Reading for pleasure urgently requires a higher profile to raise
attainment and increase children's engagement as self-motivated and
socially interactive readers. Building Communities of Engaged Readers
highlights the concept of 'Reading Teachers' who are not only
knowledgeable about texts for children, but are aware of their own
reading identities and prepared to share their enthusiasm and
understanding of what being a reader means. Sharing the processes of
reading with young readers is an innovative approach to developing new
generations of readers.
Examining the interplay between the 'will and the skill' to read, the
book distinctively details a reading for pleasure pedagogy and
demonstrates that reader engagement is strongly influenced by
relationships between children, teachers, families and communities.
Importantly it provides compelling evidence that reciprocal reading
communities in school encompass:
- a shared concept of what it means to be a reader in the 21st century;
- considerable teacher and child knowledge of children's literature and
other texts;
- pedagogic practices which acknowledge and develop diverse reader
identities;
- spontaneous 'inside-text talk' on the part of all members;
- a shift in the focus of control and new social spaces that encourage
choice and children's rights as readers.
Written by experts in the literacy field and illustrated throughout with
examples from the project schools, it is essential reading for all those
concerned with improving young people's enjoyment of and attainment in
reading.
