Kids Lit
Books and More for Children and Teens

I know I'm a little late on this, but what wonderful news!  Jon Scieszka has been named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature! 

He is the founder of the amazing Guys Read, and pledges to work to turn reluctant readers into avid readers.  His platform includes four suggestions (my comments are in italics) :

1.  Letting
kids choose what they like and want to read (Yes!  THE most important thing to get children reading.  Graphic novels, magazines, web pages, who cares, let them pick!)

2. 
Expanding our definition of “reading” to include non-fiction, humor, graphic
novels, magazines, action daventure, and web content (Exactly!  Especially important for boys who tend to not pick up novels as readily as girls do.  And let's stop saying that some reading is "better" than others.  Better written yes, better for kids to read, let's not put that as a reason to stop them from reading what they love!)

3.  Being
good “reading” role models for children (I read in front of my kids as often as possible!  :)  But even better, so does my husband so our two sons see a man reading for pleasure.)

4.  Avoid demonizing TV, computer games, and new technologies. (Oh how very important this is, especially as librarians.  I have hope as the new generation of librarians is coming in that they will better embrace media and technology than my generation has. We need to understand and be a part of pop culture rather than dismissing it or being disdainful.)

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Comments

It was good to read your comments on Scieszka's suggestions; thank you! As a parent (as a person!), I have the most trouble with number 4--but I'm working on it with my own small son, who's just discovered the joys of TV and computer games. It must seem magical from their perspective! One thing that's helped me is to find ways to expand on whatever he's interested in online (right now it's the Roman army) that do involve reading (how to construct a siege tower!). Thanks again!

Posted by: Anamaria | January 4, 2008 10:19 AM

It is so important to let him take the lead. A trip to the library to see the great books on armies and other campaigns may get him branching into other eras too. Your son is a great example of why librarians have to offer great nonfiction collections!

I also think that #4 is different for the very small children. They should not be getting a lot of screen time. But older children will get screen time and it is important for reading efforts not to be critical of it as a media.

Posted by: Tasha | January 4, 2008 10:35 AM

Thank you for sharing about Jon Scieszka. I had heard that he had been named the Ambassador of reading. I enjoyed reading the additional thoughts you added. I love his Knights of the Kitchen table. I have even turned a couple into scripts for Reader's Theater. Lately, one of my favorites is Squids Will Be Squids.

Posted by: Ms. Mize | January 4, 2008 12:52 PM

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