“Dear Marcy and Jackie” is a column by two teacher/writers (us!) that runs on the Huffington Post. Check out what a parent asked us about encouraging her son to read. Can reading to a dog, or (excuse us, Bowzer) a cat help with reading skills? What do you think?

Q. My son, who is in second grade, struggles with reading in school. When I ask him to read at home, he says he doesn’t like to read. My sister told me her daughter improved by reading to dogs at her school. Have you ever heard of this? My son loves animals, especially our two cats. Do you believe reading to pets could help him?

Read our answer to this questions and others here.

Bowzer’s brother Sunnyman is waiting for you to read him a story!