I rather not, but thanks all the same

I Hate Reading: How to Read When You’d Rather Not seemed like it was going to have a lot of potential for “I cannot put this down!” and “Look how fun reading is!” moments. Perhaps because I am a reader and not Beth Bacon’s young sons (Arthur and Henry who have been reluctant readers in the past) who helped her to write this let us say, we are not amused.

This book is to help reluctant readers read but to me it seems like it teaches them to only pretend to read and at best, to skim the book. Perhaps kids who are the actual target audience will actually read this book, but I have a feeling that it will not encourage them to read other books.

There is an “introduction” that talks about how kids are supposed to read 20 minutes a day. I highly doubt that even the most reluctant of reluctant readers 20 minutes to read this book. It is nothing but large print, quick catch phrases and not even “real” illustrations though the placement of the text gives it an artsy feel. Or even a poetic feel without screaming, “I AM A POEM.”  But then again, if it had, then maybe things would have gotten interesting.

I am probably just not the audience for this book. I want to see a kid read this and let me know the pros and cons of it. And even though I really could not get into this book, I am interested in finding Bacon’s other books. Maybe I am just missing something and need to do more research. I also plan on reading this again (with luck) when it is published this June.