The Ways We Read

Thanks to the ubiquity of text on the Internet, not to mention the popularity of text-messaging on cell phones, we may well be reading more today than we did in the 1970s or 1980s, when television was our medium of choice. But it’s a different kind of reading, and behind it lies a different kind of thinking—perhaps even a new sense of the self. “We are not only what we read,” says Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. “We are how we read.” Wolf worries that the style of reading promoted by the Net, a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else, may be weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works of prose commonplace. When we read online, she says, we tend to become “mere decoders of information.” Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.

Reading, explains Wolf, is not an instinctive skill for human beings. It’s not etched into our genes the way speech is. We have to teach our minds how to translate the symbolic characters we see into the language we understand. And the media or other technologies we use in learning and practicing the craft of reading play an important part in shaping the neural circuits inside our brains. Experiments demonstrate that readers of ideograms, such as the Chinese, develop a mental circuitry for reading that is very different from the circuitry found in those of us whose written language employs an alphabet. The variations extend across many regions of the brain, including those that govern such essential cognitive functions as memory and the interpretation of visual and auditory stimuli. We can expect as well that the circuits woven by our use of the Net will be different from those woven by our reading of books and other printed works.

From Nicholas Carr's "Is Google Making Us Stupid?", The Atlantic.com. Thank you Monica, at Educating Alice, for the link. She chose this excerpt. Go read the whole article. What do you think? Which part resonates in your brain?

A Visit to Hodge-Podge Books

I was doing some work in Albany, New York last week and was able to fit in a visit to Hodge-Podge Books. Frank Hodge, the owner is quite well known. Most likely, if you love children's books, you have read about Frank and his store. So I was very excited when our friends Val and Amy set up a visit for us!

What a fun and cozy place it is! And what a wonderful man Frank is. He gathered us around to share with us some of his new favorite books. In the photo, you'll see some of us who were part of the visit--me (on the floor) Cris Tovani, Debbie MIller, Philippa Stratton, and Rachel Billmeyer. (Val and Amy were kindly taking photos from the visit!)

Mr. Hodge shared some of his favorite new titles. I purchased a few that he mentioned--my favorite being MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMP. Crack me up--who thinks of these things? We also got a sneak peek at Mem Fox's upcoming picture book TEN LITTLE FINGERS AND TEN LITTLE TOES! It seems to be due out in November and I just can't wait! It is a great book--as is always the case with Mem and will make for the best baby gift ever!



I picked up two new books that I hadn't seen before. One is a great one for the beginning of the school year. It is called
HAPPY SCHOOL YEAR by Susan Milord. This book is connected to The First Day Campaign that I don't know much about but seems to be a way to involve families by making the first day of school a celebration for families. The picture book is a great one that captures the way so many of us feel on that first day of school and how the day always ends on a happy note.


I also picked up M IS FOR MISCHIEF: AN A TO Z OF NAUGHTY CHILDREN by Linda Ashman. I was drawn to it because the illustrations were done by Nancy Carpenter who illustrated 17 THINGS I'M NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANYMORE (which cracked me up!). This book is a kind of poetry/alphabet book. The author describes 26 "naughty" children. These are poems that kids will definitely like more than the adults, but I found many of them quite amusing. My favorite child in the book was 'Doodling Daphne', although there were several that I loved. A fun book about naughty kids with lots of fun surprises (and of course, great illustrations!)



It was a great trip. If you EVER have a chance to meet Frank Hodge and to visit his wonderful store, I would highly recommend it. It is quite a treat!

Out of the Wild...again

Perhaps it's getting a little tedious when Franki and I both post on the same book. At least this time it's not back to back like our reviews of The Underneath (mine, hers).

Franki was lucky enough to snag an ARC of Out of the Wild (her review here); I bought mine at Cover to Cover.

OUT OF THE WILD
by Sarah Beth Durst
June, 2008
review copy purchased at my favorite independent children's bookstore: Cover to Cover

I laughed out loud -- literally shouted a "HAH!" -- at the end of the first book, Into the Wild, when the identity of the "villain" (the one who caused The Wild to grow) is revealed. Durst hid her villain in plain sight.

In the second book, Out of the Wild, I started laughing out loud from the very beginning. Reading this book is like being on the magic carpet with Julie -- a roller coaster ride of twists and turns and near-misses and surprises. With lots of laughs all the way. The story begins when The Wild eats one of the Three Blind Mice and then, when Julie demands, "Give him back!" The Wild instead delivers her father, the 500 year-old prince of Rapunzel, Julie's mother. Chaos begins immediately, when Prince (Julie's father) takes off to rescue a princess and The Wild begins to grow with a vengeance. And the laughs come one right after another.

On creating an identity for her father, who has appeared out of nowhere: "Who knew that miracles came with paperwork problems?"

On the experience of flying cross-country on a bath mat turned magic carpet: "This, she thought, is like some bizarre dream. She shouldn't be flying past DC on a bath mat."

When Julie comes up with a plan, her impulsive, charge-in-and-save-the-world father says, "It is a good plan. You are your mother's daughter." This causes Julie to think, "Well, it wasn't a save-the-world sort of plan, and it had the potential to be mind-bogglingly humiliating, but it was (moderately) better than charging in, sword raised."

When Julie climbs the beanstalk out of the Grand Canyon: "She told herself that she shouldn't be surprised. After all, if Grandma's broomstick could fly in the real world, if Bobbi's wand could change people into pumpkins, and if the wishing well could grant wishes, then why shouldn't magic beans work too? And no matter where they were, magic beans always grew into beanstalks that reached the giant's castle in the clouds. But still, a castle over Arizona...wow."

Pondering how her new friend Henry is coping: "She thought about Henry, finding out for the first time that his father was a fairy-tale character one moment and then being carried away by a dragon the next. He was, she thought, having a much worse day than she was."

On the nature of evil: "Linda still looked like the [description withheld because it's a total spoiler] that Julie had grown up knowing. She had plain brown hair and an ordinary round face with chipmunk cheeks. She wore a preppy brown sweater set and charcoal gray pants. What kind of villain wore a sweater set?"


Great tri-review at 7-Imp (with Tadmack of Finding Wonderland fame).

Other reviews at
Becky's Book Reviews
Dare to Be Stupid (Tamora Pierce's blog)

And here's Sarah Beth Durst's blog, where she tells about her upcoming visit to the Northboro, Massachusets Library -- the real one where she grew up as a reader and "learned to love books" -- the one that is, along with the town, the setting of both of her books. How fun would that be?!?!

Poetry Friday -- Full Moon

Moon over Long Island Sound, as seen from Abbotts' Lobster in the Rough in Noank, CT.

Full Moon
by Robert Hayden

No longer throne of a goddess to whom we pray,
no longer the bubble house of childhood's
tumbling Mother Goose man,

The emphatic moon ascends


(the rest of the poem is here)

The round up this week is at Writing and Ruminating. Next week it will be HERE!

Children's Literature at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany

We didn't go out of our way to visit the Autostadt. Wolfsburg and the Autostadt are very near Ribbesbüttel, the village where our hosts live. (Ribbesbüttel is about an hour away from Hannover, Germany).

The Autostadt is a mash up of theme park and science museum, all on the subject of The Glorification of Volkswagen and All of the Car Brands Owned By VW. You might not believe me if I told you how much fun it is. Go to YouTube and watch some of the videos. You'll find out what those towers are in the photo to the left, and how the Ritz Carlton figures in.

Here's the children's literature connection. We walked into the Skoda pavilion. It was quite whimsical.



The biggest surprise came when I picked up a brochure on the way out.  It was this cute little accordion-fold booklet, and LO AND BEHOLD, it was illustrated by Peter Sis.  Skoda is a Czech company; Sis is a Czech.

Here is a close up of the cover and another to give you the scale.

Keep your eyes open.  There are children's literature connections in the most surprising places!

Mines of the Minotaur

Mines of the Minotaur
by Julia Golding
Marshall Cavendish, May 2008
Review copy compliments of the publisher

Last summer I reviewed the first two books in this quartet, Secret of the Sirens and The Gorgon's Gaze.

Luckily, this week I had some airport and airplane time with all the requisite delays and reading opportunities. I gave myself permission to bring the books I WANTED to read rather than the ones I NEEDED to read. Work will wait.

Mines of the Minotaur opens with Connie Lionheart, the only universal companion in the Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures, calling up a dangerous and violent storm. She's not doing this on her own. She suspects that her dark companion, Kullervo, is responsible.

Running from this dark side of herself takes Connie into the mines near her town and into the world of a damaged Minotaur and other damaged mythical creatures who are in hiding.

Connie must explore and learn to accept all the parts of herself, even the dark and angry and dangerous ones, in order to become whole, heal the damaged creatures, and lead the society.

The society, in turn, must learn to trust and accept Connie and work together with her rather than fear and shun her.

In a subplot that mirrors the hard decisions that Connie and the society are making, the non-society humans in Connie's neighborhood debate, accept, and erect a wind farm to capture the ocean breezes as an alternative energy source.

At the Companions Club website I took the Companion Assessment Test and learned that I am a member of the Company of Winged Creatures. "Congratulations, you are a member of the Company of Winged Creatures. All of us in this company love to take flight. As a High Flyer you will be mixing with creatures as dangerous as the sirens, or as miraculous as the phoenix. Only the most intrepid are selected to join us, so get ready for take off!" After answering a few more questions, I learned that "You have been chosen as a companion to the great eagles. A remnant of the forebears of our everyday eagles, these huge birds nest as far from humankind as possible. Masters of flight, they are so big that a person can ride on their backs or be carried in their claws. But beware: they can be cruel and deadly. Be cunning in all your dealings with your companion."

And at Julia Golding's website, I see that the final (her fans hope not) book in the quartet is out in the UK.

Adult Summer Reading Lists

I read with interest all of the comments on Franki's post about summer reading lists yesterday. Then I looked back at our series last week on the summer reading of our favorite literacy leaders. Here's what I found out about how adult readers make their summer reading "lists." We choose the books we read because

• they are our book club book
• they are another by our favorite author
• we saw them on display in the book store
• they are part of our favorite genre or our "own little reading club" (Katie Wood Ray's term)
• a friend recommended them
• to stay current
• for a project
• we bought them at a conference
• we have lots of airport/airplane time

Just to restate the obvious:

1. Adult readers definitely create summer reading lists. But we create them for ourselves and for our own purposes.

2. Even our youngest students learn to choose books that are just right for them. My fourth graders chose books this past school year for every reason on the above list except the conference one. (I had a student who thought very carefully about what book he would take when his family went to India.)

3. Summer reading lists are not the problem. A list as a mandate rather than a suggestion is the problem.

If You Like Captain Underpants, You Might Like...

I wrote an article/booklist for Choice Literacy that I thought I'd share here. Books for kids who like Captain Underpants--books they might enjoy. It is here if you are interested.

Now, if we are thinking of summer reading lists like this--connecting kids to books based on books they love, kids would have lots of ownership over what they read.

Summer Reading Lists

I have been reading with interest the many posts on Summer Reading lists (for example, here and here and here) and am worried about where we, as a group, are going with this thinking. My biggest problem with summer reading lists is the fact that we, as adults, think that we are better equipped to choose books for kids than they are equipped to choose books for themselves. No one likes a summer reading list that is mandated and by creating one, no matter how good it may be, you are taking choice away from a reader.

I think summer reading is a lifelong habit we want to instill in kids. Summer reading is often the best reading. But kids are not going to become readers if they see reading as an assignment and don't have the opportunity to read the books they choose.

My daughter who will be a senior in high school, was thrilled to have the summer to read the TWILIGHT series. She is holding off on her summer reading list until August and fitting in as much of her summer as possible with the books that she's had on her "to read" list for a while. She is reading like crazy and loving it. Isn't that what we want?

Recommending books that are good for kids and giving our opinions is far different from creating lists of books by grade level or grade range. Creating lists for parents and teachers is far different from creating reviews for kids so that they can DECIDE what they want to read. Creating our own summer reading lists because we don't like the ones out there, only says that we like the idea of summer reading lists if they are lists that WE create. Where is the child as reader in these conversations?

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

It is not every year that readers get a book as wonderful as THE UNDERNEATH by Kathi Appelt. I knew after the first few pages that this was a book that I was lucky to be reading. I have had the same feeling when I read WALK TWO MOONS by Sharon Creech and THE GIVER by Lois Lowry. And I think I felt this way, years and years ago when I read THE SECRET GARDEN. Other people seem to be having the same reaction to this book—feeling the same way when they read a book that has been a lifetime favorite.

I even remember the talk around these books being similar to the talk I am hearing now about THE UNDERNEATH. Lots of my children’s lit friends are telling me that I need to read this book but they don't really say much about it. "It is just worth reading." You can’t really explain the book without actually reading it.

There is lots to this book to love and I am sure that it must be the talk of the current Newbery Committee. Kathi Appelt has woven together a brilliant story and she has crafted in a way that it is more than a story. The writing is powerful. She is able to weave several stories together in a way that tells an even bigger story.

This book is so much more than what the blurb on the front tells us. It is so much more than a dog book. So much more than a book about love and hate. It is so much more than a book about wisdom and innocence.

I am pretty sure that these characters will stay with me forever and that I will read this book again sometime soon. I think there are layers of meaning that I missed the first time through—I kind of thought about them quickly but was too invested in the plot to focus too much on the depth that Appelt has created with this story.

I am anxious to see how kids will respond to this book. I am thinking 5th grade is perfect. Maybe 4th or 6th. I have a few past students in mind who may read this and fall in love with it like I did. If I were teaching 4th or 5th grade next year, I would probably read this one aloud for sure. But I would save it for later in the year, once kids understand the possibilities in books, once they have learned to talk together about books. It would definitely be on my read aloud list but I would have to make sure to read it when they were ready for the depth and the emotion.

I’ve heard this book described as “dark”. I didn’t think so. I found some unpleasant things—some hate and some hateful characters, but the story is a hopeful one and one that I think will be around for a very long time.

This book is a MUST READ! Really, as you read it, you feel so lucky to have found such an amazing story!