History Main / ReadingIsCoolAesop

* ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland'', being based [[Literature/AliceInWonderland a classic book]], naturally fell into this trope a few times.

* ''Anime/ReadOrDie''. The title sounds a bit {{Anvilicious}} (even though it's mostly because Yomiko is a hardcore bookworm and a PaperMaster), but the actual work get the message across quite well.
* In ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' Mugen learns to read from a HotBlooded teacher who makes learning to read SeriousBusiness in the episode, ''War of the Words.''

* This is probably the second biggest aesop in ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', after the moral about learning to love someone for who they are inside. The main character is a girl who loves reading for recreation, even though everyone else around her in her "poor, provincial town" other than her father thinks her odd for it. The "Human Again" sequence from the stage musical (and adapted for the film's special edition) goes further, with Belle teaching The Beast to read and him admitting that he never knew books could be so powerful - by making him forget, if only for a moment, who and what he is. The theme continues in the follow-up films.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Kida struggles to explain to Milo why their culture is rotting from within. Then it becomes apparent. ''Their own writing'' has become lost knowledge, and the key to saving it comes in Milo's book.

-->'''King:'''A fair without rides?\\

-->'''Rob Reiner''': Hi! I love reading too.
-->''(Takes a sip of milk, then [[SpitTake spits it everywhere]])''
-->'''Rob Reiner''': ...like I should have ''read'' the expiration date on this milk!

-->'''Sonic''': I love reading! Books can take you to far-away lands, and exotic places, or show how to see everyday things in a way cool way! [[NeverLearnedToRead Too bad some people have a problem learning how to read.]] If you know who has trouble reading, tell them to ask a teacher, or get help at a local library. All they have to do is ask. I'll tell ya, there's worlds of fun at reading!

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card!]]"[[note]]''Boy Reading Adventure Story'' by Creator/NormanRockwell[[/note]]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:"[[WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}} Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card!]]"]]

** The episode "[[Recap/GargoylesS2ALighthouseInTheSeaOfTime A Lighthouse In the Sea of Time]]" reveals that Hudson and Broadway [[NeverLearnedToRead are both illiterate]]. Hudson is ashamed of this and tries to hide it, while Broadway is proud and openly considers reading a pointless skill. By the end of the episode, however, both have been brought around on the value of reading and decide to start learning, and [[ContinuityNod future episodes make a point to include small scenes showing them practicing and progressing]]. Hudson's friend [[BlindBlackGuy Jeffrey Robbins]], introduced in this episode, in particular has strong feelings on the subject.

** Meanwhile, all the way back in [[Recap/GargoylesS1Awakening the pilot]], the showrunners snuck in an implicit statement that reading is cool by portraying Hakon as not only the ruthless Viking who slaughtered most of the Wyvern Clan, but also unapologetically illiterate. "Magic spells, hah! Makes me glad I can't read!"

** The episode "[[Recap/GargoylesS2ALighthouseInTheSeaOfTime A Lighthouse In the Sea of Time]]" reveals that Hudson and Broadway are both illiterate. Hudson is ashamed of this and tries to hide it, while Broadway is proud and openly considers reading a pointless skill. By the end of the episode, however, both have been brought around on the value of reading and decide to start learning, and [[ContinuityNod future episodes make a point to include small scenes showing them practicing and progressing]]. Hudson's friend [[BlindBlackGuy Jeffrey Robbins]], introduced in this episode, in particular has strong feelings on the subject.

** Much earlier than that, they made an implicit statement that reading is cool by portraying Hakon as not only the ruthless Viking who slaughtered most of the Wyvern Clan, but also unapologetically illiterate. "Magic spells, hah! Makes me glad I can't read!"

** There was an early episode with Merlin's diary. Everyone was thinking it would be Merlin's spellbooks, Macbeth was particularly disappointed [[spoiler:partly because he already has a copy of Merlin's diary]]. Broadway and Hudson start learning how to read.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rockwell_boy.png]]

[[quoteright:285:[[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/castorsjuniors_7758.gif]]]]
[[caption-width-right:285:That GreatBigBookOfEverything has an awesome chapter on literacy.]]

** The Doctor's love of certain historical authors who have shown up in the series, such as Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and Mary Shelley, helps viewers to appreciate their lives and works.

* The ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' episode "Future Harper" has Alex, who is often BrilliantButLazy, proudly declare that she never reads. When popular author H.J. Darling's books reflect the Russo family's magical adventures, though, the kids investigate and learn that Darling is a future version of Alex's best friend Harper, who is the family's SecretKeeper in terms of wizardry. At first, Alex thinks that Harper has betrayed their friendship by writing the books, but Future!Harper explains that she just wanted to share the amazing things that happened in her childhood with the world (it helps that the existence of magic eventually becomes widely-known in the future, so Harper didn't give away anything). Alex thus learns that reading can be fun. It's [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the credits, when Selena Gomez breaks character to deliver a AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle-style PSA, featuring a guest appearance from Creator/RobReiner:
-->'''Rob Reiner''': Hi! I love reading too!

-->'''Rob Reiner''': ...like I should have ''read'' that this milk is expired!

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has an episode in which Candace, Stacy and the titular duo go to England to visit their grandparents. Candace is bored and her grandmother suggests that she and Stacy read to spice things up. Candace responds by saying that reading is what people did before they invented fun but resolves to read "Sherlock Holmes" nonetheless. cut to both Candace and Stacy with [[ExhaustedEyeBags loads of bags under their eyes]] indicating their lack of sleep. Candace says that they read the entire series causing her grandmother to smile and say "before they invented fun, indeed."

-->-- '''Rainbow Dash''', ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep Read it and Weep]]"

* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' did a subtle version in a VerySpecialEpisode about racism. Laura campaigns for a Black History class at her school, prompting anonymous bullying. "Mama" Esther Winslow encourages her by sharing a story about her own childhood--she loved to read, but the library in her town was only for white people. Regardless, Esther went to the library every day for six months, and whenever she was kicked out, she would stand on the sidewalk outside until the building closed. Despite facing abuse and self-doubt, she [[Determinator never gave up]], and the librarian eventually relented by giving her a library card and permanently desegregating the facility. Mama Winslow points out that it was her love of literature that inspired her to make a change, and urges Laura to do the same, regardless of the difficulty.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Tooth and Claw", on the run from a werewolf in 1870s Scotland, the Doctor and his companions barricade themself in a library. When asked about weapons to kill the werewolf, the pacifistic Doctor responds, in what would become a MemeticMutation:
--> '''Doctor:''' You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the world. This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourselves!

* ''Series/FamilyMatters'' did a subtle version in a VerySpecialEpisode about racism. Laura campaigns for a Black History class at her school, prompting anonymous bullying. "Mama" Esther Winslow encourages her by sharing a story about her own childhood--she loved to read, but the library in her town was only for white people. Regardless, Esther went to the library every day for six months, and whenever she was kicked out, she would stand on the sidewalk outside until the building closed. Despite facing abuse and self-doubt, she [[{{Determinator never gave up]], and the librarian eventually relented by giving her a library card and permanently desegregating the facility. Mama Winslow points out that it was her love of literature that inspired her to make a change, and urges Laura to do the same, regardless of the difficulty.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Tooth and Claw", on the run from a werewolf in 1870s Scotland, the Doctor and his companions barricade themself in a library. When asked about weapons to kill the werewolf, the pacifistic Doctor responds the best weapon is knowledge, and eventually finds information in the library that leads to the werewolf's defeat. One quote from the episode in particular became a MemeticMutation:

-->--'''Rainbow Dash''', ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E16ReadItAndWeep Read it and Weep]]"

* Frederick Douglass, a slave in the home of the Auld family of Baltimore, was taught the alphabet at age twelve by Sophia Auld, the mistress of the house. Sophia's wife Hugh criticized her plan and feared that slaves learning to read would encourage a desire for freedom; Douglass referred to this moment as his "first decidedly antislavery lecture," as it taught him that "knowledge unfits a child to be a slave...from that moment I understood the direct pathway from slavery to freedom." As such, Douglass became a huge advocate for literacy and learning programs for both enslaved and newly-freed people.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" takes place on a planet called The Library, which is essentially a planet of books and the biggest library in the universe. The Doctor in particular is thrilled to be on the planet. [[spoiler: ZigZagged, however, since it turns out the paper those books were printed on was carrying spores from a carnivorous lifeform that eventually hatched, forced the planet to be evacuated, and killed nearly everyone in the supporting cast by the end of the two-parter.]]
--> '''Doctor:''' Books. People never really stop loving books. Fifty-first century. By now you’ve got holovids, direct-to-brain downloads, fiction mist. But you need the smell. The smell of books, Donna. Deep breath!
** In "Tooth and Claw", on the run from a werewolf in 1870s Scotland, the Doctor and his companions barricade themself in a library. When asked about weapons to kill the werewolf, the pacifistic Doctor responds the best weapon is knowledge, and eventually finds information in the library that leads to the werewolf's defeat. One quote from the episode in particular became a MemeticMutation:

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" takes place on a planet called The Library, which is essentially a planet of books and the biggest library in the universe. The Doctor in particular has a few very passionate quotes about books and reading from this episode that became [[MemeticMutation memetic mutations]]. [[spoiler: ZigZagged, however, since it turns out the paper those books were printed on was carrying spores from a carnivorous lifeform that eventually hatched, forced the planet to be evacuated, and killed nearly everyone in the supporting cast by the end of the two-parter.]]

--> ''(later)''

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" takes place on a planet called The Library, which is essentially a planet of books and the biggest library in the universe. The Doctor in particular has a few very passionate quotes about books and reading that became MemeticMutations. [[spoiler: ZigZagged, however, since it turns out the paper those books were printed on was carrying spores from a carnivorous lifeform that kills nearly everyone in the supporting cast by the end of the two-parter.]]

* ''Film/Pleasantville'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', Kida struggles to explain to Milo why their culture is rotting from within. Then it becomes apparent. ''Their own writing'' has become lost knowledge.