Take a photo of a barcode or cover
megatsunami 's review for:
The Read-Aloud Handbook
by Jim Trelease
In my case, this book was pretty clearly preaching to the choir. I didn't really need chapters of statistics to convince me to read aloud to my child (although this book did make me think more about continuing to read to her as she gets older, rather than just letting her read by herself when she can read).
At the same time, I also have to say that I did not the chapters of statistics totally convincing. OK, everyone likes to go on about how there's a crisis in our children's level of education, but I didn't feel that he conclusively proved reading aloud will fix that. I agreed with the common-sense assertion that if you want your kids to read, you should read with them (not just tell them "Read"). Also that kids learn by example, so if they see you reading, they will learn that reading is good. That makes sense. But from a research standpoint, I didn't feel he isolated the exact element that makes reading aloud so special. Is it quality time? Is it modelling by adults? Is it just length of exposure? (He did have some great tips for teachers about how to bring books alive in the classroom by using other modalities to introduce the book.)
Also, the book felt somewhat dated, since this was pre-internet. It feels like there are a lot more complicated choices now (not just TV vs. reading, but TV vs. reading vs. interactive internet games vs. video games vs. blogging vs. social networking sites vs....) and the simplistic "Don't watch too much TV" doesn't totally cover it.
The treasury was pretty good (I especially enjoyed paging through the list of chapter books, since this edition came out when I was a teenager so the kids' chapter books listed were mostly ones I read as a child!), inclusive, with a lot of cross-listings and "If you like this, you might like..." Obviously at this point it was dated too.
As a P.S. I kind of enjoyed his smackdown of the idea that people should read literature and it's not good to read popular novels, fluffy series, etc. He basically points out that way more people enjoy reading series and popular novels vs. "literature". So if it gets more people reading... it's good! I don't know if I 100% agree but it was refreshing.
At the same time, I also have to say that I did not the chapters of statistics totally convincing. OK, everyone likes to go on about how there's a crisis in our children's level of education, but I didn't feel that he conclusively proved reading aloud will fix that. I agreed with the common-sense assertion that if you want your kids to read, you should read with them (not just tell them "Read"). Also that kids learn by example, so if they see you reading, they will learn that reading is good. That makes sense. But from a research standpoint, I didn't feel he isolated the exact element that makes reading aloud so special. Is it quality time? Is it modelling by adults? Is it just length of exposure? (He did have some great tips for teachers about how to bring books alive in the classroom by using other modalities to introduce the book.)
Also, the book felt somewhat dated, since this was pre-internet. It feels like there are a lot more complicated choices now (not just TV vs. reading, but TV vs. reading vs. interactive internet games vs. video games vs. blogging vs. social networking sites vs....) and the simplistic "Don't watch too much TV" doesn't totally cover it.
The treasury was pretty good (I especially enjoyed paging through the list of chapter books, since this edition came out when I was a teenager so the kids' chapter books listed were mostly ones I read as a child!), inclusive, with a lot of cross-listings and "If you like this, you might like..." Obviously at this point it was dated too.
As a P.S. I kind of enjoyed his smackdown of the idea that people should read literature and it's not good to read popular novels, fluffy series, etc. He basically points out that way more people enjoy reading series and popular novels vs. "literature". So if it gets more people reading... it's good! I don't know if I 100% agree but it was refreshing.