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 The Prince of Fenway Park

Tips to Boost Reading

Let kids read what they want -- even if it's comic books at first -- to get them hooked. Nobel Peace Prize winner, South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu: "... one of the things I am very grateful to [my father] for is that, contrary to conventional educational principles, he allowed me to read comics. I think that is how I developed my love for English and for reading."

1. Don't make kids finish a book that they're reading for their own enjoyment before starting a new one. At this point it's best that they're opening a lot of books for fun, testing them out, and closing them. Not all books are good books. Some are really dull and deserve to be shut. Some just don't suit your kid at a given moment. MAKE SURE THEY KEEP OPENING BOOKS. If you make them finish each one they start, they may not keep opening books.

2. Book clubs. Make reading social, not solitary. If not a club, then a buddy.

3. Tie a love of video games to writing and reading. Make a rule that for every half hour spent gaming, your kids have to spend a half hour designing a game of their own -- inspired by the one they're playing or not. They can draw and write out dialogue and plots. If you get them writing and seeing drawing (as well as video games) as narrative, they'll be more likely to get into reading. (Remember that video games are narratives in a different form, usually scripted by ... writers!)

4. Model reading. If kids see you doing it, they're more likely to.

5. Reward books with books. (Once kids have finished a book, take them to pick out another.)

6. Read what your kids are reading so that it sparks discussion that you can bond around.

7. Have a family read aloud no matter how old the kids are.

8. While shuttling kids around to piano practice, soccer games, and swim lessons, have a book on tape going in the car.

9. Give books as gifts.

10. Make a rule that you have to read the book first before you see any movie that was first a book.

11. Tie reading to writing. If a kid loves a book, tell them to start one of their own, inspired by what they've read. It doesn't matter at all whether or not they finish writing the book. It's age appropriate for kids and teens to have lots of ideas for novels. (Writing novels is more of an adult undertaking.)

12. Book Drives. Books in the home has been directly correlated to literacy. Keep books circulating from home to home through book drives.

13. Pairing up with the Health Department or local police so that they always have books to give to kids in need in your community.

14. Drop books off at a local shelter for kids.

15. Introduce your kids to the books that made the biggest impressions on you as a kid. They'll get to know you while they're getting to know the book.