‘Books’ Back to Lure Youths to Reading

“Hooked on Books,” KCET Channel 28’s summer literacy series, is back for a third season, hoping to persuade children that there are worlds to discover in the written word.

A joint effort with the Southern California Library Systems, Cal State Northridge and the Regional Educational Television Council, it got under way this week and will run weekdays on Channel 28 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. for four more weeks.

Cultural diversity is again the theme and the series once more includes tried-and-true reruns--segments of “Wonderworks,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Tales From the Brothers Grimm,” plus, for the first time, new programs.

Among the fairy tales and fantasy, nonfiction and comedy, several new travel shows offer slices of life, ranging from a village in Peru to the nomadic Sami reindeer herders of Lapland.

“Because we are in the most culturally diverse place in the world,” said David L. Crippens, KCET’s senior vice president of educational enterprises, “we’re looking for ways to enthuse and invigorate young people to read and also to find out about cultures different than themselves--or maybe similar to themselves.

“We’re offering a full range, trying to engage the imagination.”

Crippens noted that getting a child to read is an issue of family literacy.

“The real basis for reading is encouragement from family members,” he said. No matter what an adult’s educational level, “it is that reinforcement that says to a child reading is important.”

Teen actor Simon Maldonado plays host, offering helpful hints and books lists between shows. The aim is to encourage children to “read aloud to their parents or talk about what they’ve read and to go to the library,” Crippens said. “We look at ourselves as a catalytic agent, not an end-all, be-all.”

Southland libraries support the series with posters and book lists. “Libraries are a repository of our civilization. It’s vital that young people know them and like them,” Crippens said.

“Our society is undergoing unbelievable changes. Will we have a society and an economy in the next five to 10 years that will be prosperous and beneficial for all people, or just for a few?”

“One of the keys,” he said, “is how well educated our populace is. Reading is the underpinning of all literacies.”