Even back in the 1970s, the "children's books" provided in schools were pretty lame. Dr. Suess, "Where The Wild Things Are", "Jonathon Livingston Seagull" and other crap like that. It's really up to the parents to instill good reading habits with their children. My mother would take me to the library every Saturday morning and make me borrow at least four books every time. Eventually I discovered there was a lot in those stacks worth reading and I've been reading books on a regular basis ever since.
My mom, bless her heart, thought Dr. Suess books were the best things ever, and she bought "Cat in the Hat" well after I had lost any interest in such drivel. But I'm sure glad she did, it turns out it was a true first edition with dust jacket that was worth thousands to a collector.