This is probably the reason why there are so few readers out there

[J. Strnad]

Yeah, my parents had to tell me to stop reading too...in the middle of the night, when I was supposed to go to sleep a few hours ago!

I'm sure this young girl will read, despite her mother. First she'll start sneaking over to a friend's house to read. Then she'll tell her mother "I'm going to go shopping" when she's really sneaking off to the library. Finally one day her mother will discover a Kindle in her drawer, go ballistic, and the girl will run off and take up with a writer. They'll have a little girl they'll encourage to read, but her heart will long to win a beauty pageant....

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I'm so afraid to hit the "context" button on this, but...

Is it possible that the woman's cash was tapped out? Plane travel can do that to ya.

Is it possible that the book, however innocuous to the author, was considered anathema by the mother? (Maybe she has a bee up her butt about Dr. Seuss, I dunno...) Maybe she didn't want to encourage reading of that particular type of book, and carelessly made a comment that encompassed all books?

Is it possible that the mother was just having a bad day? (Again, traveling in an airport, I can believe that...)

Okay, I got nothin' on the makeup bit...

But bottom line, without a bit more context, the author might have been reading the moment the wrong way... and considering how extreme the mother's viewpoint sounds, I would tend to think he'd missed something significant before or after that conversation.

(Or maybe I'm just feeling overly-sympathetic after watching Scrooged last night...)

No matter how harassed the mother was feeling, the only correct answer would have been: yes, when we're home/wherever we have to be, I'll get you a new book.

[Pookeysgirl]

I don't ever remember being told outright to stop reading, but my father (who's from a very small village in Punjab and wasn't really exposed to books that much) always criticized me when I had my nose buried in a novel for hours on end. I ignored him, and kept reading

I wish my boys were readers. They both struggle with it and I hope with practice they learn to at least like reading. Even if I can get them into comic books, it's better than nothing.

[Rhynedahll]

The future is doomed!

Seriously, I think this is very, very, very sad.

I would credit reading with gifting me 90% of the knowledge and understanding that I have. I think it is impossible to truly learn without reading on your own.

That being said: My middle (grown, but living at home while attending college) son would rather read than breath. Sometimes I have to urge him to stop reading and get outside for some type of physical activity.

[MV64]

Times are bad, most people think reading is a waste. I know several people personally who relentlessly picks on their kids for reading a lot when they could be working or doing something else.

Honestly, I don't understand why a parent would not want their kid to love reading and thus get a cushy job that doesn't require manual labor. It just amazes me that we've come to this point as a society.

I also picked up on that writer noting how the mom wasn't around for a good hour. I see this all the time at work, too. I think the current "parent" generation are a bunch of screw ups and I honestly think the next generation will be better because generally younger generations react against the older one.

[AlbertaCowboy]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I'm so afraid to hit the "context" button on this, but...

Is it possible that the woman's cash was tapped out? Plane travel can do that to ya.

Is it possible that the book, however innocuous to the author, was considered anathema by the mother? (Maybe she has a bee up her butt about Dr. Seuss, I dunno...) Maybe she didn't want to encourage reading of that particular type of book, and carelessly made a comment that encompassed all books?

Is it possible that the mother was just having a bad day? (Again, traveling in an airport, I can believe that...)

Okay, I got nothin' on the makeup bit...

But bottom line, without a bit more context, the author might have been reading the moment the wrong way... and considering how extreme the mother's viewpoint sounds, I would tend to think he'd missed something significant before or after that conversation.

(Or maybe I'm just feeling overly-sympathetic after watching Scrooged last night...)

I can understand having a bad day, or disliking subject matter or especially being strapped for cash. What I can't understand is the response "books are stupid". There are a billion different things that could have been said, but the one that was used is "books are stupid". Not "No, THAT book is stupid" or "No, that is not something I want you to be reading at your age" or flat out "No". She was told outright that "books are stupid". This actually breaks my heart for that girl. Good luck kid, you're gonna need it.

[Musette]

I'm not really shocked, just saddened that the mother seemed to have placed more value on makeup than reading.

Up until about three years ago I was one of those who was wholly uninterested in reading for entertainment. "Who in the hell reads books on purpose?" was my attitude. Required reading in school had completely soured my view of books. It's funny when I look back on it.

Originally Posted by MV64

Honestly, I don't understand why a parent would not want their kid to love reading and thus get a cushy job that doesn't require manual labor. It just amazes me that we've come to this point as a society.

Maybe because a cushy job isn't considered "real" work by some. There is some disdain out there for such jobs, and I've been on the receiving end from my own parents. But of course, they love the money.

[NightLight]

Speaking as a well read individual and a blue collar worker, I think that attitude is a bit elitist.
There is no shame in an honest day's work, blue collar or white.
And the parents who have a problem with their kids wasting time and money reading books are the ones who spend the most money and waste the most time on cable television and Internet access but don't have the time to take their kids to the library.

[JaneD]

That story breaks my heart. It reminds me of some of my husband's stories of being lambasted by TEACHERS for reading at school. Clearly this mother's priorities are messed up (and hello? you're leaving your kid alone for an hour at the airport? are you a moron?).

PS if I could get my kid to sit quietly for an hour reading, I would be ecstatic.

[sakura-panda]

My second grader reads at a fourth grade level, my four year old begs for books, and my 20 month old has just discovered that if you carry a book to a grown up, they will read it to you as many times as you ask -- does that balance her out?

[charonme]

1.) one crazy mother is probably not the reason why there are so few readers (even if it's true that the number of readers is indeed small) and there is very little chance that this represents a significant sample
2.) higher number of readers is not automatically better, you need other factors than just the number alone
3.) many more people have worse positions on far more important issues with much much worse and serious results
4.) different people value different things. If this mother's opinion about books appalls you so much I wonder what your reaction would be if you read about other people's opinions about politics, religion, art, beauty, social order, economics, foreign affairs etc

[Steven Lake]

Originally Posted by Marc Johnson

I don't know if you read comics but if not you may want to give anything Vertigo a try. Then there's Bone, Strangers in Paradise, The Walking Dead.

I read comic books, including Japanese Manga (that more than traditional comic books), but mostly I go for regular literature. Comics books and manga are more time killers for me rather than regular heavy reading.

Now one form of comic book I really do love is graphic novels. The kind I like best though are the ones that take a normal print novel and convert it into a comic book/graphic novel form. Because it allows me to see more of how someone else might perceive something I've read either the same as me, or differently. For example, when they did the graphic novels for the Left Behind series, all of the characters they drew were spot on to what I imagined them to be, save for a couple of them. The ones that were different were far enough off to kinda throw me.

The ones that were REALLY far off from how I had pictured them was when they did the graphic novels for the kids series. The four kids who were the center of the series were drawn in a way that apparently were correct in the author's eyes, but looked 180 from what I imagined them.

Now as for why that's important, I consider it to be a good study in doing characters and scene descriptions. Because if you're not getting the reader to see almost exactly the same thing you're seeing when you're writing, then you're doing something wrong. So it's a good way to improve yourself.

[FatDog]

I wonder if you can call Child Protective Services on a mother who refuses to let her child read a book?

I suspect fear. The mother is probably in future-shock with computers, twitter, smart phones, etc. and these people tend to lash out or put-down the value of education or knowledge in others. It is especially scary if your kids seem to be smarter than you.

(sigh)

[silverraven]

I was flat out told by my son's vice principal that my son needed to learn neither multiplication nor spelling. That's what calculators and spell check are for. So no, the mother's response doesn't surprise me in the least.
S

[K-Thom]

Kids, please keep in mind that the author actually might have made up that whole story.

Authors tend to do that. Planting the seed of bizarre fictional concepts in the minds of the innocent ... books are dangerous, after all.