Raising Reader Guest Blogger:
Penny Noyce
Guest Blogger,
Penny Noyce is the author of the new children's book,
Lost in Lexicon. In the novel for readers ages 8-12, Daphne and Ivan, travel to a world riddled with forgetting and fragmented by their loss of words, numbers, and understanding.
One of the heroines of the novel, Aunt Adelaide, is modeled after Penny Noyce’s mother Betty Noyce who founded the
Libra Foundation. Penny Noyce chairs the board of the
Libra Foundation which generously funds
Raising Readers. How appropriate to have a novelist and lover of words driving a program that has brought more than 1.3 million books to Maine children.
Reading With Older KidsWe’re all convinced of the benefits of reading to young children, but what about reading with older kids?
When my twins were in fifth grade, they received the following English assignment: Choose an adventure book to read together with one of your parents. As you read, write notes to each other about your reactions, thoughts, and questions. Communicate in writing about the book!
My son Owen
and I chose to read
Into Thin Air, John Krakauer’s harrowing account of the 1996 Everest climbing season, when the latest in adventure tourism went terribly wrong. Two teams of fit, semi-experienced climbers paid $60,000 each for a “guaranteed” chance at scaling Everest. When a storm howled in, three tourists and two tour leaders perished.
I loved the assignment, and Owen enjoyed it, too. We passed the book back and forth, wrote notes on the computer, and (even) talked about the book. I shared my surprise that the Everest climbers were miserable from the start, beset by insomnia, headache, and hacking cough. Owen shared his sense of the beauty of the mountain and the lonely horror of freezing to death.
Recently, a fifth grade teacher in my wealthy suburban community told me they don’t give that assignment anymore: Too many parents complained.
Parents complained?
Maybe they were too busy traveling for work to read. But couldn’t they use a Kindle on the plane and text their remarks to their children? Maybe they worried the books would bore them. But couldn’t they negotiate with their children for a book that would captivate both of them? Or maybe the parents were afraid of getting a bad grade on the assignment.
As a society, we have embraced the idea of reading to kids too young to read for themselves. Often, though, we forget the value of shared reading experiences as our kids grow older.
I was one of four children, and long after we were proficient readers, we still cuddled on the couch to listen to my mother read to us every night. She didn’t “do the voices” like an actress. She just read in her steady, calming tone; and we listened, learning to pay attention and paint pictures in our minds.
Listening to an adult read aloud exposes children to vocabulary in context, complex sentence structure, and a continuous train of thought. These are all good tools for enhancing children’s thinking, but even better is the shared intimacy of these moments. We don’t have to give them up as our children approach middle school. Even when we don’t read aloud, we can still share bedtime reading, lolling together on the couch or bed, each reading our own book, exchanging comments from time to time.
My father and brother both liked science fiction. Sometimes, on vacation, when there weren’t enough unread books to go around, the first reader tore off sections of a paperback book as he finished them and passed them on to the second reader. I’m not advocating book dismemberment, but what a message about shared enthusiasm!
You and your chil
dren can always recommend books to one another. My son Damian’s suggestions have grown from his passionate advocacy of Tony Abbott’s Droon series through his romance with Jerry Spinelli’s
Stargirl to his current insistence that I read
Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. To tell the truth, I can’t keep up with him, but we do enough common reading that we can always discuss why characters do what they do or how it would be to live in another world. (One friend of mine tells me that the Harry Potter books provided dinner conversation for years.) I reciprocate by saving newspaper or magazine articles for Damian, choosing books from the library I know he’ll like, or sending him links to stories on the web.
By reading books together, we keep communication lines open and share our interests, aspirations, and inner worlds in a way that’s oblique, not too confrontational or embarrassing. Nobody gives us a grade.
(This post original appeared on
View from the Windowseat)
Raising Readers Book Celebration
Raising Reader Guest Blogger:
and I chose to read Into Thin Air, John Krakauer’s harrowing account of the 1996 Everest climbing season, when the latest in adventure tourism went terribly wrong. Two teams of fit, semi-experienced climbers paid $60,000 each for a “guaranteed” chance at scaling Everest. When a storm howled in, three tourists and two tour leaders perished.
dren can always recommend books to one another. My son Damian’s suggestions have grown from his passionate advocacy of Tony Abbott’s Droon series through his romance with Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl to his current insistence that I read Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen. To tell the truth, I can’t keep up with him, but we do enough common reading that we can always discuss why characters do what they do or how it would be to live in another world. (One friend of mine tells me that the Harry Potter books provided dinner conversation for years.) I reciprocate by saving newspaper or magazine articles for Damian, choosing books from the library I know he’ll like, or sending him links to stories on the web.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation just released its 2010 Kids Count Data Book. In it was some great news for the state of Maine. The study showed that 96% of Maine parents of young children read to their children at least three times a week.
Learn what's happening with books and reading at each stage of your child's development in our July newsletter. Take note of the dates for two upcoming special events to be held at the childrens' museums in Bangor and Portland. Happy reading!
Raising Readers has touched Mom Lora in different ways - first, as a site coordinator for the Raising Readers program and now as a new Mom. Watch for posts from Lora and daughter Taya about their experiences with Raising Readers books.
Reading is one of the best ways parents can help their children develop a love of books and reading and prepare them to learn to read. However, access to books and the parent’s own literacy level can be barriers to making that happen. A new partnership between Raising Readers, the Maine Family Literacy Initiative, and select public libraries is designed to help overcome those barriers.
Cara Sawyer of Cherryfield Public Library with young reader.
Raising Reader MEFLI Libraries with former First Lady,
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