The problem is that as children grow older, the statistical benefits of reading for pleasure become less clear-cut. It’s quite easy to raise “readers” who eventually find that screens are better at providing them utilitarian information and light entertainment.

This is a really, really bad thing, but it’s so normal it’s hard to realize how dangerous it is. A free country such as ours is dependent on the premise that the citizenry are capable of thinking in a certain way.

They must be able to hold large ideas in their minds. They must be able to recognize the differences between logic and propaganda. They must possess the self-discipline needed to focus on issues that are boring, and seek the wisdom to differentiate between what is right versus what is expedient or amusing. Most of all, they must possess the perspective of a true education in ideas so they can think outside the echo chamber of our era.
All of this is deeply connected to what and how we read. It is not that people who use their phones frequently are necessarily dumber than people who don’t. Like any tool, though, screens can be dangerous. They can fill the spare moments of life until no time is left for thought and deep learning. They can retrain our brains and make it hard to focus on a long-form conversation, whether in-person or in print.Books are one of the best ways to guard our minds against a misuse of screens. Books aren’t magical mind-vitamins, of course. Yet in order to cultivate the ability to think, we must engage with good, wise, and true thoughts. And it happens that the works of humanity’s greatest thinkers are found in books.I would rather raise a thoughtful child who reads sometimes than a child who mindlessly consumes a favorite type of book without pause. This isn’t to say that children should read only highbrow literature. The point is to make friends of books. It’s about leaving room in our lives for contemplation. If you are ready to embark on a structured course of study and are seeking detailed guidance, you might check out Susan Wise Bauer’s “The Well-Educated Mind.” She provides background on different genres of writing, suggests an approach to annotated reading, and offers lists of historically significant titles. Mortimer Adler’s “How to Read a Book” is also highly respected.It’s helpful to do something when you finish a book. Discussing it with friends is a good option. Simply keeping a reading journal—on paper or perhaps via GoodReads—is another. It’s quite satisfying to look back at a given year and see what you’ve read and what you thought of it.