How do we keep kids reading as they get older and busier? It’s not always easy, but the importance and pleasure of books can grow as children do — especially if concerned adults continue to introduce them to good stories, exciting books, lots of ideas, and take the time to share these ideas.
WETA Learning Media, home of Reading Rockets, just launched a sister site, AdLit.org, that helps do just that. It not only provides research-based information on helping older readers (grades 4-12) who may struggle, but like Reading Rockets, AdLit.org introduces kids and the adults in their lives to books and authors that appeal.
It’s a complex world in which we live, but stories can help create an understanding of some of life’s complexities and ways to cope with or at times even escape them.
I’m still thinking about a new book my teenaged son read and highly recommended to me. I’m certain that Unwind by Neal Shusterman (Simon & Schuster) will give us tough topics to talk about for some time to come. It sure has started conversations about lots of difficult subjects. But that’s actually good — for both of us.
I look forward to reading The Mashup , AdLit’s blog by Jamie Watson, and keeping current on what’s doing in that part of the universe as I continue to look for books to recommend to “graduates” of Reading Rockets.