I am fortunate that Isaiah, so far, loves to read, and his tastes run to knowing the who's and why's of history. This child will pick up a fiction story one day, a biography the next and a book explaining some science concept that's caught his interest the next. I pray that he will be a well read child who will not just read but apply what he reads. Nothing thrills my heart more than to see him open
up his Bible and sit and read.Here are some things that I've learned about fostering a love of reading and of good literature in children. I have to say some of it has come from experience teaching, some has come from my own experience and some has come from listening and reading about great teachers.
First, when teaching a child to read...let him read easy things himself, but read difficult things to him at the same time. We want to expand their worlds and words but we don't want to make reading a chore that is so hard and frustrating that it is only attempted when assigned.
As far as silent reading on their own...I used to tell my students to pick up a book that they thought looked interesting, thumb through it to see if they were still interested, read a page from the middle. I asked them to put a finger on any word that they didn't know (either couldn't read or could read but didn't understand). If they had 0-1 fingers it would be an easy book for them. If it had 2-3 fingers, it would be challenging but they could figure it out and would enjoy it. It would help them work the muscle of their brain. If it had 4-5 fingers, it was too difficult for them to read alone so they should read it with another person or put it back and try it in a bit.
With my son, I can be more hands on then that. I choose to start most books with him (especially if he's not so sure he might like it). I read a page or a paragraph or a chapter, and then he reads. I monitor his progress and decide if it will be something that I can leave with him to read alone, or if I need to do shared reading with him, or if it's something that I will read aloud to him.
As far as reading good literature...I think most of the time the books that I find that inspire my children to think and to develop godly character where written a few decades ago. That's not to say, nothing good is being written these days. But most of what is written is 'candy'. It's not great writing, not gr
eat vocabulary, not great content. 
We are a conservative, Bible based family so many of the things written today don't reflect our values. A few favorites that we've read recently are books by Thornton Burgess, Holling Clancy Holling, and Ingri D'Aulaire. Burgess wrote in the early 1900's books full of information about animals but written in a narrative style and with illustrations that children love. Holling's books were more in the middle of the 20th century and are wonderful narratives that teach geography. Ingri D'Aulaire wrote between Burgess and Holling and her books are biographies written in a wonderful narrative style with illustrations that she did herself which help capture interest and complement the text. Any of these books, can be used for the study of history or science and would promote the love of learning far more than a dry text that is full of trivial facts that one must regurgitate on a test and then promptly forget.Other books that we are reading that are more for character development include Lamplighter books, the "Miller" books by Mildred A. Martin and of course, the Bible. Lamplighter publishes books that are more than 100 years old and they are selected for superior Christian values that will inspire young and old alike to be more like the people within who are more like Jesus. We are currently reading a book called Great Americans that has a chapter for 15 or so different historical figures who displayed character in very challenging circumstances. These are written in a style that feels as if the author is sitting in your living room telling you about his best friend. We have read Missionary Stories and the Millers and Wisdom and the Millers. These are written from a Mennonite background so they are very conservative. The way they explain godly character traits and inspire children (and adults) to persevere in love and good works is not easily found in today's writings. Finally, the Bible, especially the narrative portions of the Old Testament and the gospels in the New Testament are the very best literature one can find for teaching about God, the world He made, and the truth He gives. What other book do you know that can survive dozens of centuries unchanged with it's truths still as relevant today as when they were written. What better example can you give your children than Jesus and people that God chose to include in His Holy Book?
In the end, I think my children love literature because we read it together and it's relational time. I also choose books that I think will grab their interest (and if it doesn't, I'm not afraid to put it away for another time). I think that in choosing trade books over textbooks, they learn to love to learn and in teaching them to choose interesting, challenging things for themselves, they will always carry that ability with them. Reading and learning go hand in hand...even in our computer crazed culture a good book is still a rare find and a worthy companion.
I'm sure there are many more great works that we have yet to find. And I'm also sure that this topic of good literature is worth many posts!
