Hey there voyagers! I’ve spent a great deal of time this week thinking about books and reading. For myself, I’ve been staying up waaaaay too late reading, and I’ve just finished my 6th book of the new year.
I also spent time talking with a young friend whose 4th grade son does not like to read. I put together a grade level appropriate list of some of the best children’s books I could think of. A child who is not motivated to read is either struggling, or has not experienced the right book! What fourth grade boy would not be enthralled by the idea of owning a pet Grizzly bear (Gentle Ben by Walt Morey), or by the thought of living alone in a hollowed out tree and training a falcon! (My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George)
The best advice I could give her for developing a young reader is to read TO him! Aloud, and snuggled up in the most comfortable place she could find! I always told the parents of my students that their job was to keep the love of the book alive! Reading aloud to children helps them develop the imagination necessary for independent comprehension. And the right books will get them hooked!
And then I got to thinking about my fellow retirees. Are there any young people in your lives to whom you could read aloud? To whom you could give the very special gift of your time and reading expertise? Is there someone for whom you could light the reading fire?
Have a great weekend, and enjoy reading a wonderful book! I know I will!
Lynn
By the way, can find me on Goodreads here.
An Encore Voyage 
Unless we have a program at the library, I don’t have anyone to read to (maybe my coworkers 🙂
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I know the feeling. I don’t have children or grandchildren. But there are often programs at the library, perhaps at a local Boys & Girls club, or even at a local elementary school. ~ Lynn
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I just finished a wonderful book for my book club and picked up two more from the library when I returned it. I am lost without a book to read and keep several on my Kindle just in case I run out of the paper kind (my preferred type of book). I really feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t discovered the magic of books.
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It broke my heart to hear my God-daughter tell me that her son hated reading. And that she didn’t like it either. 😦 ~ Lynn
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He may be too young now but I’ve read that (especially) boys who “didn’t like to read” learned to love it by reading Harry Potter. Maybe that or some other book will inspire him in the future.
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Great post, Lynn. You are so right about the importance of reading to young children to set the stage for success in school and for a lifelong love of reading. I read to the young kids of one of our Syrian refugee families one afternoon a week. We also have a volunteer-based program in our province called ELF (Elementary Literacy Friends) where volunteers, typically retirees, commit to reading to a child in school one hour a week for 10 weeks. Every little bit helps.
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Oh my gosh! I love that idea! I’m going to pass the idea of Elementary Literacy Friends to some elementary school principals I know! Thanks for that amazing tip! ~ Lynn
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I read a lot, but have trouble carving out time to read books. It is one of my goals for 2018 to finish the 10 books I have partially read. I read a lot to my son, and now read to my grandsons. It is the best. And a great idea for retirees to find somewhere to do some volunteer reading to help children claim their love of reading.
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My problem is the “Just one more chapter….Just one more page…OK, really, I’ll just finish this next chapter” syndrome! Sometimes I’ll pick up a book just for a second and then I fail to do other things I should be doing! Oh well! ~ Lynn
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Hi, Lynn – I share your views on the love of reading! So far, I have read three books for the New Year (The High Mountains of Portugal, Water for Elephants and Infidel). I try to find a nice balance between reading books and blogs posts — I love them both — and gain different things from each!
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Yum! I read Water for Elephants last year. My problem is that I read on my Nook in bed – and because it has it’s own light, I sometimes get too involved and read way too late! Blog posts during the day, books at night. Can you tell I’m not getting much else done? LOL ~ Lynn
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As a librarian, I am all in favour of this post! Did you know that International Book Giving Day is coming up next month? That would be a great time to give the gift of reading to a child.
https://bookgivingday.com
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Oh Anabel, Thank you so much! I LOVE THIS! I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to share this around with some elementary school principals that I know. And I might also steal it for a pre-Valentines Day post, if you don’t mind! ~ Lynn
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Of course, I hoped you might do something with it! I did a post about it last year and it was new to a lot of people then.
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I’m very jealous of your output, Lynn. I struggled through a Dickens novel all year and never finished it — I’ve never had year in my life where I didn’t finish one book, so this isn’t anything I’m happy to admit. But hope springs eternal for 2018 anyway.
I am thinking of volunteering with the local public radio station for a program of theirs to read newspapers to the blind. If they don’t mind a quasi-nasal Midwesterner’s voice, it might be rewarding to do.
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Oh Marty, (this is my teacher voice talking) put that sucker down! Never struggle to get through a book just to finish it! If it’s ucky, you get to put it on that Did Not Finish shelf, and choose something else! I don’t care if it IS Dickens! (There – teacher lecture finished!) I hope you find lots of books that grab you and inspire you in 2018, and I love the Idea of recording for the blind! Might consider it myself sometime! ~ Lynn
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I like your teacher voice, Lynn. My librarian voice is a harder and more strict, which doesn’t necessarily jive with the whole retirement vibe. Perhaps I can pick it up a few years from now and try again. 🙂
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Exactly! There are too many great books just waiting for you!
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After visiting Hemingway’s homes in Key West and Cuba a couple of years ago, I was determined to read his novels (I couldn’t remember if I read them in school). I started with To Have and Have Not. I hated it! So much that I couldn’t finish… horrible writing IMHO. 🙂 Life’s too short to struggle through a book that doesn’t grab you.
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For me it was Moby Dick…I just couldn’t get much past “Call me Ishmael!” I’m a total fan of “DNF!” and even created a shelf on my Goodreads account! ~ Lynn
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You’re probably right, Janis. It started when on a quasi-dare I read Trollope’s “The Way We Live Now” a year and a half ago. It was out of my normal reading comfort zone, but I actually ended up liking it. So after I finished it, I thought I’d continue with a Dickens’ novel (“Nicholas Nickleby”). But perhaps I should throw in the towel already. Onward!
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Wow, six books already this year! You are fortunate (or good at prioritizing) with your time. I agree that reading is very important for children and adults. As a teacher, I actually made it a point to read a chapter a day out loud to my sixth graders, even though that was not in the curriculum. As a child and teenager, I read way more than these days. Hoping to follow your lead, but I’d be happy with a book or two a month, if I can fit that in!
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Well, actually, one book I started at the end of Dec. and finished in Jan. My problem is I keep reading in bed…when I should be going to sleep! “It’s not insomnia, just a good book and a lack of respect for morning!”
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Hey Lynn, How about adding the first Harry Potter book to your 4th grade reading list? It was the first book we read to aloud to our oldest daughter, when she was 3 years old. Like magic, she is now 23, with a degree in English, and has stacks of great books all around her apartment.
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I think that is an absolute must! I remember reading it for the first time, as a teacher, just to see what all the fuss was about! What kid doesn’t LOVE troll boogers on a magic wand! ~ Lynn
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