According to the Jenkins Group:

• 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book.
• 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.

So what are they doing? Watching TV! (Among other things.) So no matter if you’re for or against the writer’s strike, your television viewing habits could be affected. So why not pick up a good book instead?

Family Activities for the TV-less

There are lots of book suggestions here at A Readable Feast including YA (young adult) titles. You can look on the right sidebar for books I haven’t reviewed yet like Bobbie Dazzler or Little Skink’s Tail. Or check out November 2006′s posts for Thanksgiving and holiday book ideas.

Did you see the Target toy catalog in last Sunday’s paper? The kids and I were excited about all the new board games out, especially Monopoly Disney Pixar Edition. Why wait for Christmas?

How about cooking as a family? FamilyFun.com has a whole bunch of kid-friendly Thanksgiving cooking ideas like Tiny Turkey Dinner Cupcakes and Tom Turkey Nuggets.

Lots of good new movies out there to rent or buy like Meet the Robinsons, too.

But if you must watch TV (and I understand – we all want to relax and “jell” for awhile) how about introducing kids to classics like the Andy Griffith Show or the original Star Trek? Both are in reruns on various local and cable stations. There’s always educational TV like the Discovery Channel, PBS, and the History Channel.

How is your family going to handle the writer’s strike?

1. Watch reruns of our favorite TV shows.
2. Watch shows we don’t normally watch on TV.
3. Watch sports on TV.
4. Do family activities like play games, cook, go to the community pool, or make a craft.
5. Rent lots of movies.
6. Turn of the TV and READ.

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