Visiting Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat on Feb. 17 at Reid-Thompson Public Library, it brought up the question of how kids see George.
They see him as an explorer having adventures in the world around him.
What better way to have adventures than reading a good book?
What better way to explore the world outside your own tiny realm than with a good book?
I was a reader growing up and I still am today.
I loved Shakespeare because my brother told me stories of the Tempest and Midsummer Nights Dream.
I could read full sentences by the age of four because my siblings would give me the church bulletin and go through it with me before mass.
I love books because I was heavily encouraged to love books.
I know the opposite end of the spectrum, too.
After we no longer had scheduled library time, I was the only one to spend any time in the school library without being forced.
I would sit with a book on the bus or in the hall and be told how stupid books were.
This means that after kids were not being forced to read, they just stopped.
Obviously we had initiatives to promote reading but it did not seem to stick after we hit the age of 12.
I commend Horizon School division for making literacy a bigger priority and taking steps to make reading more enjoyable.
However, I do not see anything new to their strategy that we did not do in high school.
As children, we have the freedom to read what we like. In past years we have celebrated banned and challenging literature because in some countries, other children would not have the luxury.
But I know plenty of kids and adults in my life who would rather be playing video games or watching television than pick up any sort of reading material.
We need to encourage kids at a young age how magical reading can be. Maybe then they would not be part of the 42 per cent of adults over the age of 16 who have low literacy skills, according to the Canadian Literacy and Learning Network.
Buy them books instead of toys.
Read to them out loud and make it enjoyable with voices and actions.
Encourage them to read to you, especially if they want to give up.
Make them think about what they are reading.
There is being able to read and then there is enjoying reading.
This mentality goes beyond making kids literate so they can survive on their own in the outside world or get a better job, but that is part of it.
According to the literacy network, only 20 per cent of low literacy adults are employed, and investments into literacy programs has a 241 per cent return.
Strong literacy is also about giving them the skills to be critical thinkers.
We speak about getting kids to exercise their bodies through sports or playing outside, but what about exercising their minds?
What about helping them explore the world and learn about different ways of thinking?
We celebrate banned books for this reason.
We encourage reading these books because they have different ideas to study compared to our small world around us.
