Reading Wide
From the desk of Carol C…
Most of us have our favorite reading genre and stick pretty much to it. Some prefer realistic fiction or graphic novels or informational text or biography…the list goes on. It’s fine to have a favorite type of book; however, children who have read or have been read to from a variety of books enjoy reading more and score higher on standardized tests than those who stick with one type of reading material. Young children need to be read stories, poems, informational text, and the like. They tend to enjoy nonfiction text such as animal, space, and nature books more than story books. The problem tends to come as children age and are exposed more and more exclusively to fiction text.
Start or keep your child of any age on the right road by reading or listening to your child read from the following reading genres.
POETRY Children of all ages enjoy poetry if they have been introduced to types that interest them. Very few people enjoy “Ode to a Grecian Urn” on the first read if they’ve never been exposed to much poetry before. Children love humorous poems such as those by Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein. Poems that children can relate to personally will hold their interest. When your children hear you read poems they begin to recognize the rhythm and cadence of poetry. My first introduction to poetry came when I heard Tara and Philip of All My Children recite a poem to each other when they pretended to marry before Philip had to go off to war. Is this the way you want your child to learn poetry in elementary school?
FANTASY Who doesn’t love a good fantasy story? (Me) I have learned to love them though as an adult who had to read them to her classes. Think of Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, or James and his giant peach. Well written fantasy books take the reader on the adventure with them, almost making it all seem real. Now the movies based on fantasy books…that’s another story.
BIOGRAPHY I loved (and still love) these books as a child. They were a peek into what I could become or a look at how someone was able to triumph over tragedy. This is what children love about biographies. They can learn about themselves through the lives of other people. Scholastic offers all types of biographies for school aged readers. Jean Fritz and Margaret Davidson are two of the older popular authors. They are lots of different biographical writers to choose from.
HISTORICAL FICTION The absolute highlight of my fifth grade year was my teacher reading historical fiction novels to us. I’ll never forget A Spy in Williamsburg. I couldn’t wait each day until after lunch when Mrs. Burke would pull out that book and read. I was in heaven. Today there are lots of historical fiction books. Of course one of the most well known series is Little House on the Priarie. Ask your librarian or search online for historical fiction books for children (including middle schoolers, preschoolers). You won’t believe how many there are.
INFORMATIONAL Find the right topic and these types of books are a hit especially with boys. Readers like to skip around to find what interests them the most in these books. Many informational books lend themselves to this type of reading. One tip…make sure that the books are current enough to contain accurate information. The other great aspect of informational reading is that it’s found in almost all kids’ magazines. Here you get two for the price of one…informational reading and a cool magazine.
Treat your children (and yourselves) to taste a bit of each reading genre. You’ll both come away quite satisfied!