Has this ever happened to you?
You are assigned a book report project and you are given a choice between three books that are totally different than your normal leisure reading material. Looking at the covers, you begin to cringe, thinking what sort of monster would “force” you to read such terrible books. After reluctantly selecting one, you begin reading. After all, you know that you can’t rely on Spark Notes since none of them are popular titles.
I’m sure many of you can relate to this scenario because frankly, this happens all the time. When I was young, I remember hearing from my fellow classmates that they didn’t want to read a certain book because it looked “too old” or “wasn’t cool” enough to read. But, I’m sure many of you also heard others say, “there are so many good books out there that I would have never read if someone didn’t recommend it to me.” This is exactly why as parents I encourage you all to introduce your children to different genres.
Although it’s important to get your children to “love reading,” this love shouldn’t be nurtured by only letting them read their favourite books. It’s important to give them books that they “have to read” every-so-often, because who knows, they might discover that they actually like sci-fi or fantasy without realizing it. I never realized how much I loved reading comics and manga until I tried it. My parents were pretty strict, and only wanted me to read “proper reading material,” like novels and science magazines. Although comics and manga aren’t written exactly like a novel, they still have character development, an interesting plot, and excitement. Honestly, the part that amazes me about comics and manga is the animations that go along with the story. Just like children’s books, it’s not just the words that tell the story, but the illustrations do too (and are sometimes more important than the actual words because of the emotions they are suppose to convey).
So, try something new and don’t be afraid of some variety. No one can know if they truly like or dislike something unless they’ve tried it. Just like with foods, we won’t know if we like it unless we taste it, the same goes with books. If we don’t read at least one for that genre, we can’t conclude that we don’t like reading it.
Give every book a chance. If I never took this advice, I would have never read books with terrible covers. You’ll be surprised: some amazing stories are just waiting for you to discover.