I get most of my own reading done on audiobooks. That has a catch I had not thought about until I read what the research says about parents: reading like that is invisible to the three people I most want to see it.

What the studies found

The big international study of fifteen-year-olds recalls a finding from its earlier rounds: teenagers whose parents were seen reading at home, or whose parents said they enjoyed reading, tended to enjoy reading more themselves.

The same report adds something that stung a little. Comparing parents’ answers over a decade, it found that reading had lost ground as a favourite hobby among parents, not only among their children. In the report’s words, parents are important role models who can strongly influence young people’s reading habits at home.

And in its newest data, students in almost every country reported less family support than three years earlier. Family support, in that study, means plain things: parents who show interest in what their child is learning and talk with them about it.

The international study of fourth graders treats the same idea as part of a child’s home environment. Alongside early literacy activities and books in the home, it measures whether parents themselves like reading.

It is not only parents, either. In the largest survey of American families, 70 percent of children named a teacher or school librarian as someone who encourages them to read for fun. Children notice which adults care about books.

What this does not prove

These are associations. Families where parents read differ from other families in many ways, and no study here shows that my picking up a book will cause my daughter to pick up hers.

I find I do not need it to. If I want my kids to believe reading is worth their time, it would be strange to never spend mine on it.

The catch with audiobooks and phones

Here is the catch. The studies asked about parents who were seen reading. A lot of adult reading today cannot be seen. An audiobook in your earbuds looks like nothing. An article on your phone looks exactly like scrolling.

So the fix is not to read more. It is to make the reading you already do visible:

  • Say what you are listening to. “I’m at a good bit, give me two minutes” tells a child that adults get pulled into stories too.
  • Play an audiobook out loud in the car sometimes, so it is a shared thing.
  • Keep a physical book where they will see it, and be caught with it now and then.
  • Talk about what you read the way you talk about anything else you enjoy.

Why grown-ups are readers in Readnauts

This is the reason the grown-ups in a family are readers in Readnauts, not administrators. You have your own library, your books earn points, and you stand on the same family podium as your kids. Audiobooks count, at a slightly lower weight than print, because listening is not the same work as decoding. When my books show up next to theirs, my reading stops being invisible.

You do not need an app for that, though. You need to be seen with a book.