39 Signs You Might Be Raising a Book Wyrm

Are you raising a book wyrm? If you’ve ever stayed up late at night, tormented with thoughts of whether or not your child is turning into a book wyrm, then we can help. Although subtle, there are various signs that your child is developing into a proper book wyrm, if you know what to look for.

Read through the checklist below and keep track of how many signs you’ve seen to discover how serious your child’s reading addiction is.

Book Wyrm Signs

1. You’ve walked in on your child sleeping with a half-read book nearby.
2. Grounding your child from friends doesn’t have nearly as strong a reaction as grounding your child from books. Especially books they’re in the middle of reading.
3. During parent-teacher conferences, teachers tell you your kid is great, except that he or she won’t stop reading in class.
4. Your child has tried to hide that they’re reading in class by placing their textbook in front of their reading book.
5. You’ve often caught faint light coming from your child’s bedroom late at night as they try to sneakily read past bedtime using any light source available (such as handheld game systems, iPods, and phones).
6. Your child has more books downloaded to their phone than apps.
7. And your child spends more time reading on their phone than texting.
8. Your child has always crushed summer reading challenges. (This was supposed to take all Summer? I did it in a week.)
9. Sometimes you have to force your child to leave their reading cave and read outside for a while to get a bit of fresh air.
10. Your child geeks out over favorite authors like other kids fawn over celebrities.
11. When they’re doing chores, there’s usually an ereader or a book nearby that they are trying to read at the same time.
12. Your child also tends to try and finish tasks like eating dinner, homework, or chores as quickly as possible so that they can return to their book.
13. Your child has loved a book series so much that they joined an online fandom to share their love of the books with others.
14. Your child has created fan art, fan videos, fan fiction, or other forms of praise for their favorite books and authors.
15. For birthdays, Christmas, and special occasions, your child always asks for more books. Or maybe even a new bookcase if they’re feeling ambitious.
16. Your child looks forward to rainy days because they know they can curl up with a book without you urging them to spend time outside.
17. You also don’t really worry if you might be giving your kid too much allowance, because you know the majority of it will just go toward new books.
18. When you ask your child what their favorite book is, you get a dumbfounded, deer-in-the-headlight look like, “Just one? You want me to pick just one favorite book? Can I pick ten?”
19. You child’s celebrity crushes are typically fictional characters.
20. Your child has talked your ear off about a book series, and you’ve been convinced to read all their favorite books (if you hadn’t read them already).
21. You’ve caught your child sniffing books at a bookstore, and you weren’t sure if you should stop them or join them.
22. When you tell your kid to pick up after themselves, it usually entails them gathering stacks of books from various places throughout the house.
23. Your community librarian knows your child by name.
24. Whenever there is a book order at school, your child tells you about it as soon as they run through the door, but somehow you’ve missed several other notes from school.
25. Your child has handed you a book order with every single book circled except for the ones they already have.
26. Your child has literally dragged you into their school book fair and asked you to buy the entire thing. (And when you refuse, they painstakingly whittle down their wish list to "just five.")
27. You’ve caught your child crying or laughing while reading.
28. It’s no secret that your child’s favorite part of school is reading time.
29. But your child doesn’t like group reading assignments: “Why are they dragging this book out? It’s like a half-day book.”
30. Recess at school just means your child can read without being told to stop by a teacher.
31. Your child already has developed a love/hate relationships with movies based on books.
32. Whenever your family goes somewhere—family gatherings, Thanksgiving, New Year’s parties—they bring a book with them “in case they get bored.”
33. Your child is constantly struggling between lending their books to their friends in the hopes that they’ll learn to love them too, and worrying what horrible things might happen to their books if they let them out of their care.
34. Your child has declared that they’re going to be a writer or an editor when they grow up.
35. Your child has begged you to stay up late so you can drive them to a midnight book release.
36. Your child makes sure you know about a year in advance when the new books in their favorite series or from favorite authors are to be released.
37. Your child has already started writing books of their own.
38. Your child’s nose is in a book any time you’re driving anywhere, and they never seem to get car sick.
39. Your kid has had to prove to strangers that they're really reading “adult” books because people can’t believe that someone so young could read books so big.

Book Wyrm Totals

Compare your score below to see how much of a book wyrm your child is.

0–3: While your child may read if encouraged to, they are not a big fan of reading and would rather be outside or playing video games.

4–10: Your child may enjoy reading, but they are an on-and-off-again reader. While they tend to get sucked into books when they are reading, when they finish a book or a book series, they can go a while without starting a new book. There’s been times when your child’s break from reading has extended over a few weeks. But once you’ve encouraged them to start a new book you knew they’d like, they get sucked in once again.

11–20: Your child is an avid reader. While they are constantly reading books, their reading material is heavily influenced by their circle of friends. They may even have one main friend you recognize as the book wyrm leader of their group. (That person could even be you!)

21–30: Your child is definitely a book wyrm. While their love of books is a great thing, sometimes they get in trouble for reading too much. However, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Your child most likely read all the popular books ages ago, and is now always on the search for new authors and books to share with his or her friends.

31–39: Your child lives, dreams, and eats books. They will never be cured of their reading addiction, and they may someday reach a time where they’re reading books faster than new books are released. Your child may be a bit of a loner who often gets caught up in fictional worlds.

We hope you enjoyed our post! We’d love to hear your opinions on children’s reading habits below. Do you believe that a child can ever read too much? Or do you believe that nothing bad can come from reading? Do you agree with those who believe children who read a ton should be forced to spend more time with their peers? Or do you think it’s fine to support your child’s decision to read instead of spending time with friends?

Let us know in the comments!

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