Children Reading 700+ Page Books

Recently I saw a six year old child reading a 758 page book! I asked myself, what could prompt a child so young to sit for hours reading a book of this size and magnitude? What could be so interesting to pull a kid like that away from television or gaming consoles?

The answer is in the form of a cultural phenomena known as Harry Potter. This six year old is not alone in his obsession for Harry Potter. Children from the age six to 15 are picking up the latest Harry Potter book The Deathly Hollows and reading it cover-to-cover by the thousands. I have read all of the published books cover-to-cover as well as seeing all the movies… and purchasing them on DVD. It’s hard not to love Harry Potter in book or movie.

The interesting thing to ponder is has there ever been a time in human history where droves of children were compelled to read a book over 700 pages? I suspect not. My guess would be it would be rare for a child to read a book over 50 pages until at least age 10 or 12. This must be some remarkable phenomenon! What is even more phenomenal is that it is happening now in our time, a period where children spend hours each day in front of TV and games instead of reading. For anything to draw a child away from a TV, it must be rather remarkable.