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I believe the best way to encourage children to read is to show them how much you love to read. I read books to my son every day, but I also make sure he sees me reading a book for myself every day. Children learn by example.

Scout has a good point. I insisted on learning to read at 3-1/2 because it really bothered me to see my parents enjoying reading, when I couldn't do it myself. This was also a huge motivator to get beyond "see Jane run" so I could get my hot little hands on what the grown-ups were reading.

Growing up, I remember my father reading all the time, my mother not so much.... but they away read to me until I could read myself. As a kid, I read a lot because that was the thing to do.... and when I was in the first half of college I read a ton because it was something to pass time between classes doing.

As a working adult, I find it harder to read on regular basis. Especially when reading is competing with other things I enjoy doing.... like knitting.

This breaks my heart. Reading is essential to life and the only way, I believe, to truly learn something.

My husband and I are both bona fide bibliophiles and our daughter is growing up to be the same. She'd rather read books than play with toys. :)

"Is reading a priority in your household?"

Oh, yes. I'm a former children's book editor, and I still love to read children's books. I'm just happy to have an excuse to do it now, in the form of my toddler, Sam, whom I've been reading to since he was just a few weeks old.

"Do you have any ideas for inspiring your kids to make reading a personal priority in their lives?"

I wrote a long post on this subject on my blog, but the short answer is: buy good books (or check them out of the library). There's so much awful pap out there, and I'm dismayed at how little thought is put into a lot of children's literature, both at the publishing end and at the consuming end. How can we expect children to love books if we don't give them the very best, most beautiful stories to read? And there are SO MANY wonderful books out there, there's really no excuse.

I recommend that, to start, people check out the lists of past winners of the and Newbery medals. These prizes have been around for decades, which means you'll get lots of fantastic suggestions, many -- if not all -- of which are still in print. Children love older books, too, as the style of artwork is usually unfamiliar and exciting. (For example, my toddler loves a picture book called White Snow, Bright Snow, which won the Caldecott back in 1947. Ezra Jack Keats's books, which were published in the '60s and '70s, are huge hits, too. Sam also loves all the Madeline books, which are exquisitely illustrated.)

Also (and I hate to say this), but there are a lot of very stylish looking children's books out there that, despite their good looks, are just plain fluff. Sam has received a couple of these, and he rarely even looks at them again after the first reading. I think illustration is an integral part of what makes a children's book compelling, but there has to be some element of storytelling that engages you, too.

Ultimately, my litmus test for kids' books is this: I don't buy anything that I wouldn't want to read and look at myself. I would never buy a book for any child that I hadn't read first myself, and given how short most of them are, there's really no excuse not to give a book a read right in the bookstore.

Whoa. I'm done with the soapbox now. Who wants it next?

Doh! My link to the Caldecott medal winners disappeared from my post. Here it is.

Doppelganger, thanks for the list ideas. I completely agree that alot of children's books are total crap. My son and I were at the library the other day and I was struggling to find some new decent books. We usually stick to the classics. Sendak, Seuss, Keats, Lobel, and the occasional Curious George. My son just discovered "Make Way for Ducklings" which was published in the 40's. It was one of my favorites when I was young. The pictures are monochromatic and not flashy, but he *loves* it. Just goes to show--kids know good stuff when they see it.

Thanks Doppelganger!

I think we should have a relly good book post.

I am a children's book illustration fiend, and have been trying to collect kids' books since before we had children... there are some wonderful books out there, and would love to find more!

I should add that I took 2 semesters of kid lit in university, and so am demanding on the lit front too. There is a lot of "fluff" ( a different word comes to mind...) out there; things such as the horrible Dora book of stories my daughter was given -- by a school teacher no less! -- or many of the books on the "sale" table. It is difficult to pick a book just on the internet, sight unseen; you tend to rely on the classics and on recommendations from librarians and others. And as you say, bookstores are not a great information source either (although there are a few great kids' bookstores -- such as Mabel's Fabels in Toronto). But I think there is some wonderful work out there that has not been annointed with an award, and I relish finding unknown gems ("My Mother Had a Dancing Heart" is one). It would be fun to have an exchange on AT: Nursery.

Um, maybe I'm misunderstanding, but does it only count as reading if it's a book?

I'm normally an avid book reader but that has declined with the birth of our first child. If it wasn't for the internet, I'm not sure how much reading I'd be able to get in. I know for a fact my husband reads more than he used to due to the internet. He follows certain blogs, political news/opinion, and catches up on sports/entertainment throughout the day, EVERY day.

The mere popularity of blogs is proof that people are indeed reading. And while some blogs are fluff, just like books, there are some that have insightful commentary, beautiful prose, and some good old-fashioned fiction.