When I had the bookstore I used to recommend books with a lot of emotional content, especially to boys. Nothing better than have a boy go away to camp and have him sitting in his bunk crying over something like ''A Taste of Blackberries'' or any of the books where bad things happen to good kids. I don't think so. They're going to do what they see their parents doing. The research in the family literacy arena suggests that it's the parents' role modeling and scaffolding for kids that's a greater influence than anything else in terms of young children becoming literate learners.
Parents can put down their own books, too.
Put down Toni Morrison, put down Philip Roth, put down The New Yorker and let your kid recommend a book to you. I don't think there's a stronger way to communicate to them that what they're reading has value and importance than to put aside what you're doing and read a book of theirs yourself. As a teacher and as a bookseller, I try to get parents to sit down and not just read to a child, but read with the child. Share the same book. If adults can sit down and have book discussions and talk with other adults on an equal level about a wonderful book that they read, parents can do that with children, too.