Summer Reading Rant at The Reading Zone

Sarah over at The Reading Zone has just posted a rant on the subject of musty summer reading lists that I wish every school administrator, teacher, media specialist, and parent of school-aged children would read. Inspired by the summer reading lists that her family and friends have put in front of her, Sarah discusses the reasons why classics often don't make good summer reading ("Most of the classics require a good deal of scaffolding- the vocabulary is difficult, the situations are usually unfamiliar, and the context of the stories has not always been explained."). She laments the short, often boring lists that kids are confronted with, and in particular the fact that the lists are frequently dated, and don't highlight newer titles that are more relevant to the kids' experiences. She offers concrete suggestions for the updating of summer reading lists.

Sarah closes with a passionate defense of the joy of summer reading, and a warning. She says, "I firmly believe that miserable summer reading experiences are just one of the reasons we are raising a generation of bookhaters instead of booklovers." I agree with the whole post, but especially with this last sentence. Why do schools put practices in place that actually kill the joy of reading? Why are we not, as a population, doing everything we can to make sure that kids LOVE to read? Why are kids being asked to read books that they don't like, when they could be reading The Battle of the Labyrinth, or Audrey Wait!, or Cicada Summer, or any of dozens and dozens of other wonderful and engaging titles? This makes me crazy.

Sarah is not the first to decry musty summer reading lists (the Book Whisperer also has a must-read post on this topic, for instance), and she surely won't be the last. But I think that her post covers the subject well, with the right combination of passion and reason. I wish that I could put it into the hands of everyone who has influence over the development of summer reading lists. Of course it's already too late to change the formal lists for this year. But maybe we could start a campaign to take back the joy of summer reading for next year. And in the meantime, perhaps Sarah's words will inspire a few parents to take their kids to the bookstore in search of fun, inspiring, can't-put-them-down titles. Those books are out there. It's up to adults to make sure that kids have a chance to read them. Thanks for listening. Now go read Sarah's post at The Reading Zone.

Comments

[Sarah]

Thanks for the support, Jen! It's incredible how many lists include books like "A Cricket in Times Square" and "Sign of the Beaver". Those same books were on MY summer reading lists 15 years ago! Are these administrators and teachers telling us that there are no new, relevant books out there for kids to read?

[Jen Robinson]

Well, obviously, if that's the message that they're sending, it is incorrect.

I think that this is an important issue, Sarah, because of the impact that is has on the joy (or lack thereof) that kids find in reading. Thanks for writing about it so eloquently.

[Terry]

Sarah's post is just so well timed ... and sadly so true. It just so happened that I was cleaning out some "old" stuff today and found some recommended reading lists AND some of my own lists. I couldn't resist the urge to write a post.

[Kris Bordessa]

I'll go out on a limb here and say that the same could be said for the rest of the year, too! Let's take back the joy of reading, period. My two AVID readers have gotten that way in part - I believe - because they've been spared the usual list of required reading based on some set of state standards that was probably written twenty years ago.

There have been plenty of lists gathered across the kidlit blogosphere. Perhaps (warning: idea ahead) those lists could be pared down, categorized, and submitted to teachers organizations, libraries, and offices of ed as suggested reading from, say, the Cybils group? Publicity for Cybils, great reading lists for kids.

[Jen Robinson]

Thanks for sharing, Terry! What fun, going through your old reading lists!

[Lisa Chellman]

I just went over and left a comment on Sarah's post, but I wanted to mention here, too, how fortunate I now feel that the local public schools here have managed to avoid the pitfalls she mentioned. I can't speak for the high school, but the upper elementary and middle school lists are chock-full of kid-friendly books, most of them published in the past 10 years--the kind of books you see on children's choice award lists across the country. Hooray for our local school librarians who put the lists together!

[Jen Robinson]

Kris, I certainly agree with you about taking back the joy of reading for kids. And I like the idea of someone taking the initiative to provide some reading lists to share with the organizations that you mentioned. Not sure who would have time to physically do something like that, but I think it's something that should be discussed at the Kidlitosphere conference in Portland. Are you coming?

And Lisa, I'm thrilled to hear that you've had such a positive experience with summer reading lists in your school system. Which just goes to show that it can be done - there are school systems putting out excellent, current, summer reading lists. Now to reach out to some of the others...

It's great to be talking about this with people who care.

[sarah]

A suggested list of great books for kids would have so many uses! Parents, teachers, administrators, etc would have a concise booklet/list of up-to-date titles that kids want to read and that adults will consider worthy of being read. I won't be at the conference, but if we can get this off the ground count me in! I am sure we could divide the list up somehow, with different bloggers/groups working on different age levels, themes, and genres.

Oh, this could be great!

[Jen Robinson]

I actually think that something like that would be of value for the bloggers involved, too, in terms of exposure. I'll definitely bring it up at the conference. But if one of you wanted to bring it up on the Yahoo Group in the meantime, Kris or Sarah (or anyone else reading this), I think that would be great, too.

[sarah]

Jen and Kris, I posted it to the list. I would love to see the ball start rolling on this idea!

[Jen Robinson]

Excellent, Sarah! Thanks for taking the initiative to do that. I'll be interested to see what comes of the discussion.

[Janssen]

What a GREAT and necessary post. Ugh, it makes me ill that the schools are making it so easy to hate reading.

[Jen Robinson]

Yeah, I know what you mean, Janssen. Though of course it's not all schools - some of them are putting out amazing summer reading lists, I'm sure.

[TeacherBee]

Thanks for the post, Jen! I am gearing for my second year of 4th grade and this past May I made a huge overhaul to the summer reading that the previous teacher had been using for many years. In compiling the lists, I went based off of my students' comments and suggestions as well as reviews from blogs such as your own. I hold the same philosophy as you and Sarah. Here is the list for this summer (they had to read three):

Florida

Lostman’s River by Cynthia DeFelice
The Missing ‘Gator of Gumbo Limbo by Jean Craighead George
The Talking Earth by Jean Craighead George
Foxy by Helen V. Griffith
Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
Panther Glade by Helen Cavanaugh

Mystery / Adventure

Einstein Anderson, Science Sleuth by Seymour Simon
Room One: A Mystery or Two by Andrew Clements and Mark Elliott
The Ghost, the White House, and Me by Judith St. George
Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries by David A. Adler and Joy Allen
Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money by Christopher Paul Curtis
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
The Spy Who Came in From the Sea by Peggy Nolan

Animals

Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Star in the Storm by Joan Harlow
Listen! by Stephanie S. Tolan
Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan and Brian Selznick
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Hurry Home, Candy by Meindert De Jong
Poppy by Avi

Fiction - Other
The Strictest School in the World […] by Howard Whitehouse
The Penderwicks: […] by Jeanne Birdsall
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia by Barbara O’Connor
Summerhouse Time by Eileen Spinelli
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
A Song for Harlem by Patricia McKissack

I plan on updating it every year based on the response I get from my students and new titles.

Not all teachers are dinosaurs! :)

[Sally]

Great post, Jen. I checked out all the related links, and they certainly do cause my own ranting tendancies to roar. I believe most of the problem is the fact that many teachers don't read. It is difficult to update a summer reading list (if you feel you must have one) when the last book you read yourself was MOBY DICK. It's a shame.

Here is a partial list of the books my 8th grade students asked me to post on my blog. May be we should consider letting well-read students make the recommendations.

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS SERIES by Rick Riordan
CATALYST by Laurie Halse Anderson
THE TAKER by J. M. Steele
LUSH, PERFECT, and BOUNCE all three by Natasha Friend
MIRACLE WIMP by Erik P. Kraft
FREAK SHOW by James St. James
SWEEP SERIES by Cate Tiernan
TWILIGHT SERIES by Stephenie Meyer
TEARS OF A TIGER, THE BATTLE OF JERICHO, and NOVEMBER BLUES by Sharon Draper
BURIED by Robin Merrow MacCready
THE LAST SHOT by John Feinstein
BOYS THAT BITE by Mari Mancusi
OUT OF ORDER by A. M. Jenkins
SHUG by Jenny Han

[Jen Robinson]

Thanks for sharing your lists, TeacherBee and Sally. You've certainly both demonstrated that not all teachers are dinosaurs. These are excellent, fun lists, with titles that kids are sure to enjoy. I especially like all of the mysteries on your list, TeacherBee.

And Sally, I like the range of yours - I think any kid could find SOMETHING of interest out of those titles. I do think that having well-read students make the recommendations is a good idea - kids often listen to other kids about what's cool.

Thank you both for sharing!! This is great stuff.