Something Everyone Can Do to Support Readers:

Read Aloud

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”
Anderson, R., et al. Becoming a Nation of Readers.
Washington, DC: US Dept. of Education, 1985.

No matter who we are, we should always remember that stories have power. Parables resonate with us much more effectively than direct pronouncements. Our students will remember the folktales they learn more easily than the standardized tests upon which we place so much weight. Stories have the power to pull us together, and they have the power to splinter us apart. As a librarian, I try to use the lure of stories to teach the nuances of language, the rhythm and pacing of narrative, and the joy of discovery.

For those of you who want to share this kind of enthusiasm, here's a small sampling of favorites for reading aloud:

     Picture Books                                                             Chapter Books

Cold Feet by Cynthia DeFelice                 Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos

10 Minutes till Bedtime by Peggy Rathmann                   The Secret Life of Owen Skye by Alan Cumyn

Clever Beatrice by Margaret Willey                               Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotsen

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child       The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman

Zen Shorts by Jon Muth                                                  The Power of Un by Nancy Etchemendy

The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka                        A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck