Books. Baskets. Bedlamps.

You've heard of the three R's. These are the three B's, and according to Jim Trelease, they may be as crucial to lifetime success as reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic are to schooltime success.

"An informal survey of lifetime readers has shown that three household tools can help make reading a permanent habit: plenty of books; books readily available in baskets, in bathrooms, kitchens, everywhere in the home; and bedlamps to encourage kids to partake of 'night school' by reading in bed," says Trelease, author of the best-selling The New Read-Aloud Handbook.

Trelease firmly believes that hooking kids on reading—beyond classroom requirements—is key to the future not only of individuals, but indeed of the entire nation.

"The country's latest reading report card, issued by the U.S. Department of Education recently, shows that 50 percent of adults are functionally illiterate. And let's face it, the most intelligent people are those who read the most," says Trelease. "Yet last year, 60 percent of American homes did not buy a single book or newspaper."

Why has the nation failed so miserably at producing a literate population? According to Trelease, a big part of the problem is that our educational system produces schooltime, not lifetime, readers.

"The American educational system has never been an intellectual giant. All the way back to 1907, top universities like Harvard and Yale had to offer remedial courses to underprepared students," says Trelease. "The big difference is not the quality of students but the world, which has become a dramatically more complex place. Unfortunately, student thinking hasn't made a commensurate jump."

Trelease points out that some of the world's most intellectual figures—from Bishop Desmond Tutu to John Updike—are enthusiastic comic book fans.

Aside from stimulating intellectual growth, reading has another extremely important benefit—it promotes spiritual growth, says Trelease.

"There are only four subjects in the curriculum of life—love, justice, courage and compassion." says Trelease. "All of them are amply dealt with in literature."