I am crazy about reading. In fact, I love everything about books; owning them, shopping for them, perusing them, even just handling them. If I have an extra hour, and even if I don’t, I head for the bookstore where I wander the aisles and leaf through whatever looks interesting. I have always had at least one, and often two or three, books that I am reading at the same time. I have stacks of books in my office at home waiting in line to be read, I always carry a book in my briefcase in case I have a few spare minutes, and my bedside table has a thriller ready for reading in bed. During the day I usually read “serious” books. For a long time that meant essays, but these days I read fiction, usually modern European novels. Fiction, I now believe, goes to the core of what it means to be human.
I was not one of those nerdy adolescents whose nose was always stuck in a book. Believe it or not, reading a James Bond story in Playboy magazine when I was 13 or 14 led me to read all the Bond books, then Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, and on and on. I bring this up because so many parents and teachers seem determined that their children and students read only “good” books. Whatever criteria these well-meaning adults use to rate books it is too narrow. Youngsters should be encouraged to read with few, if any, restrictions on which books they read. If a teenager reads vampire, Gossip Girl, or science fiction books today, she may very well read Kafka and Proust 10 years from now. In my opinion, school reading programs that require students to choose from an “approved” list do more harm than good. Readers are made by reading, regardless of the books. Awarding gold stars and extra credit for each book read are also bad ideas. The sooner students realize that reading is its own reward the better.
I cannot imagine a life without books. Through books, I have visited Paris, Rome, Oslo, Madrid, Edinburgh, and a dozen other cities around the world. In addition to all the pleasure and learning I have gained from reading, reading has prompted me to try my hand at writing and editing, activities that I love. My love for reading induced me to teach a literature class last year, as I talk about elsewhere in this issue. I am living proof that there are many paths to a life of reading. Let’s encourage our sons and daughters and students to read, by all means, but let’s not regulate what they read.
Welcome to the READING issue. Although our teaching disciplines are quite different in many ways, all educators share a great appreciation for reading and the central role it plays in learning. The seven essays in this issue discuss all sorts of reading programs, projects, and methods for students K-12. Feel free to pass along your reactions and comments to these articles. We are also interested in hearing about your special techniques for teaching and using reading in your classes.
Happy reading,
S. I.