Basic Trope: A work tries to encourage children (and/or others) to read.
- Straight: In an episode of Alice and Her Friends, Alice has to spend a day inside because of bad weather. When there's a power failure and she can't play video games or watch TV, she tries reading a novel. She quite likes it and and continues reading when the power returns.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice used to spend all her time playing video games. After reading the first page of a novel, she gets addicted to reading and never touches a video game again.
- Alice and Her Friends is all about children learning to appreciate reading.
- Every time someone reads a book, it's portrayed as taking them into a fantastic dream world.
- Downplayed: Alice starts accepting reading as entertainment, but still prefers TV and video games if she gets to choose.
- Justified: Alice had become a reluctant reader because her school forced her to read books she disliked. At home, she's free to choose a book that she thinks she'll like. And she does like it.
- Inverted: Alice is a Bookworm who believes that New Media Are Evil, but when Bob somehow convinces her to try a video game, she loves it, continues playing video games later, and ends up deciding that reading is boring.
- Subverted:
- Alice tries reading a novel, but puts it down after 15 minutes, saying it's boring.
- Alice tries a novel and is seen walking into a library shortly after. She walks straight to the computers and starts surfing the Internet.
- Alice puts the book down and starts using her tablet.
- Double Subverted:
- She finds out that she prefers magazines.
- She surfs the net to find information about the books she wants, and only uses the computer at the library because her own computer is broken.
- She starts reading with the tablet.
- Parodied:
- Alice makes an Anvilicious rant against new media and about how reading books is the only true form of entertainment while she's watching TV and playing video games at the same time.
- Bob points out to Alice that encouraging their viewers to read instead of watching their show means that they risk lower ratings.
- A Show Within a Show that purposely handles this really clumsily: Book haters are portrayed as lazy, arrogant Jerk Asses while all book lovers are
perfectly wonderful, except for the fact that they bully book haters. Even though the book haters try to argue and actually have decent arguments, they always lose debates to book lovers that use the same bad arguments and Logical Fallacies over and over. Oh, and the book lovers claim that reading makes you a great, friendly person that stands up to bullies, as demonstrated by how the book lovers punish the book haters whenever they tease anyone. - Alice reads a book, and it's portrayed as taking her into a fantastic dream world. The book turns out to be a boring collection of uninspired recipes.
- Alice reads a book, and it's portrayed as taking her into a fantastic dream world. It turns out that Alice only experienced it because she was on drugs.
- A Doorstopper ends with this Aesop. The characters point out how pointless the message is, considering that only those who already like reading would read to the end.
- Zig Zagged:
- Alice tries reading a fact book, but puts it down after the first few minutes, saying it's boring. She then tries reading a magazine, which she enjoys, but she loses interest in just a few weeks. Then she's supposed to read a novel at school. She tells her teacher that she really likes the book, but it turns out that she's just trying to flatter and that she in fact hates the book and never actually read anything beyond the 10th page. However, her teacher finds out that she cheated and forces her to actually read the book. Alice dislikes it at first, but the story gets better, and she ends up liking it.
- Alice alternates between loving and hating to read.
- Averted: There is no episode about reading.
- Enforced: Fewer and fewer children read. Producers of shows are encouraged to try to do something about it.
- Lampshaded: "No, I doubt that Alice is going to play video games with me today. I've heard that she's started reading."
- Invoked: Alice's parents suggest that she try reading a book.
- Exploited: Book stores and authors make a nice profit because of all the new readers.
- Defied:
- Alice refuses to try reading a book.
- Alice plays with her smartphone (or just some ordinary toys) until the power returns.
- Alice plays outside until the power returns.
- Alice, a hardcore environmentalist, refuses to read a physical book if it's not made of recycled/sustainable materials and if the cover is made of leather.
- Discussed: "If Alice tries reading, maybe she'll like it."
- Conversed: "Why does every intelligent character in this series end up liking novels? I mean, what do made-up stories have to do with intelligence?"
- Implied: After reading her first novel, Alice starts visiting the library frequently.
- Deconstructed: Alice gets too immersed, addicted even, to reading books that time passes out of her grasp and she neglects her other activities, and her sense of reality makes Don Quixote comparatively sane.
- Reconstructed: Her friends and family and/or Alice herself makes her snap back to reality, all the while carrying the lessons that while reading is fun, there's a time and place for everything, As the Good Book Says....
- Played For Laughs: Alice says, "Reading is a boring waste of time, so I'll never touch a book again!". Cue Gilligan Cut to Alice happily reading a Print Long Runner series of Doorstoppers.
- Played For Drama: Alice's family is strict, and Alice happens to read and agree with literature that her parents disapprove of.
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