A simple but effective method
Your kids don’t want to read, you got them an iPhone and now all they want to do is watch YouTube, or Twitch, or Tiktok, or bla bla bla. Their attention spans are shorter by the day, and you can’t even talk to them without inserting an Ad every five minutes.
You want them to read, that’s what you did growing up, it would probably make them smart, better at school; but you don’t want to make them — why? Because it’s too hard. Try locking a kid in a room for five hours and telling them they have to read this book you shove in their hands — good luck. Not only will they hate you but they will hate reading. It’s the book report conundrum — people just hate being told what to like, even little people.
So, you can’t force your kids to read, and they won’t do it on their own, what to do, what to do. We mind control the little devils. We tell them that they can’t read because books are too gory, or have to much action, or there just too cool for these kids to understand; then we let them see us reading.
We have to start treating books like alcohol, hide your books on the high shelves, put on audiobooks and then turn them off when they get close, and then wait — let the seeds plan. And then finally when your kids come begging you for a book you hit them with the audiobooks — cause here’s the truth, no matter how much a kid want to read if they’re used to YouTube they’re going to have a rough time getting through a paperback. Start them off with the audiobooks and get them hooked.
Now picking the right books is important. We can’t drop War and Peace on them but at the same time, they don’t want to read Charlottes Web — don’t forget that you tricked them into reading by making them think it was an adult thing. So let’s talk about audiobooks, there are a few out there that are so funny, narrated so well, or are just so interesting that they are impossible not to love. Start with these:
- The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer narrated by Nathan Parker
- The Bartimeus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud narrated by Simon Jones
- The Redwall Series by Brian Jacques narrated by Brian Jacques
- So You Want to be a Wizard by Diana Duane narrated by Christina Moore
- His Dark Materials by Phillip Pulman narrated by Phillip Pulman
- And of course, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling narrated by Jim Dale
Now, there are many more books geared towards kids, thousands of them, but these are the best to start off with. There may be books that you liked as a kid, books you think your kids will love — suck it up and start with these. They aren’t on the list because they’re good books (they are but), they’re here because they have the best narrators, plan and simple; when it comes to audiobooks these are the BEST ones. Any of them will do to start, gun to my head I’d say go with Artemis Fowl for the very first — its quick, smart, and funny. ANY of them will do. Then let the kids go wild.
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