In my last blog, I replied to a teacher’s question about teaching a love of reading. She noted the many recent reports of declines in pleasure reading (e.g., Horowitch, 2026). I pointed out that this decline is not just a recent trend, but one that stretches back more than 80 years (Bone, Bu, Sonke, & Fancourt, 2006). I also noted that not only are Americans reading less, but the same is true in the United Kingdom and Australia (Cremin & Scholes, 2024). Of three possible reasons for the downturn, my analysis suggested that we can’t blame it on low reading ability or lack...