Did books shape you as a kid - and do you try to influence what your kids read?

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids (all boys) and my husband and I were reminiscing about all the books we have read with them as bedtime stories. We were discussing which books might be widely read v outliers among their peers and whether it changes their perspective as they grow up. As a kid, my father read me a range of classics (Little women, Heidi) to adult novels (mostly Charles dickens). As an adult I still turn to older classics as comfort reading. Now, my kids seem to enjoy a lot of historical novels and I read them a lot of female-centered classics. they liked Secret Garden and Anne of Green Gables. We let them read whatever they want independently (as long as they read), but continue choose older books to read together -many of the popular kids’ series today particularly for elementary ages seem less satiating. But we were discussing the degree to which these books will change the way they see the world compared to friends who have a different selection. It’s funny to hear them reference Julie (from Julie of the wolves) or remember vocabulary words (like Cordial, from Anne of green gables). Made me curious - what do you read to your kids and are their books in particular that have stayed with them or been a formative part of their growing up?

[Anonymous]

My DD found The Phantom Tollbooth a book she returned to again and again. But I take no credit for that one, it was read to her by her 3rd grade teacher in public ES. She read it a few times and then recently was asked to write about a childhood book in her AP lit class and chose that one to discuss.

Both she and my DS liked some other books they read in school, Call of the Wild, Of Mice & Men, Flowers for Algenon. But they both always read widely outside of the curriculum.

She went through a Japanese horror phase and is now immersed in everything by Toni Morrison.

He read everything by Anthony Horowitz and all the John Connolly Charlie Parker books after loving reading Connolly's The Book of Lost Things (which he has returned to a few times).

[Anonymous]

Yes, books shaped me as child. And yes, I try to influence my kids to read the books I loved. I am completely unsuccessful.

[Anonymous]

OP, we are like you -- we read a lot of older classics to our kids but let them choose what they read for pleasure with few limits.

I like it this way because kids no longer get exposed to a lot of literary classics in school. And I definitely think it is impacting their taste in reading material, as well as their personalities. One of my daughters is very obsessed with the Narnia books and I think it's become a core part of her personality. She loves fantasy literature in general but is particularly drawn to the morality of the Narnia books (we are not religious but we're not anti-religious -- DH and I were both raised Catholic but are now agnostic).

I do love how these books expand their vocabularies and teach them about other times and give them some connection to the past. We also read the Little House books with them and that had a big impact on them. I remember my youngest daughter was extremely affected by a scene in those books where Pa punishes Laura by spanking her (my kids have never been spanked and did not know that was something that could happen -- it opened up a conversation about how DH and I were both spanked as kids and how we felt about it and why we chose to raise them differently). Those books also prompted conversations about the taking of Native land in the United States, and also how racism and prejudice manifests in different people (Ma, who also has good qualities, is very racist toward the Native characters, whereas Pa and Laura are not overtly racist though Pa still feels entitlement to the land). I like that reading older books often prompts difficult conversations, and that my kids are reading about people who don't always have the same values or ideas about the world. A lot of contemporary fiction is very sanitized and designed to smooth over these conversations. It is easier but in the long run I don't think it's good for kids. Fiction is a great way for children to learn about the world beyond their experience because it's not as risky or scary as encountering these things in real life.

Anyway, I was absolutely shaped by the books I read as a child and I am definitely using the books we read to our kids to put certain kinds of influences and ideas in their lives.

[Anonymous]

YP books.

My sister teased me that I wasn't reading bodice rippers, but the important thing was that I was reading lots.

[Anonymous]

As a kid at around 10-11, my mom tried to push the Nancy Drew books and LHotP, but I preferred Westerns and all the romance novels I could get my hands on. They were so tame compared to modern romance novels though. I also read every VC Andrews book and all the Sweet Valley High books.

I read a ton, but never did enjoy the classics, except for Jane Eyre and Anne of Green Gables. My DD wasn't really interested in reading until she discovered YA novels in late elementary. I guess she is a lot like me.

[Anonymous]

My DD is definitely influenced by the older books she read. They weren’t classics but they were coming of age YA novels from a different era. Books set a foundation, put you in a certain mind set, and give you a way of looking at the world.

[Anonymous]

yes books shaped me as a kid and still do. I've had more luck with getting DD to read things I loved than DS. We enjoyed Secret Garden and A Little Princes and all the horse books. But b/c of DS I got to read some things I never would have picked myself.

My big thing is not limiting what they read. My mom NEVER let me get Baby Sitters Club or Sweet Valley books and I hated that and desperately wanted to read them. She felt they were not academic enough and beneath my reading level. I think she relented once and I got some super edition which I read over and over until it fell apart. I'm still bitter about it!