Between The Lines: How high-quality picture books can encourage kids to read more

High-quality children’s picture books are the building blocks to a lifelong love of reading. When I disparage commercial products in book form that are based on cartoon characters, my friends protest, insisting their children love storybook versions of their favourite animated TV series. I counter that recognising and enjoying stories about familiar television characters is […]

Between The Lines: Reading from the same page

Many will be surprised to learn that Hong Kong has the world’s lowest rate of family literacy – a term used to describe parents (or extended family members and other adults) and children learning together. Just 12 per cent of children in Hong Kong have that experience compared to an international average of 37 per […]

Between The Lines: Why we find it hard to be straight with our kids about money

Financial literacy is as important to teach our children as any other kind of literacy, and yet many of us shy away from candid conversations about money with our children. In so doing, we miss an opportunity to instil family values and to cultivate positive traits such as generosity, patience and perseverance. When I lived […]

Between The Lines: Why we should be encouraging everyone to read for pleasure

Some children need a good example to follow when it comes to reading.       Over the summer, every student, administrator and teacher at my son’s high school will read Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi. Carefully selected, I suspect, for the themes of race and identity, this book should ignite conversations and spark […]

Between The Lines: Two books that teach children how to help others

Every one of us starts life as an egocentric baby, concerned only with having our own needs fulfilled. Somewhere along the road to adulthood, we all become less self-centred, to varying degrees. Some children are so protected from growing pains that they never let go of their self-centredness. Others grow up in an environment that […]