We Are What We Eat: The Similarities Between Picky Eaters and Picky Readers
Towards the end of A Hunger Artist the protagonist – who achieved notoriety for going days on end without food – revealed the truth behind why he stopped eating. “I had to fast. I can’t do anything else.” When asked “why?” by a supervisor of the facility where he remained caged and on public view, he simply explained, “Because…because I couldn’t find a food which I enjoyed. If I had found that, believe me, I would not have made such a spectacle of myself and would have eaten to my heart’s content, like you and everyone else.”
If only he had found food which he had enjoyed! The tragedy of it…
How many of us have known kids who complain, “I can’t find anything I like,” whether they are talking about food to eat or books to read? Our job then, as the big people in their lives, is to help lead them there. Whether you are a teacher, parent or play another role in the life of a child, you have the ability to positively or negatively influence a kid’s eating and reading habits. Just as we want them to make good food choices, we also want them to get hooked on reading so that they don’t starve themselves on a diet of TV, electronics and, well, ignorance. Following are some parallels and suggestions for helping those reluctant or stagnating readers.