History Main / ReadingIsCoolAesop

->'''Literature/PippiLongstocking:''' ''(Magically appears)'' Lisa, read about my adventures in the South Seas, and make me live again!

->'''Literature/{{Alice|InWonderland}}:''' [nervously] Won't you join our tea party? It would be ever so...

->'''Literature/PippiLongstocking:''' [Magically appears] Lisa, read about my adventures in the South Seas, and make me live again!

-> [Mad Hatter pulls a gun and grabs Alice]

* ''ThePrincessBride'' uses a grandfather reading to his sick grandson as the framing device, and the movie shows the kid get thoroughly hooked.

* This is ''the'' main point being driven home by the shows ''BetweenTheLions'' and ''{{Wilbur}}'', whose slogan is that "Books are moovelous!"

->'''PippiLongstocking:''' [Magically appears] Lisa, read about my adventures in the South Seas, and make me live again!

->'''{{Alice|InWonderland}}:''' [nervously] Won't you join our tea party? It would be ever so...

--> -- '''TheSimpsons''', "Summer of 4 Ft. 2"

* ''ThePagemaster'' ''tried'' to do this, but as many people pointed out, it doesn't really encourage reading, instead name-dropping a few literary classics and using loose approxiamations of their plots and characters for action scenes.

->'''Lisa:''' A library! ... No, I can't... that's the old, nerdy Lisa.
->'''PippiLongstocking:''' [Magically appears] Lisa, read about my adventures in the South Seas, and make me live again!
->'''Eustace (from The Newyorker):''' We've got periodicals on microfiche...
->'''{{Alice|InWonderland}}:''' [nervously] Won't you join our tea party? It would be ever so...
-> [Mad Hatter pulls a gun and grabs Alice]
->'''Alice:''' Don't do it, Lisa. It's a trap! Run! Run!
--> -- '''TheSimpsons''', "Summer of 4 Ft. 2"

A common [[EdutainmentShow PSA type plot]] and {{Aesop}} for kids shows and movies. There's a few possible plots that lead to this:

* A book is a ChekhovsGun or contains a [[ChekhovsClassroom Chekhov's Lesson]], and reading helps you solve the plot.

* It's a PortalBook that takes an IntrepidFictioneer and reluctant readers to a [[TrappedInTVLand living adventure.]]
* Related to PortalBook, reading lets the characters inside come into the real world and you can have crazy adventures.
* The book's lead character(s) are {{Expy}}s or {{Audience Surrogate}}s of the reader(s) who finds themselves in a similar situation to the plot of the book. Similar to the first point, the resolution of the book helps solve a real life problem. If live action, almost always [[ActingForTwo played by the same actor.]]

----
!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Film}} - WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''TheNeverEndingStory'' fits the second type; Bastian is drawn into the story and becomes a character as he reads.
* The main idea behind ''ThePhantomTollbooth.''

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''ReadingRainbow'' was an entire series dedicated to teaching kids that reading is cool.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* There's a song in the musical episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' in which the refrain goes "Having fun isn't hard/When you've got a library card."
** In another episode, Arthur bemoans the fact that he wasted his entire summer vacation because he didn't do any of the things on his summer "to-do" list, then realizes he did ''all'' of them by reading stories.
** This aesop practically appears everywhere in the series, which makes sense since the cartoon was based off a book series. Heck, Arthur's last name is "'''Read'''".
* ''{{Gargoyles}}'' had an early episode with Merlin's diary. Everyone was thinking it would be Merlin's spellbooks, Macbeth was particularly disappointed. Broadway and Hudson start learning how to read.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Read It and Weep" has Rainbow Dash laid up at a hospital with nothing to do. Twilight suggests a book, but Dash resists because "reading is for eggheads". Eventually she starts reading, and becomes enraptured with a story about AdventurerArchaeologist Daring Do. So much so that when she is discharged, she sneaks back into the hospital to finish the book.
* Subverted in the ''SouthPark'' episode "Chicken Lover". Officer Barbrady turns out to be illiterate and has to be taught how to read in order to solve the mystery of who is having sex with chickens. The culprit turns out to be the owner of the bookmobile, as part of a convoluted plot to get Barbrady to read books. At the end, Barbrady swears off reading after having to slog through ''AtlasShrugged''.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* This is TruthInTelevision; lots of children's libraries promote reading as a way to find new adventures.

* An ''AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' episode had Dave reading ''TreasureIsland'', and at the end, the boys turned off the TV and video games to read ''TheThreeMusketeers''.

* A book is a ChekhovsGun or contains a ChekhovsLecture, and reading helps you solve the plot.

It's worth noting that a show can be just as likely to promote the opposite Aesop, that too much reading can be just as bad as too little, and encourage kids to go out and play or make friends. The idea of reading as being good for you is actually a [[NewerThanTheyThink fairly new concept]] that came with the advent of television. Prior to that, reading was viewed in pretty much the same sense as watching television is today.

It's worth noting that a show can be just as likely to promote the opposite Aesop, that too much reading can be just as bad as too little, and encourage kids to go out and play or make friends. The idea of reading as being good for you is actually a fairly new concept that came with the advent of television. Prior to that, reading was viewed in pretty much the same sense as watching television is today.

It's worth noting that a show can be just as likely to promote the opposit Aesop, that too much reading can be just as bad as too little, and encourage kids to go out and play or make friends.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Read It and Weep" has Rainbow Dash laid up at a hospital with nothing to do. Twilight suggests a book, but Dash resists because "reading is for eggheads", but eventually she starts reading and becomes enrapt in the story. So much, in fact, that when she is discharged she sneaks back inside the hospital to finish the book.

* While not an episode, there's a song in the musical episode of ''{{WesternAnimation/Arthur}}'' in which the refrain goes "Having fun isn't hard//When you've got a library card."
** In another ''{{WesternAnimation/Arthur}}'' Arthur bemoans the fact that he wasted his entire summer vactation because he didn't do any of the things on his summer "to-do" list, then realizes he did ''all'' of them by reading stories.

[[caption-width-right:285:That GreatBigBookOfEverything has an awesome chapter on promoting literacy.]]

* The ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Read It and Weep" has Rainbow Dash laid up at a hospital with nothing to do. Twilight suggests a book, but Dash resists because "reading is for eggheads", but eventually she starts reading and becomes enrapt in the story. So much, in fact, that when she is discharged she sneaks back inside the hospital to finish the book.

* The main idea behind ''ThePhantomTollbooth.''

* ''TheNeverEndingStory'' fits the second type; Bastian is drawn into the story and becomes a character as he reads.

[[AC:{{Film}} - LiveAction]]

[[AC:{{Film}} - WesternAnimation]]
* The main idea behind ''ThePhantomTollbooth.''

* ''ThePagemaster'' ''tried'' to do this, but as many people pointed out, it doesn't really encourage reading, instead name-dropping a few literary classics and using loose approxiamations of their plots and characters for action scenes.
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* It's a PortalBook that takes you to a living adventure.