The number of children who read for fun is at a historic low. Why? | Sophie Brickman

There is scientific evidence that reading with your children has positive chemical effects for both parent and child

One evening when my kindergartner was about two years old, a friend came over and read her Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, part of Mo Willems' charming series about a spunky, wisecracking bird. About halfway through, the protagonist, unsuccessfully trying to convince the reader that he's so totally not tired, opens up his beak and lets loose a huge, two-page-spanning, all-caps YAWN! which my friend - childless and accustomed to reading silently - dispassionately read as a word. My daughter looked at him like something had moved in the wastebasket, then demonstrated a properly theatrical interpretation, its force so strong it straight up tipped her over.

Dat how da pigeon yawns," she scolded, as she righted herself and waited for him to continue.

Sophie Brickman is a contributor to the New Yorker, the New York Times and other publications, and the author of Baby, Unplugged: One Mother's Search for Balance, Reason, and Sanity in the Digital Age