No time to read a book? Here's an unorthodox suggestion.

If you’re like most adults—and especially if you’re a parent of young children—you probably haven’t read a book for pleasure in years.  Who has time? And for some of us, so much reading (of reports, articles, memos, webpages, research) is required of us at work that we just don’t want to read more stuff when we have a few precious minutes of down time.

I think I’ve stumbled on a solution, but it’s really only for those who are willing to let stereotypes go.

Read a children’s book.

I know, it sounds crazy. But here’s the thing: you can find fiction, nonfiction, science fiction and historical fiction. Most children’s books have a good message, and an added bonus is that many will make you laugh. Sure, some are geared to beginning readers, but many of them have a complexity of sentence structure and vocabulary that might surprise you.

Pick the right book, and you’ll be treated to beautiful illustrations. You won’t need more than a half hour to read the entire book (unless it’s geared to tweens or teens—those might take a tad longer to read), and if you need to break it up into multiple reading sessions, you can.

I’ve been spending more time in the children’s section of my local Barnes and Noble than I care to admit. If needed, I could use the excuse that I have a granddaughter—but no one has ever questioned why a person of my age is browsing (reading) all the new kids’ books--and often laughing out loud. 

If you’re stumped as to where to start, check out Saturday’s Chicago Tribune, which devotes a page or more to book recommendations and rarely skimps on the kids’ books. Or visit the children’s section of your public library or local bookstore. If you enjoy cleverness, start with the authors Jon Scieszka, Richard Scarry, Tomie DePaola, Judy Blume, Eric Carle, and of course, JK Rowling. My childhood favorite (which has new stories today thanks to the original author’s grandson continuing the writing tradition) is the Madeline series.

Browsing kids’ books doesn’t take much time. You’ll be hooked by the title or the cover illustration, the cadence of the writing or the humor, or simply by the topic. Reading a page or two should be enough to keep your attention—if not, simply move on to another book. 

Of course, if you happen to be a parent or have some kids in your life, you can actually purchase (or check out) the book for the children. Chances are, if you like it, they’ll like it. You can read it to or with them, or sneak-read it to yourself when they’re busy doing something else. And yes, sometimes you’ll have to let the child read the book to you. Think of it as good reading practice for them.