Reading

In the county in which we live, the schools assign all children reading homework each day. My 1st grader is supposed to read 15 minutes a day and my 6th grader is supposed to read for 20 minutes a day. I am very fortunate that both boys are avid readers so there is no challenge in getting this task accomplished.

I split the reading time with my 1st grader. He reads a few pages and I read a few pages until he is done. I've read some very interesting books with him. This is a brief overview.

If I could, I would call Dav Pilkey, bake him huge cake and give him a big hug for creating his Captain Underpants series. We tried to get our youngest to read the books his brother had enjoyed at his age, like the Magic Treehouse series. Though the series offers a wide range of topics, I think he quickly grew bored with the books' formulas.

One day, he picked up Captain Underpants at the library and sat down and paged through it. He was enthralled. He paged through, giggling at the drawings and the crazy antics of the main characters, Harold and George. Within about 6 weeks, we had completed the entire series of books. I no longer heard my son tell me that it was too hard to try new words. All I had to say was, "Dav Pilkey wouldn't have put that word in this book if he didn't think you could read it." I did get an occasional, "Stupid Pilkey," in reply, but he did keep going.

Many people are opposed to the whole graphic novel genre. To those of you who think that graphic novels are glorified comic books and have no literary value, I offer you this: They will get the most unwilling reader to read and that is the most important thing. There are words on a page and as much as we would all like our 7 year olds to read Tolstoy, it isn't likely to happen. Get them going on something that entertains, discuss the book with them and you will be giving them skills that they will apply when they are ready to read Tolstoy.

Stay tuned to this space for more children's book recommendations. Enjoy your day!