Encourage Reading by Enjoying the Stories

It’s almost the end of the year, so it’s time for the annual rounding up of the books we need to let go of: books the children have outgrown or have stopped reading, and those we just need to let go of because of their disintegrating pages or their being too folded, worn, torn, and taped from being in use too often.

It’s easy to think about letting go of these books, but in practice, it’s actually difficult to decide which ones should go. One book has gotten so torn that it has lost its hard cover—but do we get rid of it? No, it is a favorite of the kids. Some books have been outgrown by our older children… but we have younger ones who can enjoy them later on… when it is their turn to learn to read.

This has gotten me thinking about reading levels. Recently, The Conversation has published an article on the reading performance of children and what perhaps has caused lowering reading scores of 12th graders in the last five years (from 2019-2024). To quote: “More kids are failing to even reach basic levels of reading that would allow them to successfully do their schoolwork.” The author, Timothy Shanahan, from the University of Illinois Chicago, opines that it is more than the effect of screentime, too little focus on phonics in school, or even the COVID-19 pandemic forcing kids to study at home. He writes, “I think the best explanation is that most American schools are teaching reading using an approach that new research shows severely limits students’ opportunities to learn.”

It isn’t just practiced in North American schools. The method, which was created by Emmett Betts in the 1940s, is based on the idea that children will thrive better in school if the books they use to study are neither too easy nor too hard for them to read. I can see where it comes from: you know how in Montessori, parents or teachers encourage children to do things on their own by providing items in just the right size? So, a small chair, a small table, a small tray, pitcher, and cup—for an activity of pouring juice to drink. Model it once, then the child can learn to copy the task and succeed at it, which opens the doors to having more confidence in doing tasks independently and wanting to learn more.

In school

I think the method that isn’t named in the article is something I went through as a child in school, and something my kids are using in school nowadays. It’s a reading comprehension activity that groups kids by the color of the stories they are reading. You move through the different color groups by reading the stories and answering the questions, and the more you accomplish, the higher in the color scheme you go.

All well and good, but it shouldn’t be the only material the children read. Because the truth is, many children treat the activity like a game and compare their colors; they do the activity to complete it, without learning to appreciate what they read. I know this because I went through it, and I didn’t advance much (I found the stories boring and the Q&A doubly boring). I wasn’t the type of student who was eager to please my teachers, so getting to the higher, more difficult colors didn’t appeal to me.

But I spent my waiting time after school reading books in the library. I borrowed books as well, so even after the library closed, I could still read. Contrary to the “Goldilocks method,” I think it’s good for children to read even the books that are more difficult for them; their curiosity to understand the stories should be enough to encourage them to read. And if they don’t quite understand, then they can ask a parent or a teacher. Later on, they can reread their old favorites and get new lights from them.

Growing with the books

There are books for children, then there are books for everybody—including children. This reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay, “On Fairy Stories,” in which he talks about how books on fantasy or fairy worlds are often relegated to the children’s room, much like “shabby or old-fashioned furniture,” because they “do not mind if it is misused.” Real fantasy books, he lectured, are books meant for everybody, but it seems we commonly give them to the children because they are thought of as “for children.”

Conversely, books meant for adults, as long as they are well-written, not crass (though I honestly think even adults should be shielded from crass), about the good and the beautiful, and based on truth (yes, even fairy stories are based on truth) can be shared with children just as folktales are. Remember, the “folk” in folktales includes even the little folk. Hence, I think you can share any good book to children the same way Mrs. Phelps—the librarian—introduced them to Matilda at the beginning of Roald Dahl’s Matilda: first, she introduced children stories, and then, when the reader finished with all those books and asked for more, she gave Matilda more difficult—but wonderful—reads.

Don’t get me wrong—I love children’s stories, and I read them to my children. But in our home, we take turns choosing the books we read every night. First choice goes to the eldest and so on until the 3-year-old’s turn, and on the fourth day, it is my choice (the toddler doesn’t get to pick a book yet, but he plays with his own book during reading time).

Sometimes, I pick out a children’s book that I haven’t read to them in a long time. Other times, I pick out a chapter book (a 1989 Nancy Drew, other titles by Dahl, or even the Japanese manga on food, Oishinbo), which they turn out to like, and we end up reading the rest of it chapter by chapter in the coming days. Once, I picked out Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and would you believe we finished it even if we read it small part by small part, not chapter by chapter?

Vertical readers

This reminds me of the vertical set-up practiced by some schools, such as Montessori schools. Vertical grouping in Montessori refers to mixed-age grouping. Allowing the children to work with other kids of different ages fosters a cooperative (instead of competitive) atmosphere, because the little ones can watch the older ones at work and imitate them, and the older children can learn to be helpful and sensitive to the needs of others.

We can take this idea and apply it to reading books. You see, reading is generally a solo activity, but it can be social, too. We remember the tales we loved as children, and we can share them to our children by reading to them, and when they can read by themselves (or when they just want to read by themselves), we can encourage conversations about the stories, comparing them to real life or to other tales.

When we discuss what we read, it becomes more dynamic in our thoughts, and we enrich ourselves with insights gained from others, whether we agree with them or not. People—big and little—crave stories and the fruits that can be gained from enjoying them. We can make use of this innate desire to encourage more reading, more books, and in effect, more critical thinking.

"I think it’s good for children to read even the books that are more difficult for them; their curiosity to understand the stories should be enough to encourage them to read. And if they don’t quite understand, then they can ask a parent or a teacher. Later on, they can reread their old favorites and get new lights from them."