View and Listen to the FIQL Playlist Here

A love of books and literature is probably one of the single most important things we can pass on to our children to help ensure their success in life. 70% of people in the shallow end of the literacy pool do not have a job or work only part time.

Having such a devastating economic strike against you is bad enough, but even worse in my mind, is not having the joy that comes from being able to learn and experience through the written word.

The statistics tell the story well:

• 50% of the unemployed are illiterate
  
• 13% of all 17 year olds are illiterate
  
• 44% of minority youth are illiterate
  
• Children who do not read by the 3rd grade are more likely to:
  
  
  
  • Drop out of school
    
  • Take drugs
    
  • Go to prison
    
  
  
• The top 2% of student read 65 minutes a day
  
• The top 10% read 20 minutes a day
  
• The bottom 10% read 1/10th of a minute per day
  

Music can be a powerful tool to get children excited about reading. I know for example, that during my high school, heavy metal phase, I was inspired to read “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge because of the Iron Maiden song of the same name.

If your child is more into music than reading you have a great opportunity. Giving your young Metallica fan some H.P. Lovcraft can really light a spark. If it’s mid July and your 10th grader still hasn’t picked up their required summer reading of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, buy him/her a copy of Pink Floyd’s “Animals”. You can see where I am going here. Songs inspired by literature come from all music genres, so you can find a book to fit your child’s musical tastes relatively easily.

Thankfully, an organization called Artists for Literacy (artistsforliteracy.org) is helping teachers and parents use music to spark the passion for reading in children. They have released compilation CDs of songs inspired by literature as well as DVDs of music videos and musicians speaking about how books play a part in their lives and work.

This playlist contains songs from many different genres that were inspired by literature; I have also provided a link to an “Artists for Literacy” page, which shows the artist, song title, performer, album, book title that inspired the song and the author’s name.

View and Listen to the FIQL Playlist Here

Click here to read other columns.

You can see more of Robert's playlists at Rhapsody Radish.

Robert,

That was a GREAT column. I was brought up in a household that always had music on and I had a 12th grade reading level when I was in the 5th grade and I really think listening to music played a part in that. And studies have shown that listening to music builds cognitive skills. I think parents should do a little research and realize that it might help their kids to listen to music while they're studying or doing homework.

You're exactly correct. I just wish I listened to more than "The Village People" and "Donna Summer" when I was in grade school. Now that I am grown, for some strange reason, I find my favorite books have pictures of Fabio on the cover. I have no idea why? :-)

Robert,
You and MeICA is so right about the benefits of music. My partner and I have an online music distribution business, Music2Work2.com, based on that very premise. On our web site we have sited 50+ articles and studies supporting the benefits of music.
Just thought you might be interested in checking out the playlists " Music To Study By... and
Background Music