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Kathryn
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 7:25pm | IP Logged
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Not sure this is the right forum for "Living Literature" but Nancy's post about the Diary of the Wimpy Kids book made me remember that I've wanted to post this for some time. No comment on that particular series since my son does own those. 
So, the question has been debated for years I suppose that "to get a kid reading, have them read ANYTHING". Anything? Really? I've never favored that argument. I'd rather they not read at all than read  stuff. And my def. of that would be books that encourage selfish behavior, disrespectful attitudes and talk etc. Not sure I would consider any "twaddle" to be unworthy. If it's just fluff but doesn't have underlying tones or language I find offensive then I'm ok. I'm just perplexed that educators and librarians actually encourage reading some of the stuff that's out there these days.
What are your thoughts?
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Kathryn in TX
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 7:37pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn wrote:
| So, the question has been debated for years I suppose that "to get a kid reading, have them read ANYTHING". Anything? Really? I've never favored that argument. I'd rather they not read at all than read stuff. |
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Nope....not anything here. I will go to the ends of the earth to find non-twaddle material that "grabs them" and gets them to read and enjoy it. There is just SO MANY OPTIONS FOR NON-TWADDLE!!!@#$%^&^%$#@ SO MUCH!
But, def. not "anything" here. No way!!
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jawgee
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 7:45pm | IP Logged
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I'm with you, Kathryn! I'd rather they read less than read some of the stuff that is popular nowadays!
(Not speaking specifically of the Wimpy Kid series. My DS owns those, too).
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Monica
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Grace&Chaos
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I agree with Suzanne, I'll do tons of research to find something that will grab their attention and enjoy what they're reading. There are so many wonderful books out there, I know we will never find or read them all. But I can help keep the twaddle out. 
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 8:41pm | IP Logged
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I'm a devoted fan of Jim Trelease, author of the acclaimed book, The Read-Aloud Handbook. In his book, Trelease argues that any reading - even comics - is better than no reading at all, and he backs his statement up with statistics.
So, I'd have to say that I'd cope with twaddle if it were absolutely necessary.
BUT...my personal experience is that if you read aloud to children from a young age and expose them to living books, they may read some twaddle here and there, but they can definitely tell the difference between the Twaddle Kids and the Penderwicks, for example. Children gravitate to rich language, vivid imagery and gorgeous illustrations.
There are so many, many wonderful books out there. It's definitely worth the time to 1) research and 2) read aloud, if necessary, to "hook" your children on good, living books.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 9:12pm | IP Logged
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I would agree there's a difference between BAD books and twaddle/fluff.
I mean.. if I wouldn't want my child to listen to a conversation about the subject (or with the language) in a bad book, then why would I want to have them read it.
no, I just can't say reading anything is ok.. sure it might help with their reading.. but it's not worth it to expose them to BAD things.. and there's a lot out there that's really bad for you.. not just bad writing.. not just fluff and nonsense.. but things that are morally wrong.
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 9:19pm | IP Logged
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totally agree about comics....they aren't twaddle...well, not ALL of them, anyway! There are lots of "great comics" totally appropriate and good and helpful for kids....
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Suzanne in ID
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 9:23pm | IP Logged
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My ds has a cool comic book about the life of St. Paul...just an example of "wholesome" comics...
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 10:24pm | IP Logged
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Oh yes.....there are some fantastic comic type books (I believe they are technically referred to as....ahem...graphic novels...  )
Take for example The Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact!!! Love these!!
Kathryn wrote:
| So, the question has been debated for years I suppose that "to get a kid reading, have them read ANYTHING". Anything? Really? |
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Nope. Not here either. We are very blessed (in this day and age) to have such an ABUNDANCE of fantastic, rich books to choose from for early readers to feast on!!! I go out of my way to make sure there are a variety of these living, wholesome, literary books available to every reader, especially the new readers, in our home.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 11 2011 at 10:47pm | IP Logged
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I guess we've had it easy...even when ds was in Catholic school, he came home with worthwhile reading assignments, and we did read-alouds from age 6 weeks until ds was in 11th grade or so, so my two really enjoy a good read. Dd is in a homeschool book club now, which has encouraged her to read more on her own.
I am mega-guilty of strewing library books all over the house that relate to topics we're studying (especially science, art and history). You never know when a child will pick up an attractive book and open it up...
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CrunchyMom
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I think that there are a ton of things that are more edifying to do than read junk. There isn't anything about reading in and of itself that makes it "good ."
I admit I've never researched it or read the book Nancy references, but is there any evidence that this sort of approach leads to stronger readers who read real books later on?
I have seen this attitude so abused in libraries, as if volume of reading (ie summer programs) is the emphasis and much more important than quality. Well, that, and I'm not sure that some librarians would know a quality children's book if it bit them. 
I look back at my childhood, and I was a voracious reader, and I read so much junk, but everyone thought it was great that I was just reading. No one ever tried to steer me to better things, which I think I was craving. Perhaps that is a different situation than a child who won't otherwise read, but I can't really see The Babysitter's Club (actually more innocent than a lot of the garbage out there) instilling a lifelong love of literature in anyone. If It leads to reading at all, I think it is more likely to turn you into one of those people who has a huge box of Harlequin novels to dump every time you have a yard sale.
But, I'd have to agree about comics not being all bad. My oldest got TinTin for his birthday, and he is working hard to be able to read it independently, and really, the vocabulary in comics is often more advanced than the average children's book. It's so much less twaddly than a lot of the stuff I see in the children's section of the library.
I think there are levels of twaddle. I like to read some things that are twaddle-ish and lighter compared to great books, but I'm not reading grocery store romances, yk? I think some people think that reading the equivalent of a grocery store romance is somehow better than not reading at all. I don't agree.
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Gloria JMJ
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Funny this should come up My boys have been Hardy Boys readers (reluctantly on my part  ) and when I found out that my library actually had Tin-Tin, I borrowed all 4. Of course the boys got their usual couple of HB books too and we took them home to enjoy. Well, my 15yo said he was reading Tin-Tin and put it down for a minute to pick up HB and thought, "What am I doing?!" and picked up Tin-Tin again Then my 12yo told me that HB holds no more interest for him because "It's just the same story over and over again." I'm so glad that they are able to tell the difference between twaddle and literature, even though it took a 'graphic novel' to help them see it .
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JennGM
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I screen heavily, and fill the library bag with all sorts of suggested books. My oldest is an avid reader, and he goes on "author binges", like I do. If I like one book, I try to find anything else by the same author. He is finishing Clyde Robert Bulla, and today he is on a Jean Fritz binge.
I don't mind Hardy Boys too much, as long as they are not the revised ones after 1980--those are so watered-down and PC. I know they were a production line series, as so many of these. I wouldn't consider those series as "bad" literature, as compared to Captain Underpants, for example, just not great literature. I find those Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys have a few merits.
But we love Tin-Tin and Asterix. We started Tin-Tin pretty young and have been totally hooked.
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Angie Mc
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With my dd, the avid reader, I allowed her to read and read and read. She had (still does) have a natural radar for "the good" in writing. She's a journalism major with a Lit minor now.
My boys? Another story. Since they don't read as much, I do ask them to read what is generally considered excellent and not waste what little reading time they have on less.
So...bad reading or no reading? I say...good reading first. If there is extra time, then lesser stuff is fine. We do the same thing with movies, music, etc.
Oh, I just thought that it has really helped to communicate with and respect each child's interests. My oldest has read so many baseball books that he is an expert. Becoming an expert in an area is a form of excellence.
Love,
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Kathryn
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| Posted: Aug 16 2011 at 11:20pm | IP Logged
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So, I opened my copy of Honey for a Child's Heart tonight and (coincidentally?) it fell open to Chapter 3: What Makes a Good Book? The first line reads, "C.S. Lewis said that no book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally worth reading at the age of fifty."
I had to run in here and post because I immediately thought of this topic. It does seem may be sometimes it's a lot of work to find quality reading material but there are so many resources to guide us.
Back to reading....
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Kathryn in TX
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Erin
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Great quote 
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: Is "bad" reading better than "no" reading
