How to use this Page

by Renee Kirchner, contributing editor

1. Let them catch you reading.

If your children pass through the living room and see you reading a novel during your down time, they will know that you value reading. If you turn on the TV all of the time, don’t be surprised if your kids do the same.

Remember, a lot of parenting is simply leading by example. Carol Phaling, Librarian at Rosemeade Elementary in Carrollton, Texas, says, “Enthusiasm for reading is contagious. If you are enthusiastic about it, your kids will be too.”

2. Trick Them.

That’s right, I said, “trick them.” Reading doesn’t have to be all about books. You can slip reading into their everyday routine. Ask your kids to read a recipe for you while you’re cooking or read a map while you are driving in the car. You can read the comics in the newspaper together in the morning or read letters and email from family members.

3. Create a comfortable reading environment.

Children won’t spend a long time reading if they don’t have a comfortable spot to relax. Set aside a small corner in a home office, living room, or bedroom with a comfortable chair, a reading lamp, and a small table. Ideally, the comfortable reading spot would be in their own bedroom.

4. Wage a war against electronic devices.

This is the toughest challenge parents face when trying to get their kids to love reading. Why do parents not hesitate to wage a war against drugs and alcohol, but when their kids won’t read, they throw up their hands in despair? Put reading first. Once your kids have read for thirty minutes, then they can watch a favorite TV show or play a video game.

5. Take a weekly trip to the library.

Every child should have their own library card and should become familiar with their local library.

6. Have a bed-time reading ritual.

Parents should start reading to their children at a very young age. A bed-time reading ritual is a perfect way to settle your child down before bed. Parents can take turns reading a story or read a book together.

7. Take a book everywhere you go.

When you are running errands with your kids, ask them to bring a book. They can read a book while riding in the car, waiting at doctors’ offices, or taking a family vacation. Reading will keep them occupied and the peace and quiet will keep you sane while you are driving.

8. Give children a book allowance.

Your children probably already receive a monthly allowance for helping out around the house. You might want to consider giving them a book allowance. Give them enough money to buy one or two paperback books each month. If you get them a bookcase for their room, they can start their own library.

9. Get them a magazine subscription.

Adults love to read magazines and kids will too. Does your child have a hobby? Do they love sports? Find a magazine that fits their interests. They will look forward to reading it every month.

10. Let them read junk.

Author and veteran teacher, Mary Leonhardt, has found through experience that good readers in high school loved reading as kids. Kids don’t have to read classics to become better readers. “Let them read junk,” Ms. Leonhardt says. Comic books, serial novels, and graphic novels all count as reading material. Kids will gobble these books up like they were candy.

I first caught a glimpse of this arc at ALA in Philadelphia. I found the cover intriguing, so I tossed it into one of my bags. Then, while attending the last Random House preview, Madapple was on the list of books being discussed. After hearing the editors speak about it, I knew I had to move it to the top of my "To Read" pile. I read it a couple of weeks ago, and have been wondering how to go about blogging this title. There is so much going on here, and yet it all works!

Aslaug has been living with her mother in Hartswell Maine in virtual isolation. Their household consists of the two of them, and they spend their days gathering local plants, and studying ancient texts, languages and lore. Whenever Aslaug has asked about her father, she is told she has none. And her mother's temper has taught her not to ask about much of anything else.

When Aslaug's mother dies, Aslaug herself is accused. After all, her neighbour sees her dragging the body to the yard to bury it. But what else is Aslaug to do? She has no real sense of how the world outside of her home works.

Once her name is cleared, she travels into the next town to look for a building where her mother once brought her. They had simply sat in the car and looked at the place, but Aslaug knows that her mother would never do something without reason. She finds the building, and is soon talking to Susan, Sara and Rune. Her family.

Aslaug is soon intertwined in a family saga filled with twists, turns and untruths. She has survived so much already, can she survive this?

Christina Meldrum has written a devastating, gut-wrenching, compelling and thoughtful story. The amount of research that must have been put into the sections on herbology and botany alone confound me. There are deep discussions of religion and faith, along with language and science. The characters are all broken but fierce, and I found myself loving and hating them in equal measure. Readers need to buy into the story, but one there, will not be able to put this book down. I have not come across a book as astounding as Madapple in a very long time.