Are we causing aliteracy?   An aliterate is a person who can read but is not interested in doing it. A vital question for which we must find an answer is "WHY?" Because democracy is based on an informed citizenry,reading is an essential method for being informed. It is the only efficient way to learn history, and those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.   Why is it that when people know how to find information, they no longer want to look for it? What is killing their curiosity?    Children are naturally curious. They love to explore and it is not long before parents are commenting, "They get into everything." It's their nature! When this search for knowledge stops, it's time to search for the reason.   If pigs won’t eat, a farmer doesn't spend much time inspecting the feed trough or the size of the pig pen. He knows it’s a pig's nature to eat and enjoy it! If the pig doesn't eat, it's either sick or there is a problem with the food. "If the child isn't physically ill, I think it's time to check out what children are asked to read. Perhaps then we will find out why we have an increasing number of aliterates, students who can read but aren't interested in doing it.” That’s the opinion of Dr. Marvin G. Baker, editor-in-chief of Baker Trittin Press, a small Hoosier publishing company. “Paul Trittin and I started the business four years ago because we realized boys don’t like to read what they are assigned. We have discovered the reading content can make a difference. Andy Sherrod states the challenge, 'The goal is not to teach boys to read but to teach boys to read voluntarily.'”   Kids, especially boys, who have had access to the Tweener Adventure Books, enjoy them. They are not a panacea, but they have made a difference for some children. One homeschool mother in Oregon shared her experience. “My son would rather do most anything besides reading. His assignment was to read a chapter from his chapter book in the morning and one in the afternoon. He put it off as long as possible. I received a copy of Legend of the White Wolf by Max Elliott Anderson and published by Baker Trittin Press.   “The cover captured his attention but he didn’t accept the book. Late that afternoon I asked him about his reading assignment. I was shocked by his response. “I finished it, Mom.”   “Guardedly I commented. ‘You didn’t have to read the whole book today.”   “But I wanted to!”   “I was skeptical. The book has 17 chapters. I proceeded with an interrogation and discovered he had not only read it, but he was eager to tell me many details. That book unlocked something for Daniel. He discovered that reading can be enjoyable.”   “We hear that story over and over,” Paul Trittin, Baker’s partner, reported. “Boys want action and if they can’t find it on the printed page, they’ll close the book.”   For the last 48 months this shoe-string operation has been publishing books that make a difference. “Our market is homeschoolers,” Trittin acknowledged. “Our books are not preachy, but they do promote positive moral values. Our books have no gore, no violence, no vulgarity, no profanity, and no romance. Boys are discovering reading can be fun if the adventure is skillfully presented.”    Check our Catalog for titles that boys         and girls want to read!