Readers for life
‘If children are to become readers for life, they must first love stories.’
So says Michael Morpurgo here, and we couldn’t agree more.
However. I’m not entirely convinced that the 3 lists of ‘100 Books Every Child Should Read‘ accompanying Morpurgo’s article are really the right ones to foster a love of stories.
Wuthering Heights, King Solomon’s Mines, Treasure Island, The Song of Hiawatha and Black Beauty may all be great works of classic literature (personally, I’m not sold on Wuthering Heights, but whatever floats your boat). But are they the books that are going to instill a love of stories into kids?
Of the 100 books in the Older Readers section of the Telegraph’s list, there are four that are contemporary, and only one that was published this century.
Compare and contrast this article from the latest Horn Book. Titled Why Gossip Girl Matters, it reminds us that there are lots of kids out there who are not struggling or reluctant readers - they actually hate reading.
To help these resistant readers, I avoid stigmatizing value judgments about reading materials. I try to change the negative experience that occurs when resistant readers encounter books — the immediate revulsion they feel when presented with something they view as academic and boring. This often means putting into their hands books that many librarians, teachers, and children’s literature experts snub: YA problem novels, slim books about sports figures and celebrities, graphic novels, lurid biographies of serial killers, series fiction, comic strips, and how-to books. While many librarians may scoff at series like Gossip Girl, Nancy Drew, Cirque Du Freak, and Goosebumps, these books have the power to engage and excite teens who would otherwise read nothing.
These kids aren’t going to develop a love of stories from reading Watership Down or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. They’re going to get it from Simpsons comics and The Princess Diaries. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
