Children must see adults reading for pleasure, Australian author Christopher Cheng says

CHENNAI: Parents and teachers should encourage children to pick up the habit of reading for pleasure by setting an example, believes Australian children’s writer Christopher Cheng. Adults should read for pleasure and read out the book to the children, he says.
In an email interview to TOI, Cheng said, “Share stories with children. Don't just expect children to tell you what they read today.Tell them what you read today too! If parents and teachers do not read, how can they expect children to read too? Children must see adults reading for pleasure, not just for work. Reading has to be seen to be something that is enjoyed.”
Cheng knows what he is talking about. He is the co-chair of the international advisory board for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, an international advisory board member for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore and a recipient of the Lady Cutler Award for Children’s Literature. He also conducts writers’ workshops and visits schools worldwide.
His book “Water” was recently launched in Tamil and Hindi. Asked what special significance the book could have for Indians, Cheng said, “I think it is no more important than it is for people living in Australia, or anywhere else in the world. Water is an invaluable resource and needs to be protected and loved and ensured for future generations. It needs to be cared for and preserved and it needs to be sustained and it needs to be pure.”
While many of his 40-odd books deal with the environment and nature, Cheng said he did not consciously set out to make his readers aware of the environment. “I never set out to give a message. Yes, my books do have messages, but that is not my plan.”
He just set out to write “a great stories, a story that is riveting and a story that I want to keep reading.”
“Hopefully, then my readers will feel the same,” he said.
“If there are messages in my books - and if people tell me there are, then that is terrific, and I hope that they are able to absorb it. But I don't set out to preach to my readers! Kids get enough of that. I just want them to read and to love reading and have fun while they are doing it,” he added. Cheng was in Delhi recently to take part in the Ghummakkad Narain Travelling Children’s Literature Festival and to address children and teachers at the Oak Grove School of Indian Railways and Rashtriya Indian Military College of Ministry of Defence.