And so it was Book Week Part Two

Huge congratulations and thank you to Joanne O'Mara (Associate Professor in Education, Deakin University) for her article in The Conversation about Book Week and dressing up and reading - YES reading!

Here are a few of her points that I really want to champion - especially the parts I have presented in bold print.

• In the scramble for costumes, which can add to the work of already stressed parents and carers, the point of Book Week – for kids to fall in love with reading – can get lost.
• In fact, a vast body of research evidence shows what’s crucial to building a love of reading is allowing children the time and freedom to read what interests them.
• Extensive research shows reading for pleasure improves young people’s overall reading skills, as well as test outcomes.
• Creating a culture of reading in school can help children fall in love with reading, where children read books they choose themselves for their own pleasure.
• Some schools provide a time and place for silent reading as part of the school day, but sadly this is not always the case.
• Providing time for sustained, self-selected reading is important, as many children do not read for pleasure outside school time.
• Finding a book they love, with help from another child, a teacher, or librarian, can help a child to develop the habit of reading. (I would add Teacher-Librarian to this list)

In my first post about Book Week 2023 I talked about an opinion piece in our Sydney Morning Herald. Then this lates one appeared in my social media feed.  I have been talking about the issues raised by Joanne O'Mara on this blog since I first started in 2008. Here is a recent post I wrote in response to an item in our Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year. And here is one from 2022. 

TIME (Joanne O'Mara uses this word five times)

CHOICE (if you have a school library filled with books readers will have so much choice)

A READING CULTURE (and a school library with a Teacher-Librarian)

SUSTAINED SILENT READING TO DEVELOP READING STAMINA

ACCESS TO BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS AND ADULTS WHO READ THEM TOO

Read more about Donalyn Miller here. Read more about raising a reader here. 

Joanne O'Mara concludes: So this Book Week, don’t stress about the costume, and don’t worry about what the other mums or dads are sewing or buying.  Just let your kid read what they want and enjoy it together.