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<DIV>This book offers creative strategies, tips, and activities to help young people discover - or rediscover - the joy and empowerment of reading.</DIV>
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A quote from B. F. Skinner sums up the goal of this book: “We shouldn’t teach great books; we should teach a love of reading.” Hamilton, a prolific children’s book author, believes that success in reading—or in any endeavor, for that matter—depends on the pleasure that results. After beginning with some disturbing statistics about the decline in American reading habits, Hamilton lays out ideas, strategies, and book lists that aim to rescue reading from the deadening clutches of school assignments. Traditionalists will bristle at Hamilton’s kitchen-sink approach; she advocates nearly anything that can connect reading with joy, including relevant movies, TV, comics, games, snacks, even staying up late. Heavy with bulleted lists, the book invites browsing for the section most relevant to your child’s age and preferences, and though the content is appropriately broad, Hamilton occasionally tackles specifics (her concern with the teen “problem novel” is particularly illuminating). This is a great tool for parents hoping to instill in their child a love of the printed word. --Daniel Kraus
About the Author
<DIV>Emma Walton Hamilton is an author, editor, educator and theatre professional. She has co-authored 16 books for children of all ages with her mother, Julie Andrews, and serves as Editorial Director for the Julie Andrews Collection publishing program. One of the founders of Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, New York, Emma served as Co-Artistic Director and subsequently Director of Education and Programming for Young Audiences for seventeen years. She continues to act as Education Consultant for the Theatre. Emma speaks to groups around the country as an arts and literacy advocate. She has been a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts, a National Ambassador for The Broadway League's "Kids' Night on Broadway", and a trustee for the Morriss Center School in Bridgehampton, New York.</DIV>
Product Details
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Beech Tree Books; 1st edition (December 1, 2008)
EMMA WALTON HAMILTON is a best-selling children's book author, editor, educator and arts and literacy advocate. She has co-authored over twenty children's books with her mother, Julie Andrews, seven of which have been on the New York Times best-seller list, including "The Very Fairy Princess" series (#1 NY Times Bestseller), "Julie Andrews' Collection Of Poems, Songs And Lullabies" (illustrated by James McMullan); the "Dumpy The Dump Truck" series; "Simeon's Gift"; "The Great American Mousical" and "THANKS TO YOU - Wisdom From Mother And Child" (#1 New York Times Bestseller).
Emma's own book for parents and caregivers, "Raising Bookworms: Getting Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment," premiered as a #1 best-seller on Amazon.com in the literacy category and won a Parent's Choice Gold Medal, silver medals from the Living Now and IPPY Book Awards, and an Honorable Mention from ForeWord Magazine's Best Book of the Year.
Emma is a faculty member for Stony Brook Southampton's MFA in Creative Writing and Literature Program, where she teaches children's literature courses and serves as Director of the annual Southampton Children's Literature Conference. She is also Executive Director of their Young American Writers Project (YAWP), an inter-disciplinary writing program for middle and high school students on Long Island.
As the creator and host of the "Children's Book Hub" membership site (www.childrensbookhub.com), Emma provides resources, information and support for children's book authors and illustrators world-wide. She is also the creator of "Just Write for Kids!", an online course in writing picture books (www.justwriteforkids.com).
Emma serves as the Editorial Director for The Julie Andrews Collection publishing program, dedicated to quality books for young readers that nurture the imagination and celebrate a sense of wonder, and works as a freelance children's book editor, providing editorial evaluations, line-editing services and one-to-one mentoring. Her blog about writing for children, Emmasaries, can be found at http://www.emmawaltonhamilton.com/blog.
A Grammy Award-winning voiceover artist, Emma has provided voicing for several children's audiobooks, including Gitty Daneshvari's "School of Fear," Patrick McDonnell's "Me...Jane," Nancy Tafuri's "All Kinds of Kisses," and "Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies" (2010 Grammy Award, Best Spoken Word Album for Children,) as well as for radio, television, theater and industrial spots.
Emma is a member of the Author's Guild, The Dramatists' Guild, The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the International Reading Association, SAG, AEA, AFTRA and ASCAP. She has served on the theater panel for the New York State Council on the Arts, as a National Ambassador for The Broadway League's "Kids' Night on Broadway", and as a trustee for the Morriss Center School in Bridgehampton, NY, and the Center for Therapeutic Riding of the East End (CTREE). An accomplished public speaker, Emma addresses arts and literary conferences, schools, universities and other groups on a regular basis about the value of, and synergy between, the arts and literacy.
She lives in Sag Harbor, NY, with her husband, producer/actor Stephen Hamilton and their two children.
For more information, visit www.emmawaltonhamilton.com.
I really enjoyed this book. I actually read it in a day because there is a lot of repetition of technique. I enjoyed the age-by-age recommendations the most. Her premise is that we can get our kids reading by building associations of warmth/cuddling/joy with reading. I love that she encourages us to have our kids read in bed (one of my fondest memories of reading as a child). This is a book I would recommend to any parents and teachers. I will be recommending it to the parents of my students as well.
Raising bookworms by Emma Walton Hamilton is one of those rare books that you discover that will appeal to parents, grandparents and educators. Emma shows clearly how to foster a love of reading at different ages and stages carefully explaining the background in down to earth language without being too simplistic but using terminology familiar to educators. She takes each age group and after explaining ideas to foster reading she lists out her favourite books. This was an instant success with us because as most parents that read and love books you're always on the lookout for the next book to capture that next wave of enthusiasm or start a new interest.
Another positive is that you don't have to read the book from cover to cover. The chapters are short and this book could easily be read in one sitting, if you needed. However, I have boys in three areas so read only those areas; babies and toddler, preschool and Elementary years. I'll read the middle school and beyond later on. Yes, there is a lot of repetition of ideas because each section can stand alone, but the repetition helps with the continuity of thought to be reminded about the big picture of reading and what you're trying to develop.
I wouldn't encourage cover to cover reading but frequent dips especially if you feel at a reading loss or you've lost momentum. The sections I read gave new ideas and reminders that I could apply immediately especially the read aloud sections.
I was disappointed that much more wasn't made of developing reluctant boy readers and their parents and counteracting the wave of boys switching off to books during the Elementary years in the frequently asked questions section. I did enjoy the frequent quotes.
I'm a huge bookworm myself, and love to introduce books to others, especially children, so when I came across Raising Bookworms, I just had to read it. Ms. Hamilton has written a jewel here, which I encourage all teachers, parents, grandparents, and friends of children to read. If there is only one book I would recommend to educators of young people, it would be this one. It is expertly written, easy to read, and offers a ton of ideas that encourage a love of the written word. I will refer back to it many times, I'm sure. What a joy to find such a helpful book as this one!
