The information that I found while researching reluctant readers reassured me what I have been telling my parents throughout my teaching career. I have come across all types of reluctant readers. Many people think that reluctant readers are only students who have difficulty reading. The truth is that reluctant readers come in all shapes and sizes. They can be your brightest students, or those that struggle with reading fluency. Pamela LaBorde, a Seattle children's librarian says, "Most kids are reluctant readers because their reading time has become unpleasant or they are feeling insecure about their abilities." Finding interesting books is the key to getting kids hooked on reading.
Image source: Chen, Diane. "Not Scary, Scare Me!" School Library Journal. (July 11, 2007)
I found a blog by Diane Chen that offered a remedy for this situation. Her blog is titled, "Not Scary, Scare Me!" In her article she asks Stone Arch Books representatives to provide a list of appropriate books for young readers. The link for this site is:
Stone Arch Books staff Joan Berge, Maryellen Gregoire, & Michael Dahl answered questions on a conference call today focusing on this topic. As they noted there are two universal themes kids recommend to each other: books that make them laugh and books that scare them. They want the thrill to be scared out of their wits and know in the end they survived. Stone Arch is rising to meet this need with new fiction sets of books for the striving (struggling and reluctant) reader.
Of course, I am selective as to what scary books I put on my bookshelves. But I will tell you that the most "dog-eared" books are those that are comical and spooky in nature.
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