A Student's Love of Reading

By Brittany Dorr

Are you interested in helping your child develop a natural love for reading?  One of our 7th grade students can be found with many books in her hands. This school year she has checked out 68 books and loves to read! Her reading choices have expanded to more higher-leveled choices so I wanted to pick her brain as to what has made her branch out in her reading and how she would encourage other readers to do the same.  Below is how she described this developing love!

My first books I remember reading are Jigsaw mysteries and Bailey Kids (2nd-4th grade reading) and I liked them because they are mysterious and have weird characters.  After that, I got into the Magic Tree House series because of the time travel, going back in time and saving the day.  My favorite Magic Tree House book was when they met Leonardo Davinci because he was creative and didn’t let his past of having his Dad not there for him get in the way of his future (a challenging lesson for us all).

I currently read various books that have interested me- Fantasy book, poetry, Vampire chapter books, Study of short stories, biographies and Historical Fiction.  I have recently checked out a book on Socrates but the information was too detailed and it seemed like homework.

I recommend to new or reluctant readers to look for books that have to do with the hobbies that they like.  Also look for books with characters that they can relate with.  For me, I relate with the characters like myself, who didn't fit in with the crowd.  These kinds of characters shut out their differences by writing in the diary or creating a space to read.

I appreciate reading for the imagination of what the author writes about.  Through reading I can understand some of my friends by reading about characters similar to them in books.  

Please comment below and tell us how YOU developed a love for reading!