Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever - Hardcover

Fox, Mem

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151006245 ISBN 13: 9780151006243

Publisher: Harvest, 2001

Synopsis

In this revised and updated edition of Reading Magic, bestselling author and literacy expert Mem Fox reveals the incredible emotional and intellectual impact reading aloud to children has on their ability to learn to read.With passion and humor, Fox speaks of when, where, and why to read aloud and demonstrates how to read aloud to best effect and get the most out of a read-aloud session. She discusses the three secrets of reading, offers guidance on defining and choosing good books, and — for this edition — includes two chapters on boy readers and phonics, a foreword, and a list of "Twenty Books That Children Love." Filled with practical advice, activities, and inspiring true read-aloud miracles, Reading Magic is a turn-to classic for educators and parents who would like to know more about how children learn to read — and how we can instill in them a lifelong love of books.

About this title

About the Authors

MEM FOX is the author of many acclaimed books, including Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, Possum Magic, Koala Lou, Time for Bed, and, for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia.

JUDY HORACEK is the creator of the cartoons in Mem Fox's Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She also writes and illustrates books of her own and creates cartoons that are featured regularly in national magazines and newspapers in Australia. She lives in Dickson, Australia.

Reviews

An introduction for parents about reading aloud to their children. Fox explains that babies are born learners, discusses the importance of books in the home, and stresses the value of a read-aloud ritual. She also includes a chapter on how to read aloud, which novice readers will find useful. Anecdotal stories are widespread, and "success stories" might intimidate parents whose children do not learn to read by age five, even with mom or dad reading aloud to them. Theories provided do not include reference to supporting research. In the chapter "Birth, Brains, and Beyond," Fox writes that "having deep-and-meaningful conversations with our kids.-[has] also been linked positively to IQ development" without reference to her source for this information. Proponents of phonics-based reading instruction will take issue with the author's "whole stories" approach. There are no age-appropriate reading lists for busy parents, and there is no bibliography for the works cited in the text. Libraries that already own Jim Trelease's The Read-Aloud Handbook (Penguin, 1995) or Bernice E. Cullinan's Read to Me: Raising Kids Who Love to Read (Scholastic, 1992) will find this new title an additional purchase.

Shauna Yusko, King County Library System, Bellevue, WA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Two books for adults pay tribute to children's books and to the artists and writers who create them. In Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever, bestselling picture book author Mem Fox extols the benefits of reading to preschoolers even newborns and gives suggestions for helping children learn to read by themselves. Line drawings by Judy Horacek inject some levity.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

This rah-rah book on the benefits of reading aloud to children does not present many new ideas. People interested in reading aloud are probably already intuitively doing the things recommended here. It is not clear for whom Fox, author of numerous children's books and adult books dealing with literacy, wrote this work. Perhaps for those poor souls who've never been read to and don't know how to begin. Fox offers tips on how to read most effectively, reminding parents that they should always be playful. Comments about reading as it is taught in school and the influence of television are well taken. Unfortunately, she dispenses with the whole word vs. phonics debate in one paragraph. There is no documentation to support any of her assertions regarding how children learn, nor is there a bibliography. A marginal purchase for public libraries. Margaret Cardwell, Christian Brothers Univ., Memphis, TN
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a cheerful, chatty style that's totally jargon-free, children's picture-book author Fox makes a passionate case for reading aloud to children "as long as they'll let us, even after they can finally read themselves." She tells us how to do it well and why. Her small, spacious book is no pedagogical tome, although she does quote experts when it suits her. She's fiercely critical of the phonics-only approach to literacy and the "See Spot run" kind of basal readers. Instead, she conveys her wild enthusiasm for reading aloud the best children's books, reading them over and over again, for the story and the music, the bonding between child and reader, the love of words that is the best step into reading. Her examples are personal, many from her own family and friends and from her own books, and occasional cartoons by Judy Horacek add to the fun. Give this to new parents and also to the many teachers and children's librarians who will appreciate the clear, joyful talk about what they do. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvest
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151006245
• ISBN 13: 9780151006243
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Horacek Judy
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176