One of my friends said that books are passé. Now that computers have virtually dominated our milieu, books will become a relic of the past according to her. I beg to disagree with her. I tried reading on the computer for a few hours and I got eye strain. Well, assuming that iPads and Kindle have gone viral and infected just about everybody in cyberspace, books still have the greatest impact on some of the most celebrated leaders of our time.

I’m not exactly a techie, but I have moves of my own when it comes to the keyboards. And I love my computer. But it doesn’t give me the relaxation that a good book can.
Alas! With all the techno craze going on in the virtual sphere, our children are all spaced out. And they are actually enjoying the time of their lives.

But why books? Are we not now in the future as what Isaac Asimov predicted?
A book is like a walk in the park. It gives you time to reflect without the temptations of Facebook, Google, messages, or whatever. It’s the grass under your feet, the clouds floating idly by.

Here are some courses of action you can do to save your child from the clutches of his cyber attachment and lead him to discover the beauty of the pages.

1. Be sneaky. Buy the latest craze in the market like the "Hunger Games" or the "Harry Potter" series. Make sure the books lie around where the kids can find them. Read some fascinating parts or mystery and tell them about it during dinner. Use the cool words in the book like "quidditch" or something unpronounceable and have a fun time tongue twisting. Talk about the characters like Katniss and Peeta.

2. Create a game wherein the children have to guess the characters in a book. It can also be a story game. This will stimulate interest in the characters. What magical powers do they have? Who is Harry Potter’s love interest? Where is Panem? What do you mean by “hunger games”?

3. Go to the bookstore with the kids and browse. It’s free to browse. The smell of the pages, the illustrations, the touch of the book jacket, they all come together as an experience in itself. The library was a magic kingdom to me when I was small.
4. Buy books that have familiar characters like Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web, Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys. Tell them that movies were actually made based on the novels, not the other way around.

5. When you go to the beach, have a picnic or travel to another country, buy a book in that place. Make the book a part of your travel.

6. Always scout for great buys in second hand stores. I found most of my classics in bargain bins.

7. Make them choose whatever topic they like. I have hundreds of classics in my shelves but my kids prefer Libba Bray and J.K. Rowling.

8. Be firm when it comes to playing computer games. Put a password in the computer.
9. Tell them reading is cool. It makes one a more interesting person.

10. Read. Perhaps that is the best way to do it. When a child sees you reading, he will be curious. Make this curiosity work for you by taking him into your world.

11. And when you take a walk in the park, don’t forget to carry one. It’s the one friend that will always be there.