More than 100 books were handed out to princesses, vampires, superheroes, ghosts, and zombies last night by Professor Gary Fox, of Fairview, Missouri. Why did he choose to give trick-or-treaters a copy of “Robinson Crusoe” instead of a pack of Reese’s Pieces, or one of the popular “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books by Lemony Snicket rather than a Snickers Bar? According to an interview with the Columbia Missourian, Fox likes the idea that a treat of a new book is something that will last a long time, and even shared with others.

Sharing books with children doesn’t have to be a once-a-year event. Like Professor Fox, you can visit thrift stores, used book stores, and yard sales or swap meets for children’s books, and pick them up free or at a very small cost. Libraries are another good resource; you can sign up to get your child a library card, or profit from a library book sale. For a child, it often doesn’t matter if the book is a little tattered, or has some torn pages – if they’ve never read the book before, it’s new to them.

A piece of candy is a nice treat, but books will feed a child’s mind. When you help children learn to love the many styles and flavors of books available for their age group (or above!) you’ll open their minds to new worlds, and encourage them to seek out new reading material for themselves. When they enjoy reading, they’ll have a resource for vocabulary and language skills that will help them get good grades in school all year. So stock your shelves with books instead of sweets, and you’ll have a store of treats you can hand out any time!

You can read the interview with Professor Fox at the newspaper’s website here.