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Today, we’re going to talk about cultivating a love for reading in your children. According to a recent study, only 32% of the population reads books for pleasure. The average American reads about 12 books per year. 42% of college grads never read another book after graduation. However, reading for just 6 minutes a day can reduce stress levels by 68%. Reading increases empathy and emotional intelligence. These are some interesting statistics.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOUR CHILDREN TO LOVE READING

The main point of reading is that your children will know God. The way that we know God is through his Word, through his scripture. And you want them to be in his Word every single day. So, reading is vital for us as Christians. God tells us his nature, his character. He tells us, the past, the the future, how we are to behave as Christians. So, this is vital We get to know him, through his Word.

When we love scripture and we love to read, then we pass that on in our books. I know that as parents one of the things that we want to have is a discernment and wisdom about false teaching and putting our children in, an area, a church, or in a program that could be teaching them something, as a false doctrine. One of the ways that the Lord is going to tell you about a false doctrine or the way that the Lord is gonna tell you about a false teacher, is when you understand what his word says. You’re not trusting what someone else is telling you that the Bible says something, but you have read the scripture for yourself. You haven’t just pulled out 1 or 2 verses. You have read the scripture for yourself and you know what it says. You want to pass that on to your children, so the next generation is reading his word.

READING IS RELATIONSHIP

Reading is very relational. It’s an amazing way, as we’ve talked before about reading biographies and autobiographies, of getting to know someone, through their story. The primary way that we can know God is through his story. It’s also the way that we get drawn into his story, as his children. So that’s very important.

Reading is such a powerful form of communication. It sets off things in our brain that don’t otherwise get set off. It connects neuropathways that help us to mature.

READING DEVELOPS IMAGINATION

Cultivating a love for books builds imagination. It builds that part of their brain that comes naturally to every single child, which is play. As they begin to read fiction they love it, and they can imagine these great like great heroes of the faith. Or they can imagine, that there are dragons in the world. So they learn to use what is already innate in a child, which is that imagination, that love for play. And they can attach that to a story, which brings out character. And then the Lord can use that to say, hey, this is a character I wanna build in you.

So it’s a really great beginning point for you to read quality stories that have, wonderful people. Maybe they struggle through something, but at the end, the Lord has helped them, and the Lord has brought them to an understanding of how they can be a person of courage.

They begin to think more deeply as they imagine the characters and conflicts, especially when they’re holding a book that has pages. They see that printed word and all of those things in your brain are firing off. And all of those pathways are being built because you’re holding a book. You’re flipping through pages. The smell of the pages, the smell of the book, and the colors..

READING CHANGES OUR HEARTS

Reading good books changes our hearts as we experience the characters and conflicts presented. I remember reading about, the purpose of fables, and in particular, when we were going into Aesop’s fables. Aesop’s fables are witty and funny, and, they reveal truth about the human heart. The stories were a way to educate children; to open them up to the morality, and to provide discussion about moral behavior and value classification, in that time. It still works today. Our children can read these stories and look at these animals, that so many of the fables are about and see themselves, without putting up a wall. I love that stories do that. As we immerse ourselves in these stories, we begin to see parts of our own lives mirrored to us.

Stories give us the opportunity to evaluate our own thoughts and behaviors and actions, and inspire us to overcome just like the hero or heroine of those books. Books give us a fresh perspective and force us to confront biases.

READING INSPIRES US TO MATURE AND GROW

When one of my children was young and they were really struggling, excuse me, with with fear. And we read the book, Call It Courage, by Armstrong Sperry. The book portrayed a young boy who, struggled with fear and ended up alone on a different island than his family. The boy had to overcome fear and navigate being alone. It is a beautiful story of courage and triumph.
After reading the story my child was able to look at the character’s growth, and gain those same qualities. It was a beautiful process to see. The book was able to confront his fear in a way that didn’t bring shame or guilt, but inspired growth.

INSPIRING YOUNG READERS

Picture books are the place to start for young children. Then as they are able to read more, you can move into early elementary books, and then you’re moving into junior high chapter books. In each of these catagories you can find books that will address how to deal with fear, how to overcome, fear in your life, or how to overcome losing someone, or losing a pet. There are many different life struggles that books address. Your child can move through those tough subjects and even fun subject in a fictional world, but still have the character issues drawn in. As a parent, you can approach it on a level that is appropriate and comfortable for them. You can use a picture book and talk about something very gently. And then, you may be able to present something a little bit more mature in 3rd or 4th grade, and then maybe a little bit more mature when they’re older.

And one of those books is I read as a young girl was The 5 Little Peppers and How They Grew. It was one of my favorites. It has those issues of how to deal with not having enough money, and parents not being there. It touches on how you deal with siblings, what happens when someone gets hurt, and how different children handle these things. These books are really a good way to show your kids that they’re not by themselves. One of the error that we as humans make is to go through a situation and think we’re the only person that’s ever gone through that situation. Then you realize when you’re reading these books, you’re not alone. Not only are people suffering through some of these things that you’re reading about now, but 50 years ago, a 100 years ago, 200 years ago, you can pull books from all over. We all have the same issues. There’s nothing new under the sun and this lets your children know that the lord is always there.

BUILDING THE HABIT OF READING

Back to your point about what reading does for us, I love what Jim Trelease says in The Read-A-Loud Handbook, education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire. Reading for us is that lighting of a fire. Trelease also says that, “a nation that does not read much does not know much. And a nation that does not know much is more likely to make poor choices in the home, the marketplace, the jury box, and the voting booth.” All those decisions ultimately affect the entire nation, the literate and the illiterate. And for me, this really goes back to why it’s important for my children to love to read. The more they read, the better they get. The better they get, the more they like it.

The more they like to read, the better choices that they will make, in their own homes, in their marketplace, in their jury box, and in the voting booth. And that that was very important to me. I also love reading. I’ve loved reading pretty much my whole life. My mom, who was an educator, really instilled a heart to love reading in us. And so that was top priority. And when I went to college to become an educator myself, I was introduced to Jim Trelease and the information in his handbook. So for parents of young kids, actually, I’m gonna scratch that, parents of any child, no matter their age, reading aloud is one of the single most important things that you can do for your children.

If your children are older, they may have to be coaxed into it with special privileges, but not only do you make connection with the characters in the books, but you and your child then make connections that last a lifetime as well. I believe is where that heart to love reading is cultivated.

AUDIO BOOKS IN THE FIRE BOX

My daughter and I listen to a lot of books, on audio now, and we love to talk about them. Book quotes fill our home and our conversations, and she loves to read. My son loves to read. And we’ve seen the fruit of that in particular because he’s older in his life. We have experienced how it’s helped him through the college years, and how it will help him beyond that.

It’s not just about the book that you’re reading. It is the fact that you’re doing this together as a family. They’re learning about you. You’re learning about them. It’s a beautiful thing. Reading aloud is absolutely one of the best things, I think, to build that unity between you and your child and you can do it from the beginning. It’s one of the greatest educational tools that we have.

FAVORITE BOOKS TO CULTIVATE LOVE FOR READING

Picture books

• Ping
• The Little Red Hen
• Cynthia Ryland books
• Henry and Mudge
• Poppleton
• Mr. Putter and Tabby
• The Relatives Came
• E. B. White books; The Trumpet of the Swan and Charlotte’s Web
• James Harriet, All Creatures Great and Small
• Madeline
• Catherine Voss Children’s Bible
• Jesus Storybook Bible
• Barbara Cooney, Missus Rumphius and The Lupine Lady
• Virginia Lee Burton; TheLittle House, Mike Mulligan, Katie and the Big Snow.
• Jack Ezra Keats; A Snowy Day, The Whistle for Willie, Peter’s Chair.
• Robert McCloskey
• Dr. Seuss