If our true goal is leading children towards literate lives, we have to look at how we can get them there in ways that are meaningful and value the habits of lifelong readers. The good news is that the suggestions that we can make for parents at home, for librarians, and for teachers are sticky. They’re similar. Providing kids access to books at home, in the library, and at school; setting aside time for children to read at home and at school; putting forth strong reading role models for children at home and at school; and offering children choices in what they read that help them negotiate academic goals and personal goals for reading, those are recommendations that we can use everywhere, and we know they work.
We just sometimes have to get out of the way and allow children to really develop that reading identity without a lot of strings attached.
