Tag: #readabook

To read or not to read? That is the question

B

The amount of independent reading required in schools today is much higher than when I was in school. Often grades are tied to turning in slips that record how much a child has read at home. In my day we were required to have AR points and that was enough of a standard. Now we’ve moved beyond that to having both AR goals and reading minutes. These kids are feeling overwhelmed!

Why are we doing this? I know many students who struggle with reading and getting their minutes in. It may be because they have a chaotic home life. It may be because they don’t have anyone to remind them to read. It may even be that the parents have fought the kids on so many things that day, this just isn’t the fight they want to have.

But I get where teachers are coming from! They are trying to encourage more reading. They don’t want kids to lose these vital skills. Studies show that reading to your child before they go to school can help them be leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to comprehension. This push to get kids to read in this way may be motivator for some, but not for many.

And yet, I’m not surprised. Looking at our society- who still chooses to read for recreation? There are less and less people who value reading as a past time. I know very few adults that tell me that they spend their leisure time reading. Covid has affected that some for my friends, but not many have picked up a book to read.

Now me, I love to read (obviously)! I will stay up late to read a book- to watch a movie… not as likely. But to finish a book- I will stay up for HOURS! I have stopped letting myself read thrillers past 7pm or else I will never sleep because I will HAVE to finish the book! And I encourage you all to pick up this habit of mine. You should all become obsessed readers. Ready-set-go!

So let’s all make a decision. Right here. Right now. Let’s all commit to reading again. Maybe it’s just reading for 5 minutes a day! Maybe you’re choosing to sit and actually read the newspaper today. Maybe you’re choosing to sit and read to your child. Maybe you’re remembering how much you loved that book as a child and it’s time to revisit those happy feelings. Let’s all strive to read more. Every little bit will stimulate your brain.

Go find more happy moments via reading!

Keep Sparkling,

B

How to Choose a Good Book

B

Have you ever been browsing a book store and not felt like you’ve found a “good” book?

Well choosing books for kids is even worse! How do you know what they’ll be in to right now? How to do you know if it will have enough pictures? How do you know if they will like the content?

I had a girl come in who loved to talk with me but NEVER took any of my book suggestions. She’d return books half read because they were too “predictable” or because “it was too happy”. But, I finally found her the perfect book. Not only the perfect book BUT the perfect series. It kept her occupied for months! She wanted a sad book so I gave her……

It was perfect! She loved how unhappy the books were! But … after five of them she told me they were “predictable”.

I can pick out a book that I think will be perfect for a kid! It can have humor, graphic novel sections, and great characters…. but the kid will be unwilling to even try it because they don’t like the cover. It’s things like this that make it hard to choose books for kids. Here are a few tips from me on what may help!

  1. Cover appeal- as much as we don’t want to judge a book by its cover, kids will. Be aware of this. As much as the old books look neat and amazing on our shelves, kids may not be attracted to a leather bound book
  2. Pictures- with the rise in graphic novels I find more and more kids who want to only read chapter books with pictures. I have seen some very high reading level kids that are only in Second Grade. Books like “Stick Dog” by Watson or “Dork Diaries” by Russell may be a great way to send them. But don’t hesitate to challenge them towards books with more narrative than pictures!
  3. What drives the book forward- Relationship building is beautiful but most kids want some action. As adults, we see the value in relationships and stories that touch your heart but if all the characters do is stand (or sit) around and talk this might not be a winner.
  4. Recommendations – If you really want to give a book to kids that they will love, find out what other kids love. I really enjoy giving my patrons book recommendations, but they tend to take them more seriously if I can say another kid really liked the book.

There you go! Just a few tips. As much as we love books for one reason or another, we have to remember to see the books through the eyes of a child.

Keep Sparkling

-B