Written By: Joanne Choi
I’ve always been a reader. I started reading at a relatively young age,
and have a very clear memory of the day that letters became words and made
sense to me. At the time my own mother
couldn’t believe I was reading, but I knew what the words meant. She kept on INSISTING I had memorized the
text, but when she tested me by pointing out different words and I got them
right, she was convinced. I remember this experience clearly in my head.
Growing up I was very fortunate to
have parents who were keen for me to read.
My mom used to take my brothers and me to bookstores at a very young age
and tell us to pick books. We would
choose what we liked, and invariably my mother would pick up the book, look at
it and put it back telling us to pick a different one. She was rarely satisfied with our first
choice, as it was the EASY book to choose, meaning a book that we had already
read, one in a series with which we were familiar, or one that had a nice cover
that we thought appealing. My mom wanted
us to read books of quality and I remember hearing her say, “Choose a book that
is harder or different from what you already know.” In addition to bookstores, trips to the
library were an essential part of our lives growing up. Every single summer we participated in a
summer reading game where we would try and read as many titles as possible, and
my mother would push us to try different authors, different genres and more
difficult texts. I would balk at times,
but often I found myself a new book to love through her prodding.
As an adult, my love of books,
texts, and the written language took me to college where I decided to be a
literature major, which is basically code for read a novel and write an essay a
week. I adored my major, read so many
books during my studies, and never regretted any of my classes, except maybe
the one on Walt Whitman, because my pea-sized intellect simply couldn’t handle
his grand texts. But it wasn’t until my
next decision to be a high school teacher that would radically transform my
notion of why books were important to me.
I did Masters Degree at Stanford,
studying education, and also received my teaching credential at the same
time. I started teaching in an urban
high school in San Francisco, and a revelation hit me during that experience. Not everyone reads. Not everyone likes reading. I learned terms such as “reluctant reader”, “slow
reader” and even “pre-literate.” Reading
was not necessarily a part of everyone’s childhood or everyone’s passion and I
saw it first hand when I taught. One of
the most amazing experiences came out of a moment of frustration when more than
half of a class had not read the reading homework assignment. I couldn’t stand it so I simply got up on a
stool, sat in front of the class, and read the text, Black Boy by Richard Wright aloud; the scene was one where a young
Richard decides to hang a cat, and then he later receives punishment for taking
an innocent life. The class was
enthralled with my voice, the story and the words. Afterwards there was a fun discussion where
people talked about the moral cost of killing something alive – is a kitten’s
life worth more than an ant? A
beetle? A bee? Why?
At that moment I knew that by the time a child hit high school and
wasn’t reading, it was almost too late. And the cost was too great. They were missing out on too much and they
were also aware that they were lacking.
The
experience made me all the more convinced that kids need to read, enjoy
reading, and even love reading from as young an age as possible. This is done
with either reading independently or being read to. The love of books and texts is so important.
The skill and passion is harder to develop as one gets older, and now, when I
find learn that an adult doesn’t “like” reading, I spend some time trying to
recommend some titles to them so that they can possibly learn to love to
read.
My
friend asked me why I would write a blog about children’s books when websites
like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com have reviews and recommendations on
their website. There were many reasons
why I decided to try putting down some of my experiences with books in
writing. First of all, to write about an
experience with a book is incredibly different from writing down an experience
with food or cooking, which is what I do on my other blog www.weekofmenus.com. As a writing teacher, I want to push myself
in a variety of writing situations and this was one way I could try to do
it. In addition, I spend a great deal of
time creating book lists or recommending books to people who want to give books
as a gift, a gesture which I highly recommend.
All my baby gifts for newborn babies and 1 year olds are a bag, box,
basket, or bundle of books. Come to
think of it, all the gifts I give to children are books.
In addition, I want to write
reviews on books that are wonderful so that no parent would mind his or her
child reading it. For example, one day
my daughter picked up a book from the library that looked innocent enough. I came
and read it to her, only to discover that inside the book were horrible names
that an older brother was calling his younger brother. I think the exact words might have been
“Barf-burger baby.” I do not want my
child reading it. I try and choose books
that have a wholesome message, or a thoughtful one that challenges children,
and books that aren’t too formulaic in content.
If there is something somewhat worrisome, I try and mention it so that
parents are aware of what is inside the book that could be potentially
problematic.
Not everyone has the luxury to read
everything that their child is going to read before their child reads it. Having three small children, ages two, four
and six, being a former high school teacher, and now being a teacher for
elementary students means that I read a lot.
Many books. I constantly have to
keep up with what is being published and push to find books that are engaging
to as many people as possible. But I
want every parent to have the opportunity to choose a great book for their
child or as a gift. I hope that people
find this blog informative and even helpful.
Every book reviewed in the blog has been read by me, loved by me and
sometimes even taught by me. Every book
is a great book I wish I’d written.
VISIT: www.wonderwhatkidsread.blogspot.com
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