I wrote the book Raising Bookworms because I was finding that whenever I went on public speaking appearances, author tours, book signings, into classrooms, into libraries, what I was hearing the most often, the single most consistently asked question that both my mother and I would often, when we traveled together and appeared together were hearing was, “How to I get my child reading again? How do I get my child reading to begin with or how do I get my child reading again? He or she used to be a wonderful reader, but I’ve lost them to the Internet or I’ve lost them to the Game Boy or whatever it may be. And how do I get my kid to turn off the Game Boy and pick up a book?”
We were hearing this question with such frequency and urgency that I began to think, “Boy, this is really becoming a serious issue in our society and in our community.” As a parent, I could relate because I have two kids. I have a son who is twelve and daughter who’s five. Certainly, the digital world is a big part of our life.
I’m fortunate in that both my kids love to read and are terrific readers. But I didn’t want one thing to replace to the other. I wanted that to continue, that joy of reading in our life. I thought let me see if my experience as an author and as particularly an arts educator, if I can do some research and see if I can address this question in a way that may be more accessible to parents and to people who are short of ideas as to how to bring that back to life.
