As librarians, we tend to bandy about terms related to reading and readers. Chances are you have heard the term “reluctant reader” before, and chances are you have some idea as to what that means. A few years ago, I worked on a committee for the American Library Association called “Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers”, and this work really opened my eyes up to the different types of reluctant readers that exist.
The readers that most readily come to mind when we hear the term “reluctant” are the children for whom reading is truly a difficult task. Working on fluency, and getting outside help may be successful in bringing these readers out of the reluctant realm.
But there is another type of reluctant reader. These are the children who may be high- level readers, who simply cannot find anything that they want to read. They are the readers that need to be hooked in the first chapter, and in some cases the first few paragraphs, or they will simply give up on the book. This is a tricky situation, because as parents you want to encourage reading, but it is also very easy to get frustrated when every suggestion given is met with a sneer.
So what do you do?
Something that I have found successful is what I call the “book tease”. During library, third and fourth graders are treated to several book teases a year. I take a title that students have not been talking about or checking out and dramatically read the first few chapters aloud. I make sure that the book has the type of chapters that leave of with cliff- hangers, and snap the book shut at the key moment. 100% of the time that book will get checked out of the library after it may have been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months. Remember, your children are never too old for a read aloud!
Another angle is to look to non-fiction. Sometimes adults forget that non-fiction is perfectly acceptable reading. The title certainly doesn’t need to be enriching a current social studies curriculum point. In fact, chances are, the more far-out the facts found in the pages, the more likely a child is to stick with it. Winners in the past have been the Guinness Book of World Records, as well as anything in the 133 (Dewey Decimal number for the “unexplained”), and the 932 (Ancient Egypt) section of the non-fiction shelves.
Remember, reading is a life-time activity. Your child’s taste in reading material need not match your own. In fact, when you and your children have markedly different tastes in books, the conversations around reading may indeed be more rich and varied. And know that reading tastes change as your children change. It won’t be Captain Underpants forever…I promise!
