BOTNS Books Podcast #103: Encouraging Young Readers

Nov 16

BOTNS Books Podcast #103: Encouraging Young Readers

By Michael Kindness Podcasts Add comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:54 — 17.2MB)

Let us be your personal shoppers for the holidays. What’s the difference between Early Readers, Middle Readers and Young Adult? Two-and-a-half books we can’t wait for you to read. If you are getting this via email or RSS reader, please click through to the website where you can listen to the audio.

Let Us Be Your Personal Shoppers

The winter gift-giving holidays are quickly approaching and we’re offering our book knowledge to you, our listeners. Simply call our voicemail line (209-867-READ) before midnight, Sunday 11/28 with your toughest book-giving challenge. Does Uncle Bob love model trains, but you really want to give him a book? We can help! If we get enough calls, we’d love to put together a special episode to air in early December. (If you need your gift idea before Hanukkah, let us know and we’ll email you our recommendation ASAP!)

Encouraging Young Readers (5:50)

We received a voicemail from Karen wondering what level of books her second grade son should be reading. Ann discusses the difference between Middle Reader books (traditionally grades 3-8) and chapter books, or Early Readers. A few favorite series of chapter books in the Kingman household are The Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborn, and The A-Z Mysteries, The Calendar Mysteries and The Capital Mysteries by Ron Roy. A recent article in the New York Times asked if parents are pushing their children into chapter books too soon. Are they leaving behind picture books before their child is prepared for early readers? My son, who is just starting to read, still loves picture books. Even as we start to read chapter books together, our favorite picture books will still be part of our bedtime ritual. We recently took My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett and Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson books out of the library and read them over the span of a few nights. The Mercy Watson books were a nice compromise since they are structured like chapter books, but have color illustrations like picture books. Two picture books that Ann’s family continues to go back to are The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, and You Read to Me and I’ll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman. Lastly, the blog MiG Writers has a great post on the differences between Middle Readers and Young Adult books, everything from protagonists and themes, to language.

Two (and-a-half!) Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (18:32)

Ann recommends Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton, the story of Luke, a boy whose father has modeled the main character in his children’s book series on him. What happens when the books become spectacularly popular and people start to think they know the real Luke because they know the character? This book reminds me very much of the comic series The Unwritten, which continues to be a favorite of mine, month after month, so I just had to throw in a mini recommendation for it. (I originally spoke about it in episode 59.) My “real” book for this segment is Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, who you may remember as the author of Seabiscuit. In this new book, she chronicles the amazing life of Louis Zamperini, childhood troublemaker, Olympic Track star, World War II bombardier, crash survivor and prisoner of war. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite books of the year and I urge everyone to read it!

Santa’s List photo by armadillo444

Stan

Ann,
How funny that you claim you will not recommend Ian McEwan or The Sparrow to everyone. I have about 10 books on my nightstand. Two of them are The Comfort of Strangers and The Sparrow. All because of you. Maybe one day I will read them. Or one.
Patricia Snyder

Stan,
Don’t wait to read The Comfort of Strangers. start it tonight. It will keep you reading until dawn.
Dogearedcopy

Karen,
I just wanted to second the recommendation for The Magic Treehouse series. My seven-year-old daughter, though she is in the advanced reading level of her class, does not like to read outside of the classroom. Actually, a more accurate statement would be that she doesn’t like reading narratives. She prefers illustrated reference books. Serendipitously, a couple of years ago, Wendy’s was providing Magic Treehouse audiobooks in their Kids Meals. She loved listening to the stories, she gravitated toward the MTH books in the bookstore and the rest is history! We read a chapter a night. She loves the illustrated pages. She knows what the words are supposed to sound like. She has developed a narrator’s voice in interpreting the words on the page
But it gets even better. It turns out that most of the MTH books also have Research Guides. These are companion books that my daughter can read to further satiate her curiosity about the topics covered in the stories.
And now there’s The Passport! After reading a MTH book or Research Guide, she can go online, answer three questions and earn a stamp for the MTH Passport (free in the bookstores or you can print it out online as well.)
For us, the MTH “franchise” has been a gateway for our daughter reading stories and chapter books.
http://www.booksonthenightstand.com AnnKingman

Stan, you know it’s my life mission to get you to read The Sparrow. The only excuse you have is if those other 8 books on your nightstand, and the book you are currently reading, are also books that I’ve recommended.
http://www.booksonthenightstand.com AnnKingman

Thanks, Patricia! (and no, Stan, I didn’t pay her to post!)
http://www.booksonthenightstand.com AnnKingman

Thanks, Tanya. The MTH Research Guides are great, and also favorites in my house.
Patricia Snyder

Oh, you didn’t? Then how do I explain the package containing $1000 that mysteriously showed up on my doorstep?

Seriously, Ann and Michael, thanks for this episode highlighting Kiddie Lit. There are many of us with wonderful kids in our lives who like to hear about age-appropriate books.
Femme

Haven’t listened to the podcast yet, just wanted to tell Michael that over in Britain, Channel 4 are showing an adaptation of William Boyd’s Any Human Heart. Details here
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/any-human-heart
but I don’t know if it can be accessed overseas.
I’m a big fan of you guys, think you do a fab job!
http://www.booksonthenightstand.com Michael

Thanks Femme!

So many folks have been teilling me about this and I’m so grateful for the updates, but, as far as I can tell, there are no plans yet to air it in the states!

Maybe I need to invest in one of those (probably illegal) region-free DVD players, so I can get the UK DVD when it comes out!
http://www.booksonthenightstand.com Michael

Thanks Femme!

So many folks have been teilling me about this and I’m so grateful for the updates, but, as far as I can tell, there are no plans yet to air it in the states!

Maybe I need to invest in one of those (probably illegal) region-free DVD players, so I can get the UK DVD when it comes out!
http://www.booksonthenightstand.com Michael

Thanks Femme!

So many folks have been teilling me about this and I’m so grateful for the updates, but, as far as I can tell, there are no plans yet to air it in the states!

Maybe I need to invest in one of those (probably illegal) region-free DVD players, so I can get the UK DVD when it comes out!
http://www.thebecauseshow.com/ Amy F.

Hi Ann and Michael,
I’m so happy you reviewed Unbroken, because Louie is my neighbor! He is really an amazing man, *still* incredibly athletic (he took my husband out dirt-bike riding once — my hub could barely keep up!), and a legend here in the neighborhood. His house is incredible, too. You wouldn’t believe the stuff he has in there.

I’m so glad his story will be available to so many readers now, and especially by such an amazing author. I also read (and maybe you mentioned this on your podcast, I’m still catching up) that he’ll be doing the book tour instead of Laura Hillenbrand due to her illness. He’ll totally be in his element for that one — go Louie!
Michael

That is so amazing Amy. Please give him my best next time you see him. What an inspiration. And you’re right, he will be amazing on the road!!
Michael

and I said “amazing” twice in three short sentences. fantastic.
http://www.thebecauseshow.com/ Amy F.

Well, I said it twice in two paragraphs so I felt better when you did it, too.
Karen

Wow, I love the Passport concept! Thank you for sharing this!

Karen
Marie

Another great podcast. I liked your discussion about children’s books and appreciated your remarks about picture books. When I worked in a children’s library, I noticed parents often passing on picture books for children in 3rd grade and younger, and those kids love them- even the ones who can read chapter books love them as long as they’re not presented as books for babies. Many picture books are beautiful, brilliant and kids can enjoy them through their elementary school years. After that, well, they’re not cool again until they become parents themselves!
http://woodworking-books.org Woodworking Project Plans

I love this! Thank you for sharing this!
Sue Jackson

Just got back from vacation, so I’m a bit late on this…

Wow, two weeks in a row, Michael recommended books written by talented authors who happen to be severely disabled by ME/CFS, an immune system disorder that my sons and I also have. Laura Hillenbrand is a huge inspiration to me. The reason it’s been 9 years since Seabiscuit is because she is so ill that she is housebound and often has to write lying flat on her back in bed. I can’t wait to read Unbroken! Thanks for the great review of it. (Oh, and I’ve added Mr. Toppit to my list, too, Ann!)

As for kids’ books, I read the same article in the NYT about the demise of picture books. It’s a shame because there are so many incredible picture books and many of them have fairly advanced reading levels. I found myself pushing books at too young an age for my two sons for a different reason – I was so excited to share my own childhood favorites!! I learned my lesson when I read my all-time favorite, A Wrinkle in Time, aloud to them when they were too young for it. They both found it too scary, and we had to give it up. Then, last year, my youngest son read it for his 6th grade English class and absolutely loved it! He was thrilled to hear I still had the entire series from when I was a kid, and he rapidly read through books 2 and 3. I learned to wait until they were old enough to appreciate my old favorites.

Sue

http://www.greatbooksforkidsandteens.com
http://www.bookbybook.blogspot.com
Sue Jackson

Just got back from vacation, so I’m a bit late on this…

Wow, two weeks in a row, Michael recommended books written by talented authors who happen to be severely disabled by ME/CFS, an immune system disorder that my sons and I also have. Laura Hillenbrand is a huge inspiration to me. The reason it’s been 9 years since Seabiscuit is because she is so ill that she is housebound and often has to write lying flat on her back in bed. I can’t wait to read Unbroken! Thanks for the great review of it. (Oh, and I’ve added Mr. Toppit to my list, too, Ann!)

As for kids’ books, I read the same article in the NYT about the demise of picture books. It’s a shame because there are so many incredible picture books and many of them have fairly advanced reading levels. I found myself pushing books at too young an age for my two sons for a different reason – I was so excited to share my own childhood favorites!! I learned my lesson when I read my all-time favorite, A Wrinkle in Time, aloud to them when they were too young for it. They both found it too scary, and we had to give it up. Then, last year, my youngest son read it for his 6th grade English class and absolutely loved it! He was thrilled to hear I still had the entire series from when I was a kid, and he rapidly read through books 2 and 3. I learned to wait until they were old enough to appreciate my old favorites.

Sue

http://www.greatbooksforkidsandteens.com
http://www.bookbybook.blogspot.com
Anonymous

I work in a school library and one thing that parents can do, if they have the time, is to see what their school library has to offer for various reading levels. One thing that the early elementary teachers have done, is make the harder fiction off limits to them until grade three. I have also designated what books are considered to be easy novels (I don’t like the phrase chapter books). I even have fifth graders signing out picture books, probably for younger siblings.
Tyler Kendall124

Thanks for the post! I’m always looking for new books for my son. He just finished RA Jones’ “The Obsidian Pebble” (http://www.rajonesauthor.com/) and loved it, so I will definitely check out the Ron Roy mystery series, I think he’ll like them!