I think that like introducing all books in the classroom, the best thing you can do is read from it. Five minutes, a chapter, something that will hook, hook kids in. Hopefully the author will have done that for you in the introduction, that’s really, it’s either that way, you don’t have to think. But if they haven’t, to find that segment of the book that you can read, get them excited, and then put it down and see who you can get to pick up the book.
I think getting kids excited about any book has to do with introducing, doing good book talking, and then allowing their natural curiosity to take them into subject matters. There are so many children who prefer to read what is true, they really want to know, is this based on fact? I always say I came from a family where they never let truth get in the way of a good story.
Okay, they were just, they were outrageous liars actually, if truth be old. And even from childhood on, I really said, I was always sort of, is that true, do we, is there any evidence that fact’s true? It was never true with my family, I mean they were always just you know, stringing me along in some fabulous storytelling mode.
And I think that, you know, I really grew to love narrative, I love narrative non-fiction now. I read it as an adult because I really want to know what went on in our world and I think that’s a natural, just a natural part of childhood, you want to know what’s happened. So somebody just needs to kind of pull you in a little bit and not over-sell it and not make it an assignment, you know, not make it tedious and dull and boring. Because we have some of the best writing right now in narrative non-fiction that I think we have ever seen. It’s certainly in my time in 40 years, we’ve just got some fabulous writers who are doing great, great work.