Read Grow Inspire Book Week Slogan 2023 (Part 3) READ

 READ    WHY?

Were you born to read? I hope so. This is a great book to start any discussion about reading, why we read and the power of reading. Here is the blurb for Born to Read which is out of print but you will find it in a library or on Youtube.

"the narrative chronicles the amazing successes of Sam--thanks to his early love of books. The story ranges from Sam's infancy, when his mother reads him a picture book ("then another, then another, then another . . . such a perfect, patient mother"), to school age, when he cleverly uses some of his favorite books to rid his town of the rampaging baby giant, Grundaloon. 'Here's my secret, ' Sam decreed. 'Readers win and winners read.' Marc Brown's playful pictures joyously complement this fun-to-read, upbeat story."

Sam certainly is an inspiration!

There are activity pages from the publisher here that you could use or adapt for your students.

If your students are older read a poem from Read! Read! Read! by Amy Ludwig Van Derwater and Ryan O'Rourke. Here there are 23 inspirational poems to explore. In Pretending  a small girl remembers how in the beginning she felt reading was hard, but for days, weeks, months she practised, then

"Learning to read 

felt like  

learning to fly.  

And one day  

I took off. 

I was swooping  

alone 

over words 

once confusing 

but now 

all my own.”

The artwork in this book is also inspiring.

Image copyright Ryan O’Rourke, 2017. Courtesy of WordSong Publishing.

Image copyright Ryan O’Rourke, 2017. Courtesy of WordSong Publishing.

Another source you could explore as provocation with older students is the poem English by T.S.Wyatt which explores the pronunciation of so many unusual English words. The students will need to see the poem to appreciate it fully. There are many versions on line that you can download. Students will laugh at this poem, only if they can read it. That is the power of it. You need to be a reader!

There is a collection of picture books about reading here, so if you cannot access those above you may choose something from here. They all have the power of reading as their theme. If I was a classroom teacher who read a book day I would choose five books to read. 

1. Born to Read by Judy Sierra and Marc Brown

2. A Story for Bear  by Dennis Haseley and Jim LaMarche (click on title for activities. The last one is very special *)

3. No Buddy Like a Book  by Allan Wolf and Brian Farley

4. Rectangle Time by Pamela Paul and Becky Cameron

5. When You Open a Book  by Caroline Derlatka and Sara Ugolotti 

Or read a biography or a book about learning to read such as

1. The Oldest Student  by Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora

2. Mr George Baker  by Amy Hest and Jon J. Muth

3. Thank You, Mr Falkner by Patricia Pollacco

4. The Girl Who Buried Her Dreams in a Can by Tererai Trent 

5. More than Anything Else by Marie Bradby and Chris K. Soenpiet

 * leave your students a collection of books like woman left bear. Put down  a cloth blanket and on it put some pinecones, leaves and a stack of books from your classroom library. To make it extra special, get a realistic looking grizzly bear plushy and leave a handwritten note from bear, maybe something along the lines of “To _____’s class – Bear would love it if you continued to read to me this year.