As we celebrate another holiday season, gift-giving tops our to-do lists. As writers—and this may be preaching to the choir—we have a perspective on that both personal and universal.
Most of us have books on our wish lists. We want books, and constant reading anchors our growth as writers. But asking for books also helps keep afloat our industry, the industry of the written word. When our friends and families buy us those books, book people—writers, publishers, editors, agents, readers, booksellers, and librarians—benefit across the larger landscape.
We need to extend the gift of reading beyond our personal wants. Give books to those you love. Tailor those books to the individual.
Start with the little ones in your life. Give your 8-month old niece a brightly colored read-along book. She’ll love it and slobber all over it. Literally. Her parents will love it and read it to her. A family is made stronger and a future reader is born. Don’t wait for Pre-K to start; teach them to love books before they have ever even heard of school.
Do this for the little ones you know and don’t know. In your donations to holiday toy drives, slip a few books in among the toys. Many bookstores will ask if you want to donate to such.
If your 13-year old nephew is a gamer only interested in playing World of Warcraft all night long, get him a related graphic novel. There are tons of them. There are also lots of spinoff novels, primarily in the YA category. You can give an e-reader and load a few graphic novels on it. Just don’t call them comic books.
Does your middle-schooler show an interest in audio-visual production? Services like Booktrack allow her to create soundtracks to original written works or to public domain works.
Don’t judge. Don’t presume. If your cousin asks for a copy of Fifty Shades of Twilight, give it to her. Don’t give her War and Peace instead because you think that will be better for her. It’ll end up an unread and expensive doorstop.
Don’t preach. Don’t buy your brother-in-law a political diatribe that aligns with your own views because you think he needs it. On the other hand, if he’s drifting into the hate and bile of extremism that pollutes the Internet, give something to read that eases him back into the land of the living. Or just gets him away from the hate for a few days. The written word can save.
Consider physical limits and needs. Does Grandma no longer read because of failing eyesight? Buy large-print editions of bestsellers. Or an e-reader, and show her how to adjust font size to one large enough for her, with a gift card to download whatever books she wants. But what if she is blind? Get her a nice pair of earbuds and a subscription to an audiobook publisher. Maybe she has always wanted to read that book you wrote but physically couldn’t. Give her the audiobook. While you’re at it, send a gift of your audiobook to an assisted living home nearby.
Need a gift for Uncle Joe, who’s stuck in mind-numbing traffic every day? That audiobook subscription will dissipate the frustrations of commuting.
Maybe Aunt Susie loves short nonfiction and doesn’t care for novels. The e-reader subscription will allow her to download a gazillion periodicals and newspapers.
Know someone who speaks little or no English, and suffers alone in a land of English-speakers? Give her an online subscription in Portuguese or Thai or Croatian. They’re out there. Similarly, if your favorite cousin loves travel to foreign shores, get him online subscriptions to dual-language magazines. Great way to pick up a little of the language before he boards that plane.
You get the idea. This is not just about gifts. It’s about creating and nurturing readers, about acquainting or reacquainting and engaging nonreaders with the written word. It’s about building a reading culture and ensuring that future generations will possess empathy, intelligence, and reason.
A gift of reading is a gift to civilization.
Happy holidays to all my reading and writing friends! Now get out there and build the reading culture we all want and deserve.
And enjoy a little eggnog and musical well-wishes from John and Yoko…
june Gordon
IN FIRST GRADE,A LONG TIME AGO, CHILDREN WHO MASTERED THE ART OF PRINTING THEIR NAME, RECITING THE ALPHABET AND PHONETICALLY READING , “CAT”, “DOG” AND “SEE SPOT” WERE REWARDED WITH A TRIP TO THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. LIONS ROARED FROM THEIR BRONZED PERCHES AND MARBLE STAIRWAYS GLEAMED.. LITTLE LEGS CLIMBED THE STAIRS AND SMALL HANDS OPENED THE BOOK GATES TO THE UNIVERSE. “SEE SPOT JUMP” INTO ETERNITY.
Ken Pelham
Thank you for that poetic observation, June!
Stanley
These days, many kids learn to print their names and read well before they enter kindergarten. Libraries are still vibrant with children.
Ken Pelham
Stanley, yes they do! And we need to reward that ability to read with a love for reading. And libraries are treasures that I could write many columns about. Many thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Elle Andrews Patt
Excellent suggestions, Ken!
Ken Pelham
Thanks, Elle!
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Sharon
I read to my daughter when she was an infant and kept it up through grammer school. Ehen she was old enough she read one chapter and I read the next. I believe not only did it spark her imagination but helped her do very well in school.
Ken Pelham
Sharon, it undoubtedly helped her develop imagination skills and prepared her for a lifetime of learning. As writers, I think we all know this intuitively, but educators and researchers have shown this to be true.
Thanks so much for reading my post and sharing your thoughts!
Sharon
I read to my daughter when she was an infant and kept it up through grammer school. When she was old enough she read one chapter and I read the next. I believe not only did it spark her imagination but helped her do very well in school.