Ficlets

The New York Times today asks the question all publishers fear: After the last Harry Potter book comes out in ten days, will kids stop reading?

Indeed, as the series draws to a much-lamented close, federal statistics show that the percentage of youngsters who read for fun continues to drop significantly as children get older, at almost exactly the same rate as before Harry Potter came along…

But some researchers and educators say that the series, in the end, has not permanently tempted children to put down their Game Boys and curl up with a book instead. Some kids have found themselves daunted by the growing size of the books (“Sorcerer’s Stone” was 309 pages; “Deathly Hallows,” will be 784). Others say that Harry Potter does not have as much resonance as titles that more realistically reflect their daily lives. “The Harry Potter craze was a very positive thing for kids,” said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, who has reviewed statistics from federal and private sources that consistently show that children read less as they age. “It got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books. The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading.”

It’s an interesting question. I watch my own daughter’s reading habits. She’s eight and an avid reader, but I don’t know if she reads as much as I did at her age. Part of the time that reading took up in my life is taken up by the computer in hers, and of course at age eight she has other enthusiasms as well. I’m not at all worried about this, personally, since she seems to be moving right along in the smarts department, but I’m curious to see as she grows how much reading is part of her life. It will be part of her life (having an author dad kinda helps), the question is how much.

Outside of my house, I think the question comes down to how much reading for enjoyment is promoted in schools. My elementary school had an active reading program, which assured that kids got engaged in reading for fun as well as for school. It made a big difference, I think. I wonder what the schools are doing to encourage that sort of reading now, or if they’re just too busy teaching to tests to bother.