Getting children to read

Marsha mentioned that it is hard to get children to be excited about reading and I agree…which is why I was excited about the Harry Potter series when it first came out. It was so thrilling to see kids literally devouring books. Of course there are a number of other fantastic books out there (and the list she mentioned contains quite a few) but what was great about the Harry Potter books was that it created a resurgence in the desire kids once had to read. What we need to do is keep that excitement alive and encourage them to read other books. I’ve also found, with my nephew and friend’s children, that if we keep a ritual of bedtime stories and stories throughout the day, they keep returning to reading. I know it’s hard, with the pull of DVDs and video games, to keep the attention of little ones with books, but I agree with Marsha that it is so important. How else will we foster the next generation of authors?