A Family of Readers

A Family of Readers

The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature

author: Roger Sutton
author : Martha Parravano

So I found this book last week at the library, and read the first 150 pages within the first day I picked it up.  It is a great book all about reading with and to your children and later on in the book letting those big kids "go" and read on their own.  I really enjoyed this book.  I don't know why, but I normally like books about reading books, especially when it comes to children's literature.  The authors of this book are editors of the Horn Book Magazine, which if you have never picked up look for it at your local library.  It is a magazine dedicated to reviewing new children's literature.  As usual I have some  favorite lines from the book which I will share below.  This book can be read in many different ways: straight through like I did, or looking at different times periods in a children's life and read about that time period or if you are into genres you could look at the book by genres.  Again great read and made me very happy.

Given the chance, kids will read the same way adults do: for themselves.

How do we give children the skills and opportunity to read?... How do we allow children mastering and ownership of their reading?

Books are currency among readers creating community.

Go to the library together allowing your children to see you lost in pursuit of your own reading pleasure is one of the best ways to send them in pursuit of their own.

Reading biographies... does provide opportunities for youngsters to discover multiple points of view about some individuals and evaluate single points of view about others.

... why do kids read biographies? Why does anyone read them? I think its because we're all trying to learn how to live our lives.  --- Russell Freedman

Rather than address what is happening in the present, I'm inclined to prepare children for the many kinds of emotional experiences before they occur.--- Maeve Visser Knoth (in regard to the topic of reading about emotional experiences: divorce, dying, losing a friend/parent, etc)

There were tons of great books listed throughout the book and of course I have a new list of "must finds" the next time I go searching for some kid's books to read.