[SynthethicalY]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/bo...&oref=sl ogin

[Rob Instigator]

I love to read.

having children get escited about reading due to Hairy Potty is cool, but what really needs to happen is for children to be instilled with the JOY of reading every day by their parents.

This is not a scholastic issue. schools can only do so much. The reason so many kids do not read has less to do with video games and cable TV tha it does with parents who do not read in their day to day, thereby offering up a very bad example to their children. no matter what happens,a child's parents are the single most important and constant source of inspiration and information. Most of what we learn we learn by watching what our parents do.

parents do not read? the schools are not gonna fix that.

[SynthethicalY]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

I love to read.

having children get escited about reading due to Hairy Potty is cool, but what really needs to happen is for children to be instilled with the JOY of reading every day by their parents.

This is not a scholastic issue. schools can only do so much. The reason so many kids do not read has less to do with video games and cable TV tha it does with parents who do not read in their day to day, thereby offering up a very bad example to their children. no matter what happens,a child's parents are the single most important and constant source of inspiration and information. Most of what we learn we learn by watching what our parents do.

parents do not read? the schools are not gonna fix that.

I agree with you, I remember my dad as a young child he would always read the Newspaper, and he would make me read him the Newspaper in English and Spanish. That is why I can comprehend both Languages very well. But yes parents are the ones the instill most of our attitude towards everything in life.

[pbradley]

I wish kids were reading something more substantial than Harry Potter. Give them the classics!

[Rob Instigator]

harry potter is as substantial as any other "classic" children's lit, like the Narnia stuff, and Tolkien.
if it had been written by an emerican you would see a dumbed down language, but thank goodness it was written by a brit.

chicks with glasses are the hottest

 

[pbradley]

Yes, chicks with glasses are cute. Usually.

[Rob Instigator]

J.K. Rowling earns around one million Pound every DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


wow!

[lungfish]

yeah the bitch is rich.

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

I love to read.

having children get escited about reading due to Hairy Potty is cool, but what really needs to happen is for children to be instilled with the JOY of reading every day by their parents.

This is not a scholastic issue. schools can only do so much. The reason so many kids do not read has less to do with video games and cable TV tha it does with parents who do not read in their day to day, thereby offering up a very bad example to their children. no matter what happens,a child's parents are the single most important and constant source of inspiration and information. Most of what we learn we learn by watching what our parents do.

parents do not read? the schools are not gonna fix that.

You must spread etc....

[Silent Dan Speaks]

I think you're right. My parents used to read to me or have me read to them every night before I went to bed. Now reading is my favorite hobby.

[Alex's Trip]

I started reading Harry Potter in 3rd grade, and I'm pretty sure if I hadn't started reading Harry Potter I wouldn't be as much of a reader as I am now, which, unfortunately, isn't a whole lot as I'd like because of this goddamn forum, and other message boards. Although, this board has given me a desire to read as well. I probably wouldn't have read House of Leaves if it weren't for Rob, for example.

My parents don't read really.

I'm seeing Sonic Youth at the Greek Theater the night of the midnight release of Harry Potter 7. The fact that I'm a little disappointed about not being able to go says a lot about me.

[Pookie]

I think that Harry Potter has definitely had a positive impact on children's reading habits, and on the quality of children's books as well.

Don't think that children who read HP, just sit around playing their Game Boys until the next one comes along. They read other books.

Bookshops and publishers take children's books incredibly serious; something like 25% of sales in my shops comes from children's books. And although there is a lot of crud out there, there is also a lot of quality.

And I'm one of the lucky ones, neither of my parents read books, but I loved them as a child, and still do. Hopefully my love of books will rub off on my children.

[sonicl]

I was always encouraged to borrow books from the library when I was a kid, going there was almost as good as a treat for me. I still love going to libraries now, knowing that there are thousands of books on those shelves and I can have any one of them that I want.

[Rob Instigator]

I spent nearly all summer between ages 11-13 at the local library. it was close enough to ride my bike to.

my mom would get worried because I was a lonely kid and then someone told her "he is at a LIBRARY. be glad he is not running around doing drugs and stealing shit."

[atsonicpark]

basically it's like this

chicks with pigtails are 10% hotter automatically
and chicks with glasses are 25% hotter automatically

children should have to read burroughs and ballard.

[Danny Himself]

I would think of myself as well-read, but I never needed Harry Potter to get me interested in reading. Since the first book of the series was released I've been strongly against it all. Wizardry, and all that shit. It's sickening to think that almost every American child who has read the Harry Potter books will think that we're all posh private-school twats with twee little accents who run around telling shite jokes and being dorks.

Hatred for the series aside, I doubt the scores of Harry Potter video games and films are helping literacy, either.

 

Ah, now there's a classic.

[Alex's Trip]

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

I would think of myself as well-read, but I never needed Harry Potter to get me interested in reading. Since the first book of the series was released I've been strongly against it all. Wizardry, and all that shit. It's sickening to think that almost every American child who has read the Harry Potter books will think that we're all posh private-school twats with twee little accents who run around telling shite jokes and being dorks.

Hatred for the series aside, I doubt the scores of Harry Potter video games and films are helping literacy, either.

 

Ah, now there's a classic.

If anything, Harry Potter made me want to be British.

I was talking to my grandma, and she said I could have been Harry Potter for the movies. Then she got all bitter when she started talking about how rich J.K. Rowling is, and then she started angrily asking, "Why weren't you Harry Potter, Alex? You could have been him." I told her they only hired British actors, but she didn't seem to care.

And kids and Shakespeare don't mix well. Maybe at age 15-17 there is a decent chance that the kid might like it/understand it. That is how a lot of it is in my class anyway.

My local library sucks. I hate going there.

[Danny Himself]

Originally Posted by Alex's Trip

If anything, Harry Potter made me want to be British.

I was talking to my grandma, and she said I could have been Harry Potter for the movies. Then she got all bitter when she started talking about how rich J.K. Rowling is, and then she started angrily asking, "Why weren't you Harry Potter, Alex? You could have been him." I told her they only hired British actors, but she didn't seem to care.
.

Nobody should want to be British. Anyway, my mother used to complain to me about the series, asking me why I hadn't gone in for auditions for Harry. I was supposed to audition but I refused to.

[SynthethicalY]

I remember when I dropped out of high school, all I did for two years was read books, 3-5 books a week.

[Hip Priest]

Blame the culture in the home for a lack of literacy in children. Those whose parents are motivated to inspire them do very well.

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

...

 

Ah, now there's a classic.

Very true. Macbeth is far from being his best, in my opinion, but it is still masterly.