Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment

Emma Walton Hamilton has written a guide for parents on how to encourage children (and teens) to be lifelong readers. To some her suggestions may seem obvious, but many busy parents forget to make reading to/with their kids a part of their everyday routine. I found her book lists useful and and she included some nice ideas and activities to make reading fun. The book begins with suggestions for reading to infants, making it a nice gift for new parents. ( )

In Raising Bookworms, Emma Walton Hamilton's main premise is that we should connect reading with joy. Many of her techniques such as reading aloud, creating a book nook, keeping books in every room, and modeling a love of reading yourself, hearken back to this main theme.

Each chapter focuses on one age group - baby and toddler, preschool, elementary school, and middle school. Hamilton warns in the introduction that a lot of the techniques carry over into other age groups, so reading from cover to cover can be repetitive. Most of her suggestions are common sense; perhaps because I took so many courses in children's services when working towards my Library Science degree, I didn't find a lot that I had not already known. At the end of each chapter, she includes a list of some of her "Family Favorites" as suggestions.

Personally, I was often bored or frustrated in the reading of the book, basically because it was not the book I wanted nor do I find it extremely useful right now, with no children and no real capability of putting her suggestions into practice either at home or at work. Despite the introduction, I found myself quickly getting annoyed with the repetitive structure of the book and the frequent use of italics. I did enjoy the chapter of various resources - recommended books, awards, and websites, and kept note of a few to pass on to my younger sister, who is now in middle school.

But while I wasn't too thrilled with it personally, this book is a handy resource to suggest to parents who want to interest their kids in reading from a young age, and don't know where to start. The repetitive nature of the techniques and suggestions would probably be less obvious if you were to hone in on the applicable chapters for your children's ages. While the italics are annoying (probably an editorial choice, but I felt like I was being talked down to) and the book suggestions put series titles out of order, it's generally a good resource and starting point for parents who want to positively reinforce reading in their homes.

Personal reaction: 2 stars
Recommending to parents: 4 stars ( )