Books that beg to be read
Posted by Camilla on Aug 16, 2012
A response to Kate’s blog from Tuesday, “Should we pay children to read?”
While my rational brain can’t help thinking that by paying children to read you are on a hiding to nothing, I have to admit to feeling slightly anxious about my own seven-year-old’s reluctance to read black and white fiction, and I have even fleetingly wondered whether incentivising her with gifts, or even money, might work. Up until very recently, she has enjoyed books, and reads alone, but has stuck resolutely to highly illustrated books – Chris Riddell’s Ottoline series and Alex T Smith’s Claude books have gone down brilliantly, as have our own Magical Mix-ups, and other than that she has solemnly trudged through my entire collection of Tintin books (I’m not sure how much she understands of them, mind). Very much in parallel with her own cycling skills, she has clung on to the security that pictures give her, just as she has refused to abandon her stabilisers.
But I needn’t have worried, and like all children when it comes to those dreaded developmental milestones, she has done it at her own pace. I had read the first two books in the Rescue Princesses series to both my children together at bedtime (so the aforementioned seven-year-old, and her four-year-old sister), which they have adored, and then last week I brought home an advance copy of Moonlit Mystery, the third title in the series. By breakfast the next morning, my fiction-refusenik was halfway through it; by supper time she had finished it.
It was, I must admit, rather satisfying that it should be a Nosy Crow book that she chose to pick up for the first time. But it is a genuine reflection of Paula Harrison’s exciting but approachable stories which meant that the seven-year-old had the confidence to tackle one on her own.
Last night I got half way through a Secret Seven (Enid Blyton, of course) book with the children at bedtime: the picture above shows a small girl who could just not wait till this evening to find out what happens next. (And I don’t know whether it’s a coincidence, but this afternoon she rode a bike, without help or support too. It doesn’t rain but it pours!)
What are the books that have sucked either you or your children into reading? The stories that are so good that they beg to be read?
They may not even be stories, of course. A friend of mine’s son, also seven, is a fantastic reader, but honed his literacy skills by obsessively reading about his favourite football team, Arsenal, on line.
Comments (8)
I’m so pleased that she enjoyed it so much!
It is a big step, that jump from illustrated books to young reader fiction and I had a very similar experience with one of my children. I tried tempting her with various stories until I hit on something that moved her enough to make that leap. They never look back though!
Paula Harrison Thursday August 16, 2012 #
And what was it that you hit on, Paula, I would love to know? I absolutely consumed Enid Blyton series at that age and, looking back, I suspect it was them that gave me the confidence to progress to more literary, stand-alone titles, but I’m keen to know what the 21st century alternative is!
Camilla Thursday August 16, 2012 #
I consumed a lot of Enid Blyton too, especially the Faraway Tree series. My daughter likes a lot of books that are skewed to girls, but the first book she completed alone was a Horrid Henry. In fact, she was allowed to choose a book to buy and plumped for Horrid Henry Jokes and Dares and then she moved from that on to the Horrid Henry stories.
Actually part of what moved her to start reading books alone was me saying she could stay up to read after her normal bedtime and it was the excitement of switching the light back on and reading when she would normally have been asleep! Easier to do outside term time of course!
I do think the illustrated series are a valid choice for an emerging reader though. We’ve had a lot of fun with things like Clarice Bean.
Paula Harrison Friday August 17, 2012 #
It’s funny, my parents always had the opposite problem with me. When I was little, they told me off a handful of times because I wouldn’t stop reading…
Anyway, I don’t see a problem with heavily illustrated books. Images and words are just two different kinds of language. And it makes me a little bit sad that older kids feel like they have to choose between one or the other. But don’t mind me, this is an illustrator speaking.
Diana Toledano Saturday August 18, 2012 #
Hi Diana, the Rescue Princesses series does have black and white illustrations on some pages.
I agree that more heavily illustrated stories are a valid choice. I think many readers in the 6 – 11 age group would love more complex texts with illustrations. It would be great if there were more graphic novels for this age group for example. Maybe this will happen at some point and a whole new market will be generated for these stories.
Paula Harrison Sunday August 19, 2012 #
My son, then aged seven, started reading alone when he discovered Mr Gum. He loved the books so much that he had to keep on reading after I stopped. For my niece, who is animal-mad, it was Michael Morpurgo books that started her reading independently.
Helen Peters Sunday August 19, 2012 #
Hello, Diana, thanks for your comment. I completely agree that children can enjoy both illustrated and non-illustrated books and I know that I read Tintin, Asterix, Richard Scary and Raymond Briggs, amongst others, until I was at least 8 or 9, as well as straight fiction. But my very favourite books were always black-and-white fiction, I guess, because they were richer and more involving. So, I think my desire for my daughter to move on in her reading is, largely, a wish for her to open the door to that exciting world.
But, Paula, I do agree with you that it would be just fantastic to discover the new Raymond Briggs: so someone that does clever, accomplished, funny highly-illustrated fiction, that works for both boys and girls. A tall order!
I think the other thing to add is that, as children get older and school-work increasingly focuses on literacy, writing, independent reading, and achieving the targets set for them, it is clear that the curriculum requires them to advance their reading abilities. I consider myself to be a pretty non-pushy parent but I must admit that I don’t want my daughter to fall behind, and so become disheartened in her learning. My view is that by finding fiction that she enjoys, she will painlessly and, almost without her noticing, progress her technical reading ability and so make her time at school more straightforward.
Camilla Reid Monday August 20, 2012 #
I totally agree! Literacy skills unlock the doors to their future. That’s why I spent quite a lot of effort finding stories from book shops and libraries, until I hit on the books that inspired mine to read independently. It’s a great moment when they achieve that milestone.
Paula Harrison Monday August 20, 2012 #