Parenting Tip: Raising Savage Readers

As a mom of three boys, I’m constantly in the kitchen! Our “three savages,” as we fondly call them, eat A LOT! I work hard to make sure they consume a balanced diet by avoiding junk food and fueling their bodies with healthier choices. “You are what you eat” is an adage that we often hear, however, in our book saturated home, we take it a step further and tell our boys, “You are what you eat, so be careful what books you devour.”

My husband and I love to read, so we took steps to instill a love of reading in our three boys at an early age. We read to them every night before bedtime. We bought books to fill our home library shelves. We took weekly trips to the library. We traveled with bins of books. The Savages couldn’t have screen time until they read for a certain length of time. We didn’t buy a video game system until our youngest son was a fluent reader. We did everything in our power to raise Savage Readers!

Then, we stumbled across a new challenge: finding clean reads for our high-reading-level kids. As our tween and teen sons started reading Middle Grade and Young Adult books, it amazed me at how unhealthy many of these books were. These books were either filled with “mindless junk food” or “potential poison.” Release your child unsupervised onto a library app, and they can easily stumble across adult books that are not meant for their young minds. The Young Adult sections of many libraries contain books too mature for young, advanced readers. As a mom, it’s impossible for me to vet every book they bring home from the library.

So, what did I do? I got connected online and in person. Goodreads allows me to preview books. By reading reviews, I can surmise the themes and events that appear within a book. I also found an amazing Facebook group called Reshelving Alexandria where you can ask about a book title and parents will give you their honest opinion. In this group, you can also ask for book recommendations based on your kid’s interests. Instagram is also helpful, as I follow many like-minded “Bookstagrammers” who review Young Adult and Middle Grade books. Lastly, I befriended my librarians! They often have great book recommendations. You can submit book requests to your library, too.

Remember: there is no “one size fits all” to what you choose to allow your kids to read. Every family has a unique set of ideals and goals. I encourage us all to respect one another’s decisions as parents. You know your kid and what they are ready to read. I also highly recommend you read a few of the books your kids are reading. This allows you to discuss them. Nothing better than having a family book club discussion and dissecting a book together.

We were actually out and about as a family enjoying a mythological creatures exhibit at our local museum when inspiration hit for my current novel-in-progress. My Savage Readers are my motivation to be a Savage Writer, as I desire to write books my teens will read and enjoy. My oldest son was one of the first Beta Readers of my young adult fiction book. I love involving my kids in the writing process and hearing their feedback and ideas. Their rich reading background has developed them into creative and critical thinkers.

In the end, we can apply this Savage Reader principle to everything we see and hear in all aspects of our lives. We hope to raise Discerning Savages who are careful of what they feed their minds. As we are reminded in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

May we all be “Savage Readers” and devour books that will inspire, motivate, help us grow, and draw us closer to Christ!

*Since I am one of the newest members of the Storyteller Squad, I thought I would include photos of Savage 1, 2 & 3 in their natural habitat. I look forward to sharing more of our bookish adventures in future articles! Follow us on IG @eliseharoldsonwrites where I share YA and MG book recommendations of books that we have read!