This Sunday, Thomas Friedman posted an opinion column in The New York Times.  His premise, and one that I wholeheartedly agree with, is that we blame teachers for our children’s lack of success when it is parents who can make all of the difference.

I thought the article was going to be about the way that modern American parents are not as involved as they could be.  But instead it went in a direction that I had not anticipated.  Friedman spoke about the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) and how American 15-year-olds are not excelling compared to peers in other nations.

The PISA team started to look beyond the exam itself and interviewed 5000 families, comparing their responses with the children’s results on the PISA.  And here, my friends, is what they discovered:

“Fifteen-year-old students whose parents often read books with them during their first year of primary school show markedly higher scores in PISA 2009 than students whose parents read with them infrequently or not at all. The performance advantage among students whose parents read to them in their early school years is evident regardless of the family’s socioeconomic background. Parents’ engagement with their 15-year-olds is strongly associated with better performance in PISA.”

Additionally, it was found that being engaged with your child: monitoring homework, ensuring your child gets to school, rewarding their efforts, and talking about the importance of college are all linked to better attendance, grades, and test scores.

But for me, it’s that reading piece that really shines.  Beautiful really.

Oh good grief.  Do we have to do this again? 

Just a second while I fill my Harry Potter mug up and sit at my desk surrounded by children’s books waiting to be reviewed.  Yeah, I don’t have an opinion about this…

Why do adults like children’s books?  Why do adults read comic books?  Why do adults read romances?  Mysteries?  Why do we read anything but the most literate of fiction and nonfiction?

Best of all in the article are the theories about why people like me read children’s books.  It appears I’m a lonely, nervous person desperate for “the pleasure of home-cooking” and looking for a “tolerance towards eccentricity.”  OK, so that last bit about eccentricity may be true.

I’ve got an idea!  How about we all are just allowed to read whatever we darn well want to.  And be free of people creating theories about what makes me odd.  Heck, reading children’s books is actually one of the more normal things in my life.

I predict the next article will be fretting about why adults don’t read any more. 

The Sun has a very nice article by Andy Stanton, author of the Mr. Gum series, that has practical tips that every parent can use.  The best part is that his focus is not on forcing children to read, but instead in getting children to enjoy books and reading. 

Here are some of my favorites, there are many more in the article:

• Don’t distinguish between good and bad.
• I think some kids can be frightened of books so make sure you have them around.
• Make story-time part of the bedtime routine and part of their world.
• Put books in their way.
• Take children to the library.

And my personal favorite: “Every child should read Roald Dahl. He’s like The Beatles of children’s books.”

I needed this after reading articles about a study that shows that boys “can’t read past the 100th page” of a book.  What the title doesn’t tell you is that it is according to their teachers, not a study of boys actual reading habits but teachers’ perceptions.  I think I’ll leave it at that, since I promised myself I would not rant about it.

 

I’m rather fascinated by a new study from the University of Buffalo that finds that readers on fantasies like Twilight and Harry Potter really get into what they are reading.  The study found that through reading, psychologically people became part of the world they were reading about and also derived emotional benefits from it. 

Readers all know that we become emotionally involved in books, that if it’s a great read, part of us lingers in that world calling us to return to the book.  It’s why books can be impossible to put down. 

While we don’t become the characters, we do get to experience their world through their eyes.  It’s powerful and for those of us who can’t stop reading, an important piece of our emotional landscape. 

Interestingly, the report found that just like with our real life friends, we shift our behavior to fit in with our book character friends as well. 

So is this something you believe to be true?  Are you a reader who becomes what you read?

Thanks to LISNews for the link.

Image by Canonsnapper

A study from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine shows that teenagers who listen to more music than other teens are more likely to experience major depression.  The study had 106 participants, 46 of which had major depressive disorder.

The top quarter of teens who listened to the most music were 8.3 times more likely to be depressed than the teens who feel into the lower quadrant of music listening.  Interestingly, though researchers expected to see a similar result, television watching did not have the same connection to depression.

Here is the reading part:

The top quarter of teens in the study who read the most, including not only books but magazines and newspapers, were one-tenth as likely to be depressed as those in the lower quadrant who read the least. 

The question is whether music or depression came first and also whether reading or not being depressed came first. 

British Education Secretary Michael Grove says that children aged 11 should be reading 50 books a year to improve literacy.  So The Independent asked five people to offer up their top ten picks, my comments are in the parentheses behind:

Philip Pullman’s Picks

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. (Lovely, childhood memories here.  I used to open the books to look at the illustrations and dream a bit.)

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.

Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner.

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. (This is one with lots of memories for me.  Read aloud to me and my brothers at the breakfast table.)

Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken. (Love that an Aiken is included.  My favorite of hers is The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.)

The Owl Service by Alan Garner.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. (The wordplay here is tremendous.  One of my favorites that I must have a copy of at all times.)

Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson. (My brother was Moomin mad as a kid, and he wasn’t a huge reader so that was big.  As the book hoarder in the family, I have his well-loved copies of the series.)

A Hundred Million Francs by Paul Berna.

The Castafiore Emerald by Hergé.

Michael Morpurgo’s Picks

The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Just William books by Richmal Crompton.

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde.

The Elephant’s Child From The Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.  (The language here is so lovely as it always is with Kipling.)

Treasure Island by R.L. Stevenson. (Another breakfast favorite for us growing up.)

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

The Man Who Planted Trees by Jean Giono.

The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson-Burnett. (Tasha Tudor’s illustrations really made this book sing.  I love the transformation of a girl through a garden.)

Katy Guest’s Picks, literary editor for The Independent on Sunday

Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah.

Finn Family Moomintroll (and the other Moomin books) by Tove Jansson. (Moomin again!)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein. (Oh yes, so glad to see this included.  Children should read the books before they see the films.)

The Tygrine Cat (and The Tygrine Cat on the Run) by Inbali Iserles.

Carry On, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse.

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr.

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett.

The Story of Tracy Beaker by Jacqueline Wilson.

John Walsh’s Picks, author and Independent columnist

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

Mistress Masham’s Repose by TH White.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. (There was a time when I was captivated by this book.  I read it often.)

How to be Topp by Geoffrey Willams and Ronald Searle.

Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.

The Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier.

Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Michael Rosen’s Picks

Skellig by David Almond.

Red Cherry Red by Jackie Kay.

Talkin Turkeys by Benjamin Zephaniah.

Greek myths by Geraldine McCaughrean.

People Might Hear You by Robin Klein.

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman.

Einstein’s Underpants and How They Saved the World by Anthony McGowan.

After the First Death by Robert Cormier.  (My favorite Cormier book by far.  This is a haunting, powerful read.)

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. (Loved the lightness of this book that had great depth as well.)

Beano Annual.

And for those of you wondering why adults can’t be held to a similar standard, you will enjoy Philip Hensher’s article.  For librarians, it also has a great take on the importance of libraries on reading habits.

Drop Everything and Read Day is coming on April 12th.  The official site has resources to plan programs at your library or school, flyer templates, activity ideas, tips for parents, and much more. 

If you are in search a great read for the day, you can take a look at book lists by age or just pick up any of Beverly Cleary’s books.  April 12th is her birthday too.