Five tips to get kids to enjoy reading
Dear Nanay,
I’m writing in response to the letter two weeks ago regarding the parent who wants her kids to learn to appreciate the joys of reading instead of being focused on playing video games on the iPad all the time.
While she mentioned that she takes her kids to the bookstores — a good move to stimulate the love of reading — she didn’t say if she lets her own kids pick what they want to read, or if she arbitrarily chooses their book purchases.
I hope she allows them to pick since kids will most likely read if the book centers on subjects they really like. Perhaps they can start with the Dr. Seuss books, or books that have their favorite cartoon characters or superheroes as the stars like SpongeBob SquarePants or Spider-Man, Iron-Man, Superman, etc. One of the first series I collected was Herge’s Adventures of Tintin, which in the ‘70s cost P23 a copy at National Book Store. My first “serious†book purchase was George Lucas’s novelization of Star Wars, which then cost P20 in paperback.
Encouraging kids to read can also be done by the following:
• Get them books that focus on teenagers. Frank W. Dixon’s Hardy Boys and Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew hardcovers can still be had at NBS and at second-hand shops. Since they have characters roughly the same age as the readers, they can easily like them.
• If they like to watch TV, hopefully, they’ll watch a cartoon or TV show where the characters are shown to be reading. Star Trek’s Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Spider-Man himself, Peter Parker, and Totally Spies’ Samantha Simpson, and Walt Disney’s Belle of Beauty and the Beast are some pop culture heroes and heroines who are readers.
• Parents should read to their kids, especially at bedtime. There are kid versions of classic tales like Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, Sherlock Holmes and other timeless tales. And by seeing that their parents like to read, they will be encouraged to do so as well.
• If they love the movies, there are kid novelizations of popular films like Batman, Cars, etc. Or, they can watch classic films like Around the World in Eighty Days (with David Niven as Mr. Phileas Fogg), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (with James Mason as Capt. Nemo), or even the early James Bond 007 movies that starred Sean Connery on DVD. From Russia With Love and Thunderball are adapted very closely to the original Ian Fleming novels.
• Don’t force them to like reading at once. If they have an aptitude to prefer the written word, it will emerge. One way that would work would be to have them start reading the newspaper comic strips like Dennis the Menace, Blondie and Beetle Bailey. I remember that National Book Store once released local reprints of US comics like The Fantastic Four, The Brave and the Bold and the Avengers for P1.75 each. Those comics helped me appreciate reading and the English language. Those were the good old days as well.
Hope these help. Have a nice day and God bless. — Dino Virgilio G. Monzon III
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Are video games good for kids?
Dear Nanay,
I have been reading the ongoing discussion in your column about the effects of television and video games on children and just wanted to add something that I just read about.
According to one research, there is actually a difference between video games and television. They even say that video games can be good for your children while television is bad. They say that the difference is that watching television is a passive activity while playing video games is actually an active activity. As a matter of fact, when kids play video games, they think of ways to solve the problems/challenges/puzzles. Reading about this research was very enlightening because I’ve always believed that television and video games could only do more harm than good. But after reading this research, I am actually rethinking my theory. — Nitz
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If you have a question, e-mail at asknanay@nationalbookstore.com.ph or just drop your letter at drop boxes in all National Book Store branches nationwide.
