The Read-Aloud Handbook

Every parent and educator should read this book! Enough said!

There are two parts to the book. Nine chapters are dedicated to talking about the benefits to children when adults read to them, what silent reading does for kids, and how technology distractions from reading, affect kids education and learning. The second part of the book is a read-aloud "treasury" where the author lists his book picks and spells out why he's chosen them for his list.

I learned a lot that I plan to implement in my home and I'll tell a little bit about that here.

Reading to your child(ren) is like advertising the importance of reading to them. The author, Jim Trelease, compares this "advertising" to McDonald's advertising. McDonald's doesn't rely on the fact that most people know who they are and where they are located. They spend loads of money year after year on advertising. If we read to our kids when they are small and then quit, what message are we sending them? I hadn't considered it this way before. I hadn't imagined myself reading to my teenagers, but after reading "The Read-Aloud Handbook" I'm excited to carry that idea through. I love the discussions that come from the books that we are reading. The way I look at it, this is a good way for me to have a connection with my kids, even through the sometimes difficult teenage years.

The author makes a good case for every child obtaining and using their own library card. I have resisted this because of the extra hassle of keeping those books (and cards) organized. Over the past several days since I finished "The Read-Aloud Handbook," I have decided to go ahead and make sure that each of my children has a card. In fact, we did the paperwork and applied at the library today for Sariah and Elijah. I decided that they would each have their own library bag (Joseph always brings a canvas bag from each conference he attends out of town for work). Just today I sewed some little drawstring bags and attached them to the canvas bags. These are for their card, so that we can keep track of them. I took pictures of the process of making these bags (see post above).

I had been thinking of reducing the number of books in our house and using the library more. I'm now convinced that it's better to keep most of the books. Trelease also encourages spreading the books around the house (even a basket in the bathroom!). I felt happy as I thought through the rooms in the house and realized that there are books in each room. The previous owners also put a magazine rack in the bathroom which would otherwise be too small for any collection of books. We don' t use that rack, but I might be more open to it!

Around Christmastime, my brother Todd gave us an Amazon gift certificate. I frivolously spent it on magazine subscriptions so that each child would have a magazine of their own. When January came, I began to regret this purchase. I realized that magazines will pile up and make clutter and couldn't I have spent my money in a better way. "The Read-Aloud Handbook" says that the more forms of print available, the better the chances to get kids reading.

I was amazed to read the many creative ways that parents and other concerned adults have promoted reading in households, schools, and communities. It's phenomenal to me that people care enough about our children to form reading campaigns, gather and redistribute gently used books, and create libraries for at-risk kids. Examples are at work in my own community, but previously I hadn't recognized them for what they were. When we brought our last two babies home from the hospital, with them came a book. I mentioned in a previous post that May's third grade teacher holds a book bingo every year. People bring their gently used outgrown books and they are redistributed. We've been to several library programs and other community programs in the last two years where each child leaves with a new book. All I can say is "THANK YOU!" I love it that others are concerned about my children's literacy. This author did a good job of motivating me to keep at it and stretch myself to do more. He quotes a lot of research and relates anecdotes of success stories.

The second half of the book is a wonderful listing of ideas for read-alouds. The author makes that point that not all books are good read-alouds. Some have too much dialog (listener can't follow) or too much description (listener's interest wanes). There are several categories of books: wordless books, predictable books, reference books, picture books, short novels, full-length novels, poetry, anthologies, and folk & fairy tales. Jim Trelease explains that his list is in no way comprehensive and even refers out to websites with more lists.

My previous post called Reading List for Children has a list of the (few) books we've read out loud (not including the hundreds of picture books!) We are currently moving on to Anne of Windy Poplars on cassette (for drives in the van), Way to Be by Gordon B. Hinckley (for when we are waiting to send a kid into choir), and Carry On Mr. Bowditch (for before bed). Sariah isn't always able to sit through the chapter books, but I love to read picture books to her at night and that way the other kids are still exposed to picture books.