Library Frustration

[stripe]

I'm all for kids reading myself, but if a child is already accustomed to reading regular books of good quality and has been "bitten" by the reading bug (as some people like to imagine it) then there's really no need to step down to reading cereal advertisements, or any other material that they would NOT find interesting.

 

People who've never seen a book, never held a book, never read a book might need more hand-holding or might need to be drawn in to the world of reading in a different fashion than someone who is an experienced reader. This (obviously!) is a debatable point, because it can be done in differing ways. Certainly in the cereal box example, my son reads the back of the cereal box...while he's eating cereal. No problem. But we are discussing children who like to read and encouraging them to INCREASE their skills and love of reading. Not pushing for the inherent fascination of getting any old anything just because it's something in print for someone who loves to read already.

 

Just as an example -- I worked with middle school students for a while who had no particular background in pleasure reading and weak reading skills, and one of the things that got them hooked on reading was when I started reading them ghost stories and moved to reading adventure stories (some of which were short stories from the adult section) that they found thrilling. They loved it, and I think a good adventure story is worthwhile reading! So I thought it was a plus all the way around. However, my own kids DON'T love reading a ghost story before bed! So I won't check certain things out for my kids, for instance, because they don't like scary stories. Such things upset them, and my kids have specifically asked NOT to read them.

[ack25]

Interesting, I am finding the same thing with my kids. Unless a book has specifically been reserved, they don't seem to read the books that they pick out from the library.

[stripe]

Well I hit the library book sale yesterday and what did I find but a copy of WTM (1st ed) and some other textbooks. I figured it was a good chance to check some things out.

[Haiku]

Well, I have spent some time searching through booklists and websites, hunting for books the kids could read, and I have a list of fifty to start with. So, that should tide us over for a bit. Thanks for all the suggestions and commiseration!

 

Tara