Freakonomics

I recently read an interesting book, Freakonomics, where an economist studied all sorts of things like how much money drug dealers really make, how to track teacher misconduct on standardized testing, baby naming trends, and parenting practices that make a statistical difference in the academic and professional success of their offspring.

You probably guessed that the last one had something to do with reading. You got it!

The number of books in the home was one of the top 5 factors in kids' later academic and professional achievement. The more books the family had, the more successful the kids were.

The authors didn't really hypothesize on why this is the case, they just presented the facts :), but my theory is that homes with lots books are homes were reading and learning are valued. The kids have so many good things available to read that they grow up thinking reading is fun. They learn so many fascinating things from their books that they think learning is fun too. They know their parents value reading and learning because there are lots of books in the house. Kids who think reading and learning are fun and know their parents believe it is important are bound to better in school.

So there is another reason to buy and read books for children from an unexpected, but interesting, source.