"A Legacy of Books" by Mark Matteson

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." — Groucho Marx

As long as I can remember, I have loved books. It’s with great affection I recall devouring the “We Were There” series of books at my Elementary School Library. I read every one. I was nine.

When our oldest son Colin was in second grade, we received some surprising news one fine November day—he was near the bottom of his class in reading level and aptitude. “What? I exclaimed, “That can’t be, He loves books! I read to him every night.” (It turned out, when he was supposed to be reading, he was joking around with his friends.) I resolved to change this. I went to the school library and asked the librarian to help me. Librarians love to help with all things books. I asked her for five books at the second grade level, five at the third grade level and five at the fourth grade level (“Chapter Books!”). I signed for them and took them home like a hunter dragging a deer carcass back to his family. I was on a mission, to feed him with the “Want To of Reading Books!” and inspire my son to read at a fourth grade level. When Colin came home that afternoon, I announced my grand plan: “Every one of these books represent $10 toward the purchase of ‘Nintendo’!!! If you read all fifteen before Christmas, I will drive you to the store and buy you Nintendo!” (All his friends had it and he was begging us to buy it for him for Jesus’s Birthday.) He studied each book carefully, only looking at the top few—second grade level books. “Okay”, he said. “Oh, one more thing—you must write out a short paragraph or long sentence on what you learned from the book. Deal?” “Deal,” he replied with all the enthusiasm of a longshoreman. He devoured all fifteen books in 3-days and off we went to the store.  

Two days later he came down to my home office with six chapter books under his arm that he had checked out from the library. “What’s up?” I asked, “I want a new video game!” Clever lad. 

Andrew Carnegie, the man responsible for the Public Library System in the United States, wrote in his Autobiography: “So it seems I come by my scribbling propensities by inheritance—both sides, for Carnegies were also readers of books and thinkers. I only echoed what I heard at home.” 

Abraham Lincoln was once quoted by a reporter, “The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read." Amen Abe.

In hindsight, my wife and I simply did seven simple things to inspire our children to become lifelong readers of books:

1. We kept books around the house and took them on all our trips.
2. We went to Barnes and Noble once a week as a family.
3. We read to them every night. (After age ten, and up until age 13, I read them the classics “Old Man and Sea”, “Of Mice and Men” “Old Yeller”).
4. I made certain when they came home from school, they found ME reading books.
5. We used TV as a reward, not a right.  
6. Once they began asking me to rebound for them in basketball, I made another deal, “If you read for an hour, I will rebound for an hour…”  
7. We rewarded reading behavior at every turn with effusive praise in front of their grandparents.

My son recently sent me a jpeg of his two girls, Penelope and Sawyer reading books on their own sitting on the couch at home (they are four and 14-months). It made my heart soar. What a lovely legacy—a legacy of books.

Emilie Buchwald wrote: ”Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." How true.

Mark Matteson - Best Selling Author, International Speaker

To order one of my books, go to: www.sparkingsuccess.net/store

206.697.0454 - [email protected] 

To watch a few short videos, simply click the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3Jt8ckNfTLjxDxIHiJFmLQ

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“Make it a great day…unless you have other plans!”