Read Kiddo Read!

I heard Raymond Arroyo interview James Patterson this morning.  He said something that really caught my attention.  He said if we could get our kids to become proficient readers we would solve 60% of the problems we have now.

"A few years ago, I realized my son, Jack, didn't exactly love books. We'd always read to him as a baby, and he was beginning to read for school. When he got home, him going to the shelf and picking up a book was about as likely as his pulling out a notebook and solving quantum physics problems. Actually, the latter was more likely. He's a smart kid.

So Sue and I took it on ourselves to fix the problem if we could.  Starting that summer, and every summer since, we went out and found books that I was pretty sure he'd not just read, but would love to read. That was a big part of the inspiration for READKIDDOREAD.

But, more than that, the experience with Jack got me writing books that I hoped he and other kids would love to read. Before then, I'd always written books just for grown-ups.

In fact, one of my proudest moments as a writer was when I passed him the manuscript of The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. Not only did he like it, he told me it was his favorite."

Patterson has sold over 10 million eBooks and most of us have never heard of him.  I think he is doing a great thing in getting kids to read more.  Most of our grand children are readers and I hope they all do to the extent they can enjoy it.  Reading should be fun.  It was for me, it took me places off the farm I could have never have visited otherwise and stimulated my travels in later years.

I hope programs like Read Kiddo Read stimulate the youth of our country to become better and bigger readers.  I think nothing but good can come from that.

Ed Winkle