Does your DH (or male DP) read?

[Sunshinebuttercupsrainbows]

I am really enthusiastic about literacy and put a lot of effort in over the years to expose my DS to books. He’s nearly 7 so is now at an age where I can lounge around reading in peace whilst he’s awake without constant interruptions! My DP is also an avid reader of graphic novels and this seems to have rubbed off on my son who loves his comics. DS is reading well above his age expectations with the right comprehension levels for those texts, despite numerous neurodevelopmental disabilities.

It made me think about something I read once, which said that fathers who read have the most impact on whether their sons read.

Now whilst I’m a bookworm, I’m not someone who thinks that people who read are in any way superior to those who don’t. Each to their own and so many non-readers have skills and hobbies far more thrilling than mine. But it makes me happy that my son is growing up with two parents who he sees choosing to read.

But there is really only one other friend of mine who is a father that I know reads a lot, and given the influence it can have on their children, I guess I just wondered if my experience of the men in my life not being readers was normal or not?

No real point to this post, just curiosity!

@AnneLovesGilbert maybe I'm just cynical but I don't think any focus on 'dads reading' is going to make a difference, when so many seem to have trouble even doing basic parenting let alone enriching things like reading.
Anybody can do the basic toddler books, if that's an 'activity' both mum and dad should read to kids. But beyond that, if reading isn't a dad's hobby I don't see why he should pretend to do it just to 'role model' positive behaviours, any more than mum should be doing DIY just to show daughters that women can do it to. If we are discussing stereotypes.

https://www.betterreading.com.au/news/do-dads-read-aloud-differently-and-why-its-important-that-fathers-do-storytime/

This study resonated with me, my dad was certainly funnier than my mum but he was a great dad in general. They should really have cross-referenced how present the fathers were in general rather than taking 'reading' in isolation.

My dh reads, now (although in bed, when no-one else would see / notice it), but when the dc were small he didn't. We just didn't have time.

All my dc (now in their 20s) read a lot though - all always have books on the go.
Don't know how any of that fits in with your theory

Both dh and I are avid readers, DH reads faster than me though so just devours books. Ds (10) also loves reading. He reads absolutely loads and loves nothing more than a trip to Waterstones. Dd (7) also loves books and is now able to read well to herself. Both read every night at bedtime, as do dh and I.

He dislikes reading but does enjoy listening to stories about zombie apocalypse stuff on audio book.

I read novels and my husband non fiction, this did nothing to encourage our child to read when they were younger but read a bit now as a teenager

Yes, he's a prolific reader, always got his head in a book.

Dh is a software engineer, in a role that requires him to be very technically 'literate'. He sometimes read books for pleasure, but probably the only times our dc see him reading books for pleasure are holidays. He sometimes reads in bed, but usually falls asleep within a few pages! He is also the slowest reader I know. I read at least three times faster than him. So he is not a particularly good book-reading role-model for our dc.

But -

He has read to them at bedtime since they were tiny. And he continued reading to them until they were about 9 or 10 because they wanted him to. They loved the way he read the Harry Potter books. It did not matter that they could (and did!) read the books for themselves.

He showed interest in what they were reading, never pooh-poohed their choice of literature. Not even those ghastly flower fairies and rainbow fairies.

He respected reading as a valid activity. He never considered it as a "You're not busy" activity.

All our dc read for pleasure. Two, also software engineers, have permanently evolving stacks of non-technical books which they read for pleasure. Another is reading Eng Lit at uni.

There's more to encouraging a love of reading than just having your dc see you read. It's the whole attitude around reading and literature that influences children to read or not to read.