For Parents

On the Road: Transformative road trip reads for your next car trip

By on July 30, 2012   /   Book Lists, For Parents  

Ah, the family road trip—you start off envisioning flying down the open road, singing, and playing games and you forget about the fighting over music, the whining, and traffic. Let’s face it, who hasn’t used a video to sedate the kids or let them remain plugged up with earbuds tied to their ipods?

The thing is, even with the electronic distractions, a car ride is a journey. You’re going from one place to another, and the experiences along the way can transform you—if you open up to the possibility. Why not introduce a little G-rated Kerouac to your kids?

Without any modern distractions in the car, thirteen-year-old Salamanca entertains her Gram and Gramps as they travel from Kentucky to Idaho in search of her mother. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (Harper Collins 1994) is a beautiful story within a story. Sal passes the hours telling the “extensively strange story” of her friend Phoebe Winterbottom. As the miles roll by, the truth about Sal’s mom slowly is revealed.

What kid doesn’t want a turn at the wheel? Sal makes the last four hours alone, reasoning, “in the course of a lifetime, there were some things that mattered.”

Twelve-year-old Margie makes a similar courageous journey to get her mother back. In Tami Lewis Brown’s The Map of Me (Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2010), Margie and her sister Peep set off to find their mother who has left a note saying she “had to go.” When Dad is too busy making a sale at the World of Tires, Margie finds the spare key to the Faithful Ford and drives the back roads of Kentucky. Through a series of wrong turns, and fights over gas, and encounters with troopers, Margie grows to understand her mother and herself.

Ten-year-old Kenny ends up in the Brown Bomber with his family, driving from Flint, Michigan to Alabama in The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte Press, 1995). Trouble drives the family to make the trip to see Grandma Sands and instead of peace they arrive at the darkest moment of the civil rights movement. Although much more happens in this book than the road trip, the difficulties the Watsons experience finding decent restrooms on their way may stop all complaining and stir conversation about U.S. history.

Wherever the road takes you, get out the map and follow along on these three brave and eye-opening journeys.

Jennifer Gennari is the author of My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer and she likes bike riding better than car trips. www.jengennari.com

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The Impact of Books We Love

By on July 11, 2012   /   For Parents  

I’ve always been interested in psychology, and definitely always had an interest in books. So when the two combine into one lovable study of how great characters impact our behavior, well, the researchers had me at hello.

The researchers were from Tiltfactor Laboratories at Dartmouth College. Two of the researchers, Geoff Kaufman and Lisa Libby, wanted to gain a better understanding of this very question. What they found in a recent study surprised them.

It’s called “experience taking,” a phenomenon where a reader identifies closely with a character and thus take on the same emotions, beliefs, thoughts, and even actions of that character.

“Experience taking can be a powerful way to change our behavior and thoughts in meaningful and beneficial ways,” said Libby.

For example, in one experiment, researchers found that readers who identified with a character who overcame great obstacles in order to vote were more likely to vote in a real election only days later. Other experiments produced similar results, proving that a great character will do more than entertain us, or even influence our opinions. A great character can change our behavior.

So for anyone interested in middle grade books, why does this matter? Because scientists also say that the ages when children are most impressionable are in the middle reader years. If an adult whose behaviors are relatively formed can be impacted, then what about a third, fourth, or fifth grader, who is still deciding who he or she will become?

If the study holds up, then a reader who identifies with Meg from A Wrinkle in Time may become more protective of others. The reader who enjoys Turtle from The Westing Gamemay become more curious. And if readers strongly identify with Harry Potter, then they may be more likely to act bravely, defend others, and behave compassionately.

But Kaufman and Libby warn the influence can go both ways. While Harry Potter is heroic, he is certainly also a rule breaker. A reader may not imitate the behavior and also break important rules, but, according to Kaufman, he “may try to understand or justify the actions [the character] is committing.”

This isn’t to say that children should only be exposed to characters who never make mistakes, never have flaws, and never fail. In fact, a character who has to overcome his weaknesses or fix her errors might help the reader anticipate the consequences of their own actions. Children may avoid certain pitfalls if they can vicariously learn from the mistakes of their favorite characters.

But this study does suggest that parents of middle school readers should know what their children are reading, because it can have an impact on who they become. And authors of middle grade books should remember that their characters might do more than entertain for an afternoon. They can change lives.

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Reading Beyond The Lists

By on June 29, 2012   /   For Parents, Op-Ed  

There might be one lurking in the pile of papers on your counter. Maybe one is hiding in the depths of your child’s backpack. Perhaps one is stuck to your refrigerator with a cutesy magnet from your last vacation. Aliens? Zombies? Unicorns? No, book lists.

Whether they are assigned, suggested, or chosen, book lists are popular ways of navigating bookstore and library shelves. Yet, part of the joy of reading is in discovery. I think we may be doing a disservice to our kids if we rely too heavily on lists, especially if we allow the lists to prevent our kids from developing their own book hunting instincts.

When I began educating my children at home, I became aware of the Charlotte Mason Method, an educational philosophy popular among home-schoolers of all creeds and faiths. Those familiar with this method will recognize the terms twaddle and living books. Mason advocates the use of narratives and biographies, what she would call living books, over dull, dry, piecemeal textbooks. The latter she calls twaddle, and that definition has grown to include what those of us in the industry refer to as mass market books. Twaddle encompasses books that are deemed to be fluff, without educational merit, or watered down.

I have seen this anti-twaddle position outside of the home-school community as well, even if the same terms are not used. I fully understand that parents desire quality reading material for their children, and that viewpoints on moral and cultural content may vary. However, I am bothered when parents solely rely on lists, many of which are stagnant and seldom include children’s literature published within the last few decades. The word twaddle carries a derisive connotation, and I cringe when it is sweepingly used to describe contemporary children’s literature.

Jeff Carney, an Associate Professor of English at Snow College in Utah, states, “If you want kids to write well (and thus to do well in school and in life) they must be able to read well. My best students are avid readers. My worst can’t stand reading. It’s really that simple. Obviously, different kids grow to love reading in different ways. The important thing is that it happens in the first place. If twaddle plays a role in there somewhere (perhaps part of a mixed diet?) I don’t see how it can matter.”

I believe that sticking too closely to recommended reading lists can be like the new recess rules popping up at elementary schools. No tag. No running. No pumping your legs on the swings. Perhaps these rules keep a child safer, but they also dampen excitement, joy, and discovery. It isn’t healthy to box in our bodies or our minds. 

Naturally, parents want to guide their children’s selections. Book lists are a great tool for that. They are also a good starting place if you are totally lost about where to begin, but there is adventure to be found beyond the lists.

This summer, encourage your children to read a variety of books in the same way you encourage them to eat a variety of foods. Realize that choosing a light read is probably no more harmful than sampling the pickle flavored snow cone from the ice cream truck. Skip into your library. Search the shelves the way you’d hunt for seashells on the beach. Pump your legs, swing high, and soar into summer reading.

 

 

Graphics courtesy of  Open Clip Art Library.

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