o think if a 10 year old read 10 books at the weekend he / she has no life?

[Dorange]

And if the parent say that the child has time to do other interesting things as well as reading those 10 books on the weekend, it is a lie? And also that the whole library has been read it is probably a lie?? Unless the child is called Matilda, but I don't believe that even Matilda could read 10 books in 2 days.

Coola - your silly mum! didn't she know that you have to provide a precocious child with a dictionary?!

I bought DD a series of 6 books on Wednesday, age range 9-12. She is on the 4th and was at school all day yesterday. She can't put them down.
Why is reading any different to any other pastime? Watching TV, drawing, baking, going on the computer,playing out, sport?
She does all of these things but at the moment, she is engrossed!
Sounds like the 'brag' element is what's annoying you OP.

I'd read my way through the children's library at that age (10-11?) and so I moved on to the adult section. Some dc devour books. My mother took me to the library once a week and I borrowed maybe 15-20 books but I didn't read all of them right the way through. Some turned out to be uninteresting, so I didn't finish them but I did read heaps. I think I read quickly which is the difference. Some peoplle read more slowly, perhaps they savour the language more, look words up they do not completely understand, just take their time and think about what they read. I am one of those who sink into a good book and read it cover to cover. It might well be better to read less and read slowly and think about it more but it ain't my way.

My mother took all 3 of us to the library regularly but my brother and sister didn't read the way I did and we all did similar things after school/in the weekends. I don't know what they did when I was reading tbh but we all did sport, went out with friends/family so I did not just read but I suppose I didn't watch much tv.

Another childhood 100 pages per hour-er here. That meant that the 200 or so pages in a Roald Dahl book could easily be read between 6-8am then get ready for a 9am ballet lesson.

As a teenager I read 1984 in one evening without putting it down. It wasn't an enjoyable book (too grim), but it was compulsive, and it did not leave my hand until it was complete. I remember reading it as I walked down the stairs (my peripheral vision is good!) to eat, and eating with it in my hand.

When I was 12, my school did Readathon- I raised quite a lot as I was sponsored per book, and did bolster the ammount with some short books of about 50 pages. There were plenty of longer books mixed in.

I got into the Harry Potters when the film came out and the first four books were published- they were read in a normal weekend. I was slowed down by waiting for DH to finish one book before I could start. When the next 3 were published, DH tried to ration me, but realised it was easier to just write a day off and let me get on with it. We ordered two copies, and sat in bed much of the day ploughing through them.

It's a shame we went travelling shortly before Kindles came out- it would have been easier than lugging the Lord of the Rings around China! I finished before we had chance to get more books so I ended up having to plough through the 100 page appendices about Hobbit geneology (dull!)

Alas young babies/ children and baby brain have temporarily reduced my opportunities and capacity to read for a while.

Yes, I think it is possible for a 10 year old to read 10 books in a weekend and have a life, but I suspect some of them might be short and easy readers mixed in. That's fine, reading is about enjoyment, not intellectual bragging.

My daughter could easily do this. She is a book-a-holic. She does other stuff too, but if we go out, she will take her book to read in the car, for example.

It is winter here now, so lots of time spent in the warm & she loves nothing more than to read.

I don't see why it is an issue, or why anyone would need to question it to be honest.

That meant that the 200 or so pages in a Roald Dahl book could easily be read between 6-8am then get ready for a 9am ballet lesson

That's dd! She will wake up before school & lay in bed & read, she reads in the bath, she is relentless.

YABU.
My 10 year old self read a lot; that would be about standard. I didn't 'have much of a life' in terms of being ferried to ballet/ Brownies/ swimming/ judo/ music centre/ gymnastics or whatever all the time (like some of my classmates), but I was pretty happy.

DH didn't have the reading addiction I do and would have chosen to do something else. So long as it's actually the child's choice then I see no harm in it. Being made to sit down and read 10 books at the expense of anything else is a different kettle of fish IMO.

Dorange - I wouldn't worry too much about your DD.

They change a lot between 6 and 10. Chances are she'll be reading fluently by then at a level easily comparable to the child mentioned in your OP. I am an avid reader and don't really understand people who don't enjoy it, but as long as your DD is a competent reader, she will hold her own in education and in life and that's all that matters.

Also, if your posts on this thread are anything to go by, she will do very well out of life simply because she has a mother who is wiling to examine her own motives and insecurities and admit when she is wrong. That sort of emotional intelligence will build in her a level of self-awareness that will take her fat further than her reading ability.

&far* further not fat further obviously.

My 9yo will often read several (short, unchallenging) books in an evening. You can whizz through those books really quickly.

Obviously I encourage "proper" serious longer books but she prefers the easy ones.

Anyway, if you have 10 books to read you don't need a life as well. Books are better than "real life"

At that age I used to read even while walking to school. My little sister would alert me to the road crossings.

Bear in mind that 'over the weekend' can include Friday evening, so that only needs 3-4 books per day...

Sounds like me at that age! I'd love those runtimes back.

they probably can read that many small books but i doubt they take any of it in .

?A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once.?

― George R.R. Martin, A Dance With Dragons

So actually she has more of a life than you think! My 6 year old read all the time and is an extremely fast and advanced reader like me.

It depends on how big the books are, of course!

And it is completely possible. I am a book worm since I can remember and reading a 300-500 page book over the weekend when I was 10 was no problem. It is more of a problem now, as I have many other responsibilities in fact. So?

fast readers do take it in, they just read quickly. My dd reads a lot, not as much as I did but she will always have a book with her if she goes out, reads in the car, reads while she is waiting for something, reads in the bath, even took a book into orchestra because a lot of time was being spent bringing the 2nd violins up to scratch and there was nothing for her to do in that time, so she read!She is 12 and she reads fast but she can tell you all about it afterwards.

Maybe dc who don't read much just don't enjoy it much or haven't found many books that really interest them. If a book is good, you can sit down and read it cover to cover given leisure but if it is a struggle to read, you can find yourself still on chapter 3 a month later.

10 books not unreasonable. My girls have got into Morganville vampires and read and read a couple of weekends ago -in the car, waiting for me food shopping etc. There could be worse things they could be doing !!

YABU OP.

When I was a child I had permanent scabby knees from reading whilst walking to and from school - trip up the kerb, wipe the blood off, carry on reading.

I loved and still love all sorts of books, from What Katy Did to Wilfred Thesiger's Marsh Arabs. I reckon I educated myself by reading, my school was utter crap.

My Mum and Sister were both 'doers' who weren't happy unless doing 10 things at once. They would periodically come to where I was reading to ask if I was bored. Of course I wasn't - I was reading!

Admittedly there were fewer distractions in the 1950s - no computers, computer games, mobile phones etc and only one channel on the black and white tv but I reckon I would still have read as much.

I reckon I educated myself by reading, my school was utter crap.

^this^

You can't compare spending all day reading to spending all day on computer games. Reading is a massive source of education.