There’s also “no need to shove
morals down a kid’s throat,” says Mio,
who dislikes books that are overly
didactic or moralistic. “Fiction should
be read for enjoyment – to lose yourself
in the magic of the story. Many works
of fiction do help kids to figure out how
the world works, and what behaviour
is decent or otherwise... but that should
be gleaned from them reading and
thinking about how the characters in
the book behave and what the outcomes
are, within the context of the story.”
Non-fiction books do not need to
be dry and dull either. “Non-fiction
can be told in a narrative way that
captures your interest and makes you
want to read on. Don’t get me started
on non-fiction which contains woolly
facts – which are [often] vague or
incorrect – as that makes me go mad!”
Parents should also be wary of
buying books related to children’s
merchandise. “Whilst some have
been written well and are enjoyable
reads, others are dotted with terrible
grammar and punctuation errors and
have no story,” says Mio.
“It’s important not to be seduced
by brand names,” advises Nury
Vittachi, acclaimed author, journalist
and founder of the Man Asian
Literary Prize, the Hong Kong Asian
Literary Festival and the Asia Literary
Review. He believes that media-
programming can influence children
to buy modern books that are shallow,
derivative or inappropriate.
“Recently, a mother told me
that her son had seen a bit of
Game of
Thrones
on TV and wanted to read
it,” he says. “It was a shame [because]
Game of Thrones
unfailingly exploits
violence and sex to keep readers
hooked, cultivating the worst, rather
than the best, of human nature.”
Instead, Nury recommends the
“timeless greats” – classics such as
The
Hungry Caterpillar
for younger children
and
The Hobbit
for older children,
which have much more depth and
richness than the likes of Hello Kitty
or
Glee
.
Ultimately, however, the experts
agree that reading anything is better
than not reading at all. As Katie’s
parents used to say, “If you can’t find a
book, a cereal box is good enough! As
long as you are reading!”
Mio concludes, “Getting a child
to read and enjoy any book opens
the door to regarding reading as
a pleasurable activity. Instead of
putting children off reading ‘easier’
or ‘less worthy’ reads, allow them
to continue; but, simultaneously
introduce them to a wide range of
genres and types of book. The best
way to do this is by sharing a book
with a child. Read to them, or if the
child is an able reader, allow them to
read to you.”
