Everyone knows that reading is a tremendously good thing for your child. Just like having them eat their carrots and get a good nights sleep, reading is one of those things that we as parents are told to have our children do. And most of us know that a good book can expand their imagination and ignite their creativity.
Books can teach, inspire, and entertain. And if the habit of reading starts early, it can lead to a lifetime of learning and expanding the mind. If we want our children to grow up and be interesting adults, we need to get our children interested in reading from the start. Now that is all fine and dandy, but how exactly do you get an unwilling child to enjoy reading?
Some of the pitfalls, in our opinion, are the picture books based on characters from popular movies and television shows that cater to children. It seems as if the moment they exit the multiplex after having consumed one of the latest animated movies, kids are already programmed to want more. And it’s partly our fault. We did buy them that plastic bucket of popcorn stamped with the movie’s characters or better yet, picked them up a souvenir cup with Elsa dangling from the straw. And there’s no harm in them enjoying and continuing to enjoy a movie that they loved.
But then come the books with the movie’s characters—franchise books. If a good picture book is a steak, then one of these books is a plate of chicken nuggets. If you have a picky eater, you may succumb to giving them nuggets because it’s easy—at least they will eat something, even if you know it’s not exactly nutritious. These heavily franchised picture books do not provide the sustenance needed to create a lifelong reader. And there are many reasons for this. Many of these books are glorified advertisements to buy more toys, while others lack a substantial story.
However, the main reason is their lack of promoting imagination. Not only are our children already familiar with the characters and worlds of these books, but they are also bombarded with illustrations galore. It seems as if every page, top to bottom, is covered with illustrations to the point where the book may as well be a cartoon show they are watching instead of a book they are reading. These heavily illustrated books leave no room for the imagination to grow. And without having that room necessary to use the brain, it is difficult to transition a child into more serious books in the future that have few pictures and require more imagination.
So next time you are in Barnes and Noble and your children are drawn to the section with those glossy franchise books, think about the future, not the present. Do you want them to read something that will provoke imagination, or do you want them simply to consume. The choice is yours.
