I was searching through my old book shelf looking for one of my old picture books to bring in to class. By doing this, as well as how we reflected on books we loved as a child last class, I realized something. Almost ever book that I saved was a mushy-gushy book. When I was a little girl my favorite books were romance fairy tales, or anything where the girl ended up with her prince. Little Mermaid was #1 on my list. As an adult, I realize nothing has changed! I love to read love stories, and no matter how predictable I love romantic flicks! I'm what you call a hopeless romantic. So I was wondering if the books that my mother chose to buy and read to me have truly effected who I am today. My roommate said she loved mysteries when she was little and today she loves watching shows like CSI and law and Order. I just found it quite interesting and was wondering how people felt about this.
6 comments:
I think there's something very comfortable about reading lots of books in one genre--you know what to expect and, when there is a surprise, it is even more fun!
Since I teach I've had to "force" myself to read a range of genres so that I could be flexible in what I shared with students. I put "force" in quotes because I've ended up coming to appreciate a wider range of genres!
For anyone who is a romance novel fan, Janice Radway wrote a book called "Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature" in which she describes why women in a particular community were so drawn by the genre, even when they didn't always agree with all of the messages in the books!
I always felt comfortable reading certain genres, like Valerie has said. It was always what I would consider easy reading. I would need very little help when reading them and I could always understand what was going on. Knowing that these books would most likely never be assigned as reading material for classes always make them more interesting for me. I hated reading for school because I always thought like I was being forced to do something that I did not find fun.
Being able to have this genre alwaysmade me feel like I could be in the story or watching it happen made these books enjoyable. These are the books that really made me enjoy reading again. When I was young I always liked the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson books. I always liked books about romance as well.
I think this discussion is very interesting, and it really relates to an experience I had yesterday; I want to see what you think of it.
I just got involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and I was able to meet my fifth grade Little for the first time yesterday. From what I heard from a BBBS worker and by how my Little describes her dad, it sounds like they don’t get along. Yesterday, my Little told me that she likes to play video games, but her dad tells her that she is not being productive enough. He wants her to “study”. When she replies that she has no homework, he gets her books from the library. My Little told me that he usually picks out books for her and tells her to read them. Currently, she is reading a book about animals that her dad picked out for her from the public library. In chapter 12, our textbook stresses the importance of choice when it comes to reading. My Little likes to read, but I am curious about how this lack of choice and work-like nature of reading will affect her in the future.
I told my roommate this story, and she believes that my Little’s father sounds like a great dad. I am curious to see what everyone thinks about parents choosing books from the library for their kids and telling them to read them. Will this take enjoyment out of reading, or will it promote reading? Does anyone have suggestions for what I can do to put the fun back into reading for my Little?
This is so interesting! I've never even considered that the genres of books read as a child could follow a person into their adulthood. However, looking back at it, the same goes for me too. I enjoyed reading everything, except for sci-fi, and I'm still that way today. I definately think that the books read as a child influence what a person will read when they're older. Like Valerie said, it's comfortable to read the same type of genres. People get used to reading certain types of books, and it is hard to get out of that cycle. Besides the fact it is much more enjoyable to read books one is interested.
In response to Laura's post, I think the idea the dad has is great. He wants his child to read, therefore he is promoting it. However, if she does not enjoy the books her dad is picking out for her, this could ruin her like of reading forever. It is definately important to have a choice in reading, especially when it is meant for enjoyment. So I think this does both, he is trying to promote reading, but depending on how much the child likes the books he picks out, it could go either way on whether she enjoys reading or not. You could try asking the child what kind of books she enjoys reading, and tell her that she should ask her dad to pick out that particular genre. Or you could go through some of your old books and see if there's any she would like. This way she is doing what her dad wants her to (read) as well as enjoying that at the same time!
I agree that the more the child is involved in selecting the books, the better! Laura's post also made me wonder about the context of the reading. I know that I was more open to trying new genres, etc. when I was snuggled up next to my mom on the couch or sitting in a favorite chair! As a teacher, I tried to make sustained silent reading and read aloud times as enjoyable as possible.
Thank you all for commenting on my post!
Post a Comment