The Reader's Bill of Rights, Daniel Pennac

Have you read Daniel Pennac's wonderful book on creating readers, Better Than Life?  It was published in the '90s, and it's a gem. 

The front cover features a quote by Regie Routman that sums up the essence of the book well. "Anyone who loves to read and wants our young people to develop a similar passion will savor Better Than Life--an enchanting, beautifully written, and wise book."

"The Reader's Bill of Rights" is one of the best and most quoted parts of the book.  Many versions exist online, including an illustrated one that has changed the original wording, but I like Pennac's version the best.

If we are to develop the love of reading in young children and teens, it is critical to allow them the freedom that these rights afford. 

The Reader's Bill of Rights, Daniel Pennac

1.  The right not to read.
2.  The right to skip pages.
3.  The right not to finish.
4.  The right to reread.
5.  The right to read anything.
6.  The right to escapism.
7.  The right to read anywhere.
8.  The right to browse.
9.  The right to read aloud.
10. The right not to defend your taste.

Happy reading, friends!

The Wise Man Said it Best...

Fotalia

John Green, amazing YA author and YouTube sensation, recently tweeted the following,

"50 million Americans haven't read a book in the past 12 months. As a business, THAT'S our #1 problem--not format or distribution models."

Of course we have to think about format and distribution models.  It's our job to provide for our patrons in the most friendly, useable, cost-efficient, and sustainable ways possible.  It's our job to meet their information and reading needs. 

But if our patrons don't have reading needs, John Green is right.  Helping to create readers should be our priority.

Just right books or just for fun books?

Occasionally when doing reader's advisory with kids we find ourselves in the middle of a situation.  A kiddo wants one book and the parent or teacher wants him to have a different book. 

The book the kiddo has chosen is (fill in the blank here) too short, too long, too much below his reading level, too much above his reading level, too silly, too scary, and basically, just not what the adult wants for the child.

The kid looks at us beseechingly--help!  The parent or teacher also looks to us for help, but it's more of in the "adults stick together" way.  What do you do?

How about if everyone can win? 

How about if the kiddo can check out whatever "just for fun book" that he likes?  That way it doesn't really matter if the kindergartener checks out a 500 page tome.  It makes him feel like a reader.  Let him go!  It doesn't really matter if a fifth grader checks out a drawing book.  It's fun.  Let him go! 

Ditto for series books.  This might be a good opportunity to briefly explain the importance of series books in creating readers (see the birthday cake theory post) and the fact that it's critical for readers to have freedom of choice in selecting what they read.

Chances are if the kid is allowed to check out his "just for fun" book, then he won't care if the adult prevails with what she considers the "just right" book. 

Everybody goes away happy, and most importantly, the kid's choice has counted for something.  In that case, we all win.

And with good reader's advisory, librarians will likely have another chance to recommend books the kiddo will love.  If we force choices on him, he may never darken the library door again.

Keeping a reader's list

As you're reading, I hope that you'll consider keeping a Reader's List.  A reader's list is just that--a list of the titles and authors of every book you read. 

I wish I would have started my Reader's List as a child, or even the first year I became a librarian.  I didn't think to start it until my first year on the Lone Star committee, but even so, I love my list.  It would rank up there with the Top Five Things I'd Save in a Fire.  I tell my boys it's my legacy and have asked them not give it to Goodwill when I'm dead.  They, of course, roll their eyes.

When I started my Reader's List, I didn't think about my legacy, so for years I simply used little red notebooks that I'd get at the dollar store.  I fell in love with a leather journal and recopied ten years of titles into the new book.  After I'd finished, I found the beautiful brown journal with the alphabet on the front and recopied the titles yet again.  Now I don't look at new journals.

Here are a few tips to get you started...

1.  List only the title and author of each book read.
2.  Ditch the temptation to give a rating, write a summary, or keep track of the genre.
3.  At the top of each page, list the month and year.
4.  Number the books you read chronologically from 1 to infinity. 
     Don't start over each month or year.  This way you'll always know your running total.
5.  Personally, I use the exact same type of pen every time.  Black roller ball, medium ink.
      (But you're probably more well adjusted than I am).
6.  Feel free to mix adult titles in with the zillions of children's or YA books you read.
7.  Remember to include audiobooks on your list.  Audiobooks are books too!

Ask Me What to Read...

I'm going to go out on a limb and assert that there has never been a more important time for librarians to be reader's advisors.  And yes, that's another post for another day.

For today, I'll just say that the first step in being a good reader's advisor is to read.  Yes, READ.  Did you just slap yourself on the side of the head and mutter, "Duh?"  Good for you.  Because sadly, many librarians and teachers attempt reader's advisory every day without having actually read very many books.  And kids can spot these imposters a mile away.

Kid:  Do you know a really scary book I can read?
Imposter: Well, I've heard that new vampire book is scary.
Kid: Have you read it?
Imposter: No, but it's been checked out a bunch of times, so it must be good.

Since you're not one of THOSE librarians, you will undoubtedly be reading a lot of children's or YA books.  You'll be keeping a list of what you read.  You'll know authors.  You'll read many different genres. 

But since there are so, so many books and so, so little time, how do you choose WHICH books to read?

A few ideas may help you narrow your selections.

1.  Using an online ordering tool, do a collection development search.  Narrow search results to books published in the current year only with 2 or 3 starred reviews.  Print the list and read what sounds good or what you think your kids might like.
2.  Use the summer to read the books on the next year's Texas 2 x 2, Bluebonnet, Lone Star, or Tayshas list, for example.
3.  In January most review journals will highlight the best books of the year or editors' choices.  Copy these pages and read what sounds best.
4.  Read the first book of that hot new series, but don't feel like you have to read every book in the series unless you absolutely love them. 
5.  Ask kids to help keep you in the know when they spot new books online or in the bookstore.

The birthday cake theory of reading development

This will be a looong post, but stay with me.  This theory is really important stuff.

My MLS coursework at TWU was blissful.  Cheesy maybe, but true.  I took five years--purposely long because I loved it and things were hectic.

It provided the wonderful realization that I am passionate about libraries, and in those ancient days of face-to-face courses, it provided enduring relationships.

And I LOVED the things we learned. 

Early on, Dr. Betty Carter introduced us to "The Birthday Cake Theory of Reading Development" by Alleen Pace Nilsen and Kenneth L. Donelson.

I am excited to say that Dr. Nilsen kindly gave me permission to post this copy from the 1985 edition of Literature for Today's Young Adults.  In later editions of the book, the authors opted for a plainer chart, but the birthday cake remains my favorite.

The theory traces the development of readers.  Not so much learning HOW to read, but learning to LOVE to read.

To understand the theory, begin with the bottom layer of the cake and work up.  The cake has six layers representing birth to kindergarten through adulthood.  Each layer provides a basic understanding of what developing readers need in this stage.

Here's a critical piece.  Readers must go through each stage.  Stages can't be skipped.  If a reader is "squashed" in one stage, he will age chronologically, of course, but he/she may never develop a love reading.

Layer One--Birth through Kindergarten:
Enjoying nursery rhymes, folktales, picture books, cereal boxes, and anything else that shows there is fun and profit to be gained from the written word.

Layer Two--Kindergarten through Second Grade:
Learning to decode.  Developing the intellectual skills needed to read.

Layer Three--Third to Sixth Grades (Unconscious Delight)
Losing oneself in a good story.
Series books, fantasies, horse stories, dog stories, adventure tales, anything the reader can disappear into.

Layer Four--Jr. High to High School:
Finding oneself in a story.  Finding one's friends, enemies, and other people of interest.  Checking out the "facts" in realistic problem novels.

Layer Five--Upper High School to College:
Going beyond one's circle.  Finding where one fits in society.  What does it all mean?

Layer Six--Adulthood:
Aesthetic appreciation.  Identifying with the author.  How and why the reader is touched by this writing.

Why is this really important stuff? 
The birthday cake theory provides an understanding of how readers develop.  It helps us match readers with the right book at the right time.  It helps us inform parents and teachers as to why each stage is important and what the implications are. 

For example, it's critical that readers in the unconscious delight stage read series books or the same kind of thing over and over.  Squash this, attempt to push them on before they're ready, and you risk stopping their progress in developing a love of reading. 

And most of all, understanding this theory helps us help kids be readers. And that's really important stuff any day.

Readers don't need carrots and sticks...

Is your library program counterproductive in creating readers? Read Daniel Pink's DRIVE for a possible paradigm shift.