By emphasizing how terribly important reading is, well-intentioned parents risk turning it into something obligatory, depleting the activity of its inherent delight and joy. Reading is itself a privilege, an advantage and a pleasure. Let’s treat it that way.

Does your child want to stay up late? Let him know that if he wants to read in bed, he can go to sleep half an hour past bedtime. Otherwise, lights out at 8 p.m. Rather than set up the Wii as a reward for putting in time with a book, separate the two entirely.

And convey the message that reading isn’t a pleasure reserved for kids. Openly revel in the fact that you finally get to settle down with a book at the end of the day. Talk at dinner about what books you’ve been binge reading. Integrate books into your daily routine so that it’s not just something the kids do, but a grown-up pursuit as well, and a cherished part of your family. Regularly stop at your local bookstore or library as part of your Saturday morning trip to the farmers’ market. Ask your parents to give your children books on their birthdays from an early age, inscribed personally to them, so they can build an entire shelf of books from Grandpa.

Let your child see your appreciation of literature. Share copies of your own treasured books from childhood. Allow her to see how special it is to write a book and how cherished those books are by other kids their age — or older. Children’s book authors are rock stars among avid readers; take your child to a reading and let her buy a copy and have it signed. When your children are finished with their books, take them with you to donate their castoffs to a local family shelter, hospital or public library.

Above all, do not give up when your Harry Potter-mad book fan morphs into a fair-weather tween glued to YouTube and then an appallingly resistant adolescent. Remember: The vast majority of kids still manage to get from picture books to adult literature.

There are even ways to get the most oppositional of teenagers to heed the call of the book without resorting to bribery. Sometimes, you need to be a little oppositional yourself. As the most worn-out and wizened parents can attest, penalizing those who read can be just as effective as actively encouraging it. If reading really is an indulgence and a privilege, then it’s only reasonable that not everyone gets to enjoy it whenever they want. Just like iPad time.

For good reason, many avid readers recall childhoods spent sneaking a book and flashlight under the covers well after bedtime. Never was I more determined to read than the moment my mother swiped my illicit copy of Bob Woodward’s “Wired: The John Belushi Story” out of my scheming 12-year-old hands.