Interview with The Reading Bug!
Hello!
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Today is a special day because today I am sharing an interview that I am deeply excited about. I am so honored that I got that chance to chat with the owners of The Reading Bug bookstore and Podcast. The Reading Bug is a family run bookstore in San Carlos, California. But their podcast and subscription boxes reach the ears and homes of many kids across the country. It was a real treat to get some behind the scenes peeks into how they create an episode and what’s it’s like to raise a variety of readers in a bookstore!
1. Where did the inspiration to open a bookstore come from? Plenty of families are book lovers, but hardly any have the ambition to run a store!
My mother-in-law always dreamed of opening a children's bookstore. When my first daughter was born 13 years ago, she asked if I would like to run a family bookstore and we decided that would be a great place for my children to grow up!
2. As a family run business, what are some of the rewards and surprises of having children and grandchildren grow up in a bookstore setting?
There have been SO many more challenges running a bookstore than we ever imagined. All 3 of my kids are terrific readers (my youngest, now 5 is reading all of the Elephant and Piggie books by himself, my 10 year old daughter loves realistic fiction like From the Desk of Zoe Washington and Yumi Chung and my oldest loves The Warriors series (has read 40+ in the series!) and just finished all of The Hunger Games. We love watching each of them figure out what kind of books they love best.
Each of my kids posed a unique challenge to trying to run a bookstore...when they were very young, they spent time in high chairs at the register and as toddlers 2 out of 3 of them loved to destroy full shelves of books. Now, they help with the register and unpack boxes of books for me!
3. I love your podcast, The Reading Bug. Especially how educational it is. It’s far more than a simple read aloud, it really digs into what books can teach us. I’m curious, how do you conceive of the ideas for each episode?
My mother-in-law and my husband write the stories. I write and perform most of the music. My oldest daughter plays The Reading Bug, my middle plays The Spelling Bee and my youngest will be playing roles soon now that he can read too! We all come up with ideas based on favorite subjects kids tell us about in our store. Listening to our customers makes us better booksellers. We have a story about nearly every favorite subject now...trains, outerspace, the human body, superheroes, dinosaurs, unicorns, mysteries and so much more!
4. I am so in awe of everything you guys are doing to support literacy and love for reading. For my last question I would like to know if you have any tips for families looking to encourage better reading habits in their children? And any books you would recommend to middle grade readers?
Read aloud and make it fun! Reading together as a family and using funny voices is the best way to engage kids. Don't stop reading aloud once your kids learn how to read. I mentioned my eldest just finished the Hunger Games series. She is 13 and my husband read aloud with her...not because it was too difficult for her to read alone but because it allowed for them to bond over the series and made it more fun!
Recommendations are totally personal...it's one of the reasons we created our subscription box. You tell me your favorite subjects/books and I'll recommend more!
Hope you enjoyed this chat with The Reading Bug Podcast. If you are interested in these educational stories with episodes about the Arctic, the Amazon, dragons and Innerspace, give them a listen!