Read to Succeed: Strategies to Engage Children and Young People in Reading for Pleasure

Citation

McCulloch, I. (2012), "Read to Succeed: Strategies to Engage Children and Young People in Reading for Pleasure", Library Review, Vol. 61 No. 3, pp. 236-237. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531211259373

“Read to Succeed” is a compilation of thirteen papers on strategies to engage young readers with an emphasis on reaching the “hard to reach.” As you would expect, all of the contributors have a vested interest in promoting children's literature being writers, librarians, teachers and development workers.

The aim of the book is stated as getting children to read for pleasure but many of the articles take a much more fundamental stance. One article by Clare Wood goes so far as to summarise methods of teaching reading, including how to develop phonics and reading comprehension. While this may be useful for parents and carers, it hardly fits into the book's overall aim. There is also a rather narrow view, taken of the importance of reading.

People cannot be active or informed citizens unless they can read. Reading is a prerequisite for almost all cultural and social activities (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2003).

While this may be true in much of Western culture, it is surely not a universal truth.

Some articles are critical of government policy, warning of the danger in cutting funding for libraries and restricting the long term availability of libraries for all. Prue Goodwin champions the role of school librarians, seeing them as key to complementing the teaching of reading as well as the production of confident, independent young readers. This is backed up by Bridget Hamlet who compares her idyllic teaching experiences in America to the frustrating and draining times that she spent teaching English after moving to the UK, eventually prompting her to change career to become a school librarian, a position that she has found to be both fulfilling and rewarding.

The importance of the role of parents and carers in encouraging, motivating and developing good habits in young readers is discussed. Wendy Cooling explains the benefits of involving babies and toddlers in literature well before reading actually starts. She gives a personal account on her role in the growth of “Bookstart”, a scheme designed to involve parents and carers in encouraging an appreciation of books in young children. She emphasises the importance of partnership working between home and professionals in education and health, aiming to develop a genuine desire in children to become involved with books from the very early stages.

Heath, Hornby and Barber recognise a general lack of collaboration between schools and the public library. They go on to describe their attempts to bridge this gap as part of a transition programme for pupils moving from primary to secondary school. Another possible area of conflict is recognised by Jacob Hope between the commercial book trade and public libraries. He advocates a joint approach to encourage young readers and to recognise the worth of reading as a means of personal development.

One strategy described in the book that does meet the aim of reading for pleasure is to appeal to children's innate sense of competitiveness. Local book awards, summer reading challenges, literature quizzes and the growth of groups who “shadow” national competitions such as the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway awards are detailed.

This book should make teachers think of their responsibilities in motivating young readers. Does every book at key stages in primary school have to be prescriptive? Does every book read by children have to be clinically dissected, language examined and characters analysed? Does a written review have to be written up for every book completed? Can pupils read any book that they choose just because they want to?

There is also much food for thought for librarians. The article by Blake, Hale and Sherriff gives a definition of who the “hard to reach” actually are, giving some practical advice on how to engage with these youngsters and how to attract them into making use of library facilities. Young people with whom they have worked had a very negative perception of libraries and librarians – a place where you are not allowed to talk, drink or eat; a place where only “bookish and nerdy kids go”; “old stock with nothing that I am interested in.”

There is a tension in many of the articles between the traditional printed word and the challenge in embracing new technology. Helen Villers and Lili Wilkinson, in describing work in Australia and New Zealand, both recognize that their future work with young readers will have to be collaborative, combining books with ever evolving digital and online resources. Other contributors seem unable to grasp that in this day and age when electronic books are available free or at minimal cost, traditional methods of trying to engage with young people may not be the most effective.

Overall this is an interesting book with a number of articles that will be useful for reference for all who are involved in working with children and young people. While there is some advice on strategies designed to reach the “hard to reach” the book is more useful in promoting a lifelong reading culture for youngsters who are already engaged. The vast majority of contributors are female, as are the vast majority who work with young children and one notable omission of the text is the scarce mention of the particular problem in engaging boys and young men.