A friend in the publishing industry brought a recent article in The New Yorker to my attention. It’s called “The Twilight of the Books: What Will Life Be Like If People Stop Reading?”, and it begins with some scary statistics about how, as a nation, we’re turning into a bunch of non-readers. . .and what that means.

I won’t repeat it all, but here’s a fact that stood out for me:

• In 1995, the average family spent an average $163 dollars on reading (including newspapers, magazines, books, e-books).
• In 2005, that amount had fallen by almost a quarter, to just $126 a year.

I’m not arguing that money’s the best measure here, but I do think it gives an indication of how reading ranks among those things upon which we spend our money. (What’s a cup of coffee cost these days? Seems to me $126 is about what it costs to take a family the movies two or three times. Or indulge a parent’s Starbucks habit for a couple months.)

And then it goes into a history of reading and the science behind the claims people have always made—and that some of us know or have suspected from our own experience and common sense—things like how readers are more likely than non-readers to:

1. play sports
2. exercise
3. visit art museums, theater, concerts
4. make art or take pictures
5. volunteer
6. vote

I believe the author was making the point that some of these things are kind of important to our society.

Anyhow, it’s a pretty long article, but it was definitely a thought-stirrer for little old me.

JP

Happy New Year! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been becoming a progressively better resolution-keeper as I get older.

The trick, as with many things you wish to accomplish in life, comes down to being realistic with yourself.

For instance, if you are trying to start a really noble habit, you should make sure it’s actually do-able and at least somewhat in line with your character. Like, say, you tell yourself that this year you’re going to start running five miles a day, but you’ve never been much of a runner, and you’re pretty out of shape, and you really don’t like running (except when playing basketball, I don’t like it much, I will confess), well, maybe you should pick another resolution. Like walking a couple miles a day.

It’s great to have ambitions, but they don’t tend to flourish unless you know what you’re working with.

And I don’t mean to presume to know you that well, but I think I’ve stumbled on a great resolution, in case the one you picked isn’t shaping up so well.

If you think your kid(s) should read more, if you have Internet access or are able-bodied, and if you have fifteen minutes or more of free time a month, here’s the idea.

Hold up your right hand and read this next bit aloud—

“I, [your name, and don’t be a wiseacre and say 'yourname’] do hereby resolve for 2008 to help get one great book a month for into the hands of a child in my life.”

That wasn’t so painful, was it? And you can do that, can’t you? If you can’t afford a brand new book each month—either from a store or from an online retailer—get a used one, or borrow from your local library (here’s a handy list of local libraries and links for how to set yourself, and your kid, up with a library card) or even a friend who has the book you think your child will like.

And if you need recommendations for books—bookstores and libraries, with all the thousands of books they have, can be a pain to find your way around, I know—then come here and check out recommendations that I—and your fellow blog-readers—have made. Or go ahead and ask somebody here at the message boards, or your child’s teacher, or a bookseller, or a librarian.

It really shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes from start to finish.

JP

Hope your holidays were great. Christmas happens to be one of my favorite days of the year.

And my family outdid themselves this year. I got some great books myself, gave a couple good ones—including one of my all-time favorites, To Kill a Mockingbird—to my son, Jack. I also received some of the world’s best ice cream, from Graeter’s in Cincinnati.

So now it’s time for thank-you notes! I know, thank-you notes can seem like a total drag and, these days, with the speed and ease of email, IMs, cell phones, and texting, it seems downright old-fashioned and inefficient to actually commit pen to paper, but I personally think part of enjoying books comes from an appreciation of this old-fashioned, first-hand, and magical experience of turning our own thoughts into words.

To that end, even if thank-you notes are a hard-sell with your child, have you ever considered getting them a blank notebook? Here’s a thought and a letter you’re welcome to adapt for your own young reader:

Dear ___,

You ought to keep a journal. Do you know what a journal is? It’s basically your own book. And it’s a place where you can keeps things you want to remember. Things like [and of course use your own examples here, these are just for-instances]:

• How much the Cowboys are going to win by in the next game
• What sorts of table scraps Rex likes best
• The right amount of ketchup one should use on one’s burger
• What is the best joke you heard at school this week
• What day of the week you get your allowance on
• How many Whiffle balls you’ve hit into the next-door-neighbors’ yard
• What sort of cake you want for your birthday
• What Mom or Dad said to you that ticked you off the other day
• Best fishing spots at the river
• Secrets that nobody should know but you

My point is that if you have a journal and practice writing in it—just like with our bike or smacking Whiffle balls into the neighbors’ yard—you’ll get good fast.

And writing’s a good thing to be good at. It helps you remember things, it helps you get your ideas to across to other people (so you can get into good schools and get good jobs and stuff like that) and it can even be pretty good fun.

And you don’t have to write in this journal when you don’t feel like it. You can glue pictures you’ve cut out of magazines, things you’ve printed off the computer, hide money in it, or even smash leaves or bugs into it if you like. Or you can neglect it for weeks or months at a time.

Anyhow, why don’t you give it a try, and let me know if there’s anything I can help with? I’m proud of you being such a good reader and writer.

JP

So I’m reading The New York Times this morning and I come across an article, “Study Links Drop in Test Scores to a Decline in Time Spent Reading,” and I go, "Hmm, I should probably read this one, being a parent and an author and all that." And it begins, “. . .Harry Potter, James Patterson and Oprah Winfrey’s book club aside . . .” and I’m like, "Hey, is that James Patterson as in. . . !?"

Needless to say, I’ve read articles with less provocation than that, and it did end up being a thought-stirring piece. For the first time in my memory, smart people in the book industry are addressing the fact that it’s not just that young people are reading less, but that they “appear to be reading less for fun.”

Now there’s the under-rated concept of the new millennium—people do better with things when they’re having fun at them!

Of course it’s a wisdom good teachers, good parents, and good habit-changers of all kinds have always known.

It’s also why I created the PageTurner awards. They’re purposely not about identifying and giving money to folks who say reading is critically important for future success, but finding those teachers, booksellers, librarians, community volunteers and others who are communicating that reading is a joy. (If you know anybody like that—including yourself—please stop by the awards’ site and let us know about them.)

It’s important that we all realize that reading is a crucial habit. But being aware of that and knowing how to do something about it are two different things. One truth I think we can hold to be self-evident: The pursuit of happiness is a little harder for our children to undertake if they don’t see the happiness they can have in their “academic” pursuits.

More soon on how we can show kids the enormous happiness that can be found in books—but right now I’ve got to go finish off what I hope is a “fun” manuscript for my publisher.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.

JP