Children Who Don’t Like to Read

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Back in 1994, when we finally figured out what kind of homeschooling family we really wanted to be and when we adopted our main goalĀ . . .

That we, our children and their spouses, our grandchildren and their spouses, and every succeeding generation live as Christians on earth and live forever in Heaven with our God and with each other.

. . . we also adopted a list of objectives that we thought would help us reach our goal. One of those goals was that each of our children would love reading. At the time, we had met that goal quite easily with two of our children, but our other child was not there yet — really not even close. This child (whose gender I’ll keepĀ hidden to protect the innocent) was about to go into sixth grade and did not particularly like to read. I confess that it bothered me greatly.

One day I went to the public library, as I did so often in those homeschool days, and stood in front of a shelf in the children’s department, thinking, “What can I get _______ to read?” My mind goes back to that moment as I write these words.

My eyes fell on one of the original A.A. MilneĀ Winnie-the-Pooh books. I decided to give it a try.Ā I brought it home. OurĀ child devoured it. Before long, this child who didn’t enjoy reading had finishedĀ Winnie-the-PoohĀ andĀ The House at Pooh CornerĀ andĀ Now We are SixĀ andĀ When We Were Very Young.

“What?” I thought. “There are only four?”

But four was enough. This is what did itĀ for this child — a mama who stood in front of a shelf at the library and wondered, “What can I get this child to read?” and our God Who decided that was the time to answer my longing. It was aĀ precious gift that continues to bless this now grown-up child today.

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
James 1:17

It was aĀ point of no return. This child was hooked and enjoyed readingĀ from that point forward.

It may not be Winnie-the-Pooh for your child, but it might be.Ā This wasĀ no Disney Winnie-the-Pooh. It wasn’t long until our child had personal copies ofĀ the hardback originals — Winnie-the Pooh with its orange dust jacket, The House at Pooh Corner with its green one, When We Were Very Young with its pink one, and Now We Are Six with its blue one. They were books made with high-quality paper.Ā Inside wereĀ the original E. H. Shepard line drawings of Christopher Robin and all his friends and the map of the Hundred Acre Wood.

These weren’t stories to read one time. TheyĀ wereĀ stories written by an authorĀ and illustrated by an artist who understood how a child thinks and feels — and how grown-ups think and feel, too. As C.S. Lewis is credited with saying,

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally ā€“ and often far more ā€“ worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.”Ā 

Pooh storiesĀ are gentle stories. Tigger bounces to be sure, but he isn’t orange and he doesn’t have a silly laugh. Eeyore looks on the dark side of everything,Ā but you have to love him. Maybe Winnie-the-Pooh is a bear of very little brain, but he’ll always be there when Christopher Robin needs him.

library in Miami florida
Again, I wondered how I would illustrate these thoughts. Our Pooh things left the house with our children when they got married. Shame on me. I need to get my own copies to read to the grandchildren. So, I went to my back-up source, the Library of Congress. I found this picture of the Children’s Department of the Paola Free Library in Paola, Kansas and downloaded it. I wish it wereĀ dated. You may not be able to see itĀ on your screen, but, to my surprise, the picture above the fireplace wasĀ none other than Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Eeyore.

Our son John was born during the heyday of counted cross-stitch. A friend gave usĀ a counted cross-stitch picture of a little boy with the words, “It’s nice to spend some time alone, dreaming daydreams all your own.”Ā That’s what happens when a child reads a real book — and by real, I mean one a child can touch and one that has words that are real inside.

Maybe the issue you worry about with your child isn’t loving to read. Maybe it is something quite different. Whatever it is, though, I know what that child needs — a mama who will keep searching for a solution. It might take years — and it just might come when you least expect it.

. . . Be strong and courageous!
Do not tremble or be dismayed,Ā 
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.ā€
Joshua 1:9

Even at the library.

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7 Comments

  1. For our son it was the “Happy Hollister” series that got him going. He could barely read when I started reading the books to him, by the time we finished all 33 (thanks to e-bay), he was able to read them himself! After spending 3 years trying to teach him to read, I threw out the reading programs and simply read to him. He would follow along and correct me if I missed a word (generally subbing a different word, apparently my brain would get ahead of my mouth šŸ˜‰ ) The same child won the library reading program this summer along with his older brother in a different division.How thankful I am for homeschooling and that he was not labeled as slow, put in a special class etc.

  2. I’ve had to finally buy a “reading program” as mine still struggles with the simple. Praying this does it, we just keep trying. Thank you for the encouragement.

  3. Mem Fox states in her book Read Aloud Magic that a child needs to hear 1000 stories before he can read on his own. So just enjoy all those read aloud times and let the brain store all the info!!

  4. Two of my kids love to read. My littlest one….not so much. I will say, she is more active and hands-on than the other 2 so I think some of it is just the sheer sitting still feature. She does love to be read to (while she colors or cuts out things or organizes or anything else she can find to do with her little hands) and she is a very good reader (because I require her to read everyday….whether she wants to or not) but I am still looking for that AH HAH….I love to read!! moment when we will hit upon what she truly loves to read. We’ve tried several themes (animals, mysteries, etc…she’s only 8 so I am still monitoring and not allowing a lot of “junk” that schools seem to think is “good reading” these days). She loves history and so we’ve been trying to find wholesome history for extracurricular reading. A kind gentleman has been giving me the “Mandie” books….I didn’t know what they were but they are a kind of a Christian mystery featuring a little blonde girl. She started one of those books yesterday and I’m hoping she loves them. She has mentioned reading the Little House on the Prairie series but I usually read those to my girls so I am being stingy and wanting to do those as read-alouds. šŸ˜‰ I think she’s too young for Anne of Green Gables or Little Women (or any Louisia May Alcott) but I have those ready, my other 2 girls LOVED them.

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