Reluctant Reader Rescue

I am always, always looking for my next book fix.  This is why there are stacks and stacks of books stashed all over my house just waiting for me to get to them.  I love buying new books.  I love the way they feel.  They way the smell.  I sleep better in a room filled with books.  I admit it, I am an addict.  A book addict. I cannot function without my books.  I simply need to find myself immersed in the life of a new character, a new world, a new story. 

Sadly, this just isn't the case for many struggling readers.  I am sure that we all have at least one reluctant reader in our life.  It may be our son or daughter.  Perhaps it's a grandchild, niece, nephew or a student.  It may even be an adult.  Someone we know is struggling to read or to find things that they want to read. Nearly every day I am presented with a reluctant reader.  The parents are usually supportive but lost and unsure of how to help them.  The kids themselves are often embarrassed and frustrated.  Many are ready to give up on finding anything that they can or are willing to read. It is really and truly heartbreaking.  While I myself never struggled to master my reading skills - I did (& some would say, still do) struggle with math.  It was terrible, just terrible to sit in a classroom stare at a chalk board and have absolutely no idea what my teacher was talking about.  I was especially confused, scratch that, betrayed when all of the sudden letters, my wonderful friends the letters started turning up in math problems.

I take helping these kiddos very personally.  I love to find books for reluctant readers.  Finding that perfect story, that perfect book is pretty powerful.  In fact, sometimes it kind of feels like a super power.  Or the closest thing I have to one anyway.  So today I thought touch on a few of my favorite Rules for Reluctant Reader Rescues.  Maybe one or two will work for your own reluctant reader.

• Your Favorites Are Not Necessarily Their Favorites.  While the most natural place to start with recommendations is with what you know it is also likely to be the most firmly resisted.  I believe that books have a way of finding you when you are ready for them or you need them.  Present your favorites but don't insist upon them.  Give kids the room to say no.  Truly, if a child is not interested in a book when you walk out of the shop then what are the chances they'll crack it open at home on their own.  Give them the time and the space they need to make a selection.  There will be plenty of time to reintroduce that title once they are a little more comfortable or their skills are a bit stronger. 
• Look Beyond The Usual Suspects. Award winning titles win awards for a reason.  Super smart bookworms have selected them for these honors because they stand alone in their genre.  That is important, however it can be really intimidating.  Especially for a kiddo who is really struggling.  These kids don't need to be reading weighty tomes.  They just need to be reading.  If they are drawn to items that aren't exactly what you want for then them pay attention and see how you can translate that into something else.  A boy who spends hours playing with baseball cards might really love a trivia book like Sports Illustrated Kids Full Count: Top 10 Lists of Everything Baseball.  Then they might be drawn to read a sports biography like Legends in Sports: Babe Ruth by Matt Christopher.  Before you know it they'll be asking for All Stars: Wild Pitch by Cal Ripkin.  Sports is only one example.  If your kiddo is into science and nature there are great beginning science books to get them started.  Don't turn your nose up at trivia books, joke books or even magazines.  There are many ways to be well read.  Your kids will find their own way if you keep an open mind and let them lead the way.
• Books are Books, Right? So many new, young readers are overwhelmed by the books we offer them.  Their peers are carrying around Harry Potter (not to knock Harry Potter - I love, love, love Harry Potter!) while they are still plowing though beginning readers or early chapter books. Imagine pulling the latest Magic Tree House book (again, not to knock Magic Tree House, it is a positively superb early chapter series) out of your back pack and looking over at the next desk to see your classmate is reading an 800 page book.  You'd probably put your book right back and not take it out again.  Digital readers like the nook (my personal preference) or the kindle or an ipad offer kids enormous anonymity.  No one needs to know what they are reading.  They just pop it out, turn it on and read away.  Now I love an honest to goodness book as much as anyone.  Nothing, I mean nothing, beats a real book.  But for a reluctant reader privacy is priceless.  As an added bonus many of these digital readers have dictionary features.  This is fantastic feature for anyone and everyone trying to build up their vocabulary.
• Get Serious About A Series.  I think the absolute best way to motivate a reluctant reader is to get them hooked on a series.  There is a series for almost anything you can imagine: Baseball, fairies, teeny tiny people living in walls, or even flat kids.  There are mysteries, magical adventures, historical fiction or horror.  Find yourself an awesome librarian or kids specialist in a book store and let them help you.  Find the right series of 4, 10 or even 50 titles and that will lead to another series and another series and even another series.  The best things about most of these series from The Magic Tree House to Harry Potter is that they get harder.  They will start at an easier level and get gradually more difficult.  Lulled by familiar characters and storylines your kids won't even know that they are reading harder material. 

I am by absolutely no means an expert in education.  Far wiser and more educated folks than me may surely disagree with my opinions and suggestions.   I am simply a mom with a passion for kids lit,  a lifelong bookworm, a professional book pusher and a would-be writer.  I love kids and I love kids books.  I love to help kids find their gateway book. Just don't give up. It only takes one, the right one to hook a kid.

From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: The Favorite Book You Forgot

The conversation usually begins like this:

"Excuse me, Miss.  I'm looking for a book I read as a kid.  I really loved it but I can't remember the author or the title.  I just remember that it's about two kids who run away to live in a museum."

The book in question is of course, From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler written by the incomparable E.L. Konigsburg.  In 1968 this slender volume won the coveted Newbery Award.  It was equal parts childish rebellion, adventure and art history.  The fact that readers cannot remember the title or the author some 20, 30 or even 40 years after reading it is inconsequential. The title (while ridiculously fun to say) is undeniably long and just shy of cumbersome.  The author's name is perhaps equally difficult to remember if you aren't immersed in the world of kids lit.  But none of that matters.  It's the story that matters.  It's the story that leaves an indelible mark on the hearts and imaginations of young readers.  And From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler does just that. 

It is the tone of this novel that immediately sets it apart from every other kids book you have ever or will ever read. With unexpected acerbic wit and wry commentary Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler relates the story of the Kincaid children to her attorney whom we know only as Saxonberg.  She begins with Claudia, the eldest Kincaid child and only daughter, who after much planning and forethought decides to run away from home.  Claudia is attempting to escape the supreme injustices of her family position (i.e. doing the dishes and watching her youngest brother) and the boredom of living in a suburb of New York City.  She carefully chooses her destination - The Metropolitan Museum of Art (it is large, comfortable and beautiful) and her travelling companion - her second youngest brother Jamie (he is the richest of her brothers and owns a transistor radio) and sets out for the adventure of a lifetime.

What follows is a clever and funny portrait of a sister and brother surviving quite spectacularly on their own.  They travel, manage their funds and even do their own laundry on the streets of NYC.  They find food and shelter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They also discover a fantastic mystery involving the museum's newest acquisition, a sculpture of an angel that may or may not have been sculpted by Michelangelo. You cannot help but fall in love with Claudia, Jamie and indeed Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  It is a novel of family, of art, of history and of truly tremendous secrets.  There is little wonder that 40+ years after it's publication it remains one of the most beloved books you've ever forgotten. 

As a side note, E.L. Konigsburg won The Newbery twice.  She was only one of five authors to do so.  My personal connection to her goes beyond my childhood love affair with her books.  When she passed away this April it was at the same hospital where my kiddos were born.  So she has recently been on my mind and inspired me to re-read this classic.  I hope it will do the same for you and your children.