Books to Encourage Children to Read
In a recent official review of a children's book, the reviewer commended good stories that are 'just plain old fun without any lessons or educational merit.' Then after conceding that more formal books have their place, the reviewer expressed the view that 'it's great for kids to just sit back and enjoy reading.' This is a view that many teachers would endorse. Reading is such an essentially fundamental skill that its acquisition must take precedence until it is well accomplished. To this end, the reviewer concluded of the book in question that it had succeeded in its purpose 'to entertain and make children fall in love with reading.'
The ability to read is the gateway to education and opens up wide vistas of opportunity to gain knowledge, both for a career and for lifelong enjoyment of art, entertainment and social interaction. Yet learning to read is a lengthy and earnest process that spans several years of a child's early life. It seems logical to focus on the attainment of the single goal and not to risk delaying progress by the concurrent pursuit of secondary aims. It is in this single-minded drive for reading fluency that the plain old fun stories have a vital role to play.
At the same time, it could be argued that even the plain old fun stories help to teach more than just reading. As another reviewer said of the same children's book, it 'takes the young reader on an adventurous journey though some significant moments in history,' suggesting that an interest in history might also be aroused. Similarly, stories involving machines could stimulate an interest in engineering and stories about animals could do the same for the natural sciences. Perhaps the reality is that any secondary function should be voluntary and incidental, and not distract from the primary aim of providing the young person with a fun read.
So the message for the children's author is quite clear: concentrate on telling good stories of characters with fun personalities involved in extraordinary adventures. Humor is essential, and if it can also be appreciated by a parent involved in the bedtime reading, so much the better. Even the desire to encourage reading should be forgotten in the writing. The aim must be to entertain, intrigue and amuse. Only such a single-minded intention will provide the young reader with a book that s/he cannot put down.
Saint George, Rusty Knight, and Monster Tamer is a series of nine self-contained historical short stories which introduces George, a hapless knight who has an unusual skill for monster taming, and which, with wit and delightful aplomb takes the young reader on an adventurous journey though some significant moments in history.
Historical Novel Society, February 2016
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/John_Powell/921287
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9476999
Comments
Post a Comment
thank you