The Tiger's Bookshelf: Reading Without Tears
A recent NEA study has confirmed what many teachers, librarians, and booksellers have realized for a long time. Reading for fun is a declining pleasure, reading scores are plummeting in the classroom, and many adults suffer from low basic reading skills.
This discovery has begun a spirited discussion over how a child becomes addicted to the printed word and grows into becoming a lifelong reader. National Book Award winner, Sherman Alexie, who grew up on a Native American reservation, says that the book that made him love reading was The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.
“It was the first time that I looked at a book and saw a brown, black, beige character, a character who resembled me physically and spiritually, in all his gorgeous loneliness and splendid isolation. The younger you are when you do that, the more likely you’re going to be a serious reader.”
As readers, whether we’re children or adults or somewhere in between, we are drowning in print. Bookstores and libraries teem with books, many of which are simply not very good. Our choices are overwhelming and, as we choose how to spend our limited amounts of time and money, our risks are great. Who can blame those who look at all of the possibilities, sample one or two unsatisfying selections, give up, and turn to other diversions?
“What I find with readers today is that they don’t go off on their own to another book. They wait for the next recommendation,” remarked Jonathan Galassi of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. For those who love nothing better than finding something new to read and taking a chance on it, his observation is dispiriting.
How do people become passionate and fearless readers, who happily move on to the next book, whether it has received the blessings of Oprah or the Newbery Medal or not? What is the book that made you a person for whom books are as essential as oxygen? What is your earliest “book memory?” How do you encourage the children you know and love to know and love books?
This is a conversation that needs as many participants and perspectives as possible, and we’re eager to hear what you have to say. Let’s talk.
February 20th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I’m a firm believer that kids will model the behavior they see in their own homes. I grew up surrounded by family members that loved to read and always promoted reading and literature to the younger generation. I have tried to pass this onto my kids and because of my beliefs ( to my son’s dismay) the time they spend watching t.v. and playing on the computer is very restricted in the hopes that they will spend more time reading (as I do) during pleasure time. I have spent countless hours sitting on the floor reading to my kids when they were young and I still take them to the public library once a week. They are free to browse around on their own and choose their own books. If you ask them, this is just always the way it has been in our home. Reading is something done for pleasure. So far, so good – they are both avid readers!!
February 20th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I don’t think anyone will argue that reading by example, and reading to our kids, is an effective means of establishing good reading habits for them as they grow older. Further to the point, I have written a children’s storybook which attempts to promote creative thinking and using one’s imagination to the fullest. “Kid Tales” is a compilation of short stories where children are encouraged to use their imaginations while being entertained.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:31 am
Thank you, Corinne and Michael! I agree so much that having your children see their parents immersed in books, reading aloud to them, and giving them books of their own is the primary way to build passionate readers. How can I find “Kid Tales”? What age group is it written for?
February 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Your welcome Janet. You can visit Michael’s site at http://www.kidstales.net