teach my kid? Then there was a slew of mystery and adventure series and a ton of “girl” series like The Magic Kitten, Palace Pets and Rainbow Magic. Where is the substance? I’m not the type of parent that wants my kids to JUST read. I want them reading things that are meaningful, challenge their minds, expand their horizons and make them ask questions.
I can’t say I ever loved reading as a child (or adult, really) but I did enjoy it when I was reading a book that was interesting and left me asking questions and wanting more. I feel like a lot of what is offered now is just mindless words aimed at making kids “want” to read because the system is failing them. By forcing kids to read before they are ready (and I could go on and on about how the average kindergarten aged child is NOT ready to read), we are causing frustration, feelings of inferiority and a disdain for the whole idea. So we have to pump our children full of nonsense just to get them reading. We tell them “here, read this book that has not substance or real value because at least you’re reading.”
But what good is reading junk? Which do you value more: The National Enquirer or the New York Times? Fifty Shades of Gray or War and Peace? It’s no different for our children, really. Don’t they deserve the best of the best?
There is a great book out there for every child in every interest category, unfortunately it just takes more effort to find them than to pick up a skinny book with a stupid title.
