I got an email containing an update from Rita’s Goodreads account. She had just finished reading Shouting at the Rain. She loved it and gave it a five-star rating. Rita is an early-career fifth-grade teacher. She was a student in several of the undergraduate classes that I taught a few years ago, including Methods of Teaching Reading and Children’s Literature. In preservice teacher education classes, I emphasize the importance of teachers being readers. I familiarize my students with NCTE’s position statement on preparing teachers with knowledge of children’s literature. I require all students to open an account on Goodreads and to share their reading lives with the members of the class.
We devoted time at the beginning of each class session to talking about what we were currently reading. Reading Rita’s update made me feel just a little smug. She had clearly embraced the idea of “teacher as reader” and had continued not only to read, but also to keep track of her reading and to share it on Goodreads.
I was impressed that Rita had already read Shouting at the Rain. It was a newly released book, and she had already finished reading it. That showed that she was staying current and seeking out the newest books to share with her middle-grade students. I remembered that Rita had enjoyed Fish in a Tree by the same author when she was in the methods class. I scrolled through the list of some of her recently finished books and noticed a pattern: Amina’s Voice (Khan, 2017), The Friendship War (Clements, 2019), To Night Owl from Dogfish (Sloan and Wolitzer, 2019), Far Away (Graff, 2019), and Ghost (Reynolds, 2016). All the books on her “read shelf” were children’s books for middle-grade readers. I then clicked on Rita’s “Year of Reading.” She read 103 books last year. They were all children’s books, too—not even any professional books.
The NCTE position statement on preparing teachers with knowledge of children’s literature includes a phrase saying that teachers should “commit to leading literate lives.” Doesn’t living a literate life for an adult also mean reading books written for an audience of adult readers? Rita needs to read some “grown-up books,” too. I am sure she would intervene if one of her fifth graders were reading only Elephant and Piggie books. Elephant and Piggie books are a lot of fun, but 10-year-olds need books that will help them further develop as readers and mirror the life experiences of 10-year-olds. Middle school is looming for fifth graders. There are a wide variety of books about middle school that will help provide a preview of those middle school experiences.
Rita seems to be falling into a familiar trap for teachers. She is allowing teaching to consume too much of her life, including her literate life. Here are five reasons why you and Rita should read grown-up books.
Reading grown-up books provides self-care.
Is there anything better than curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee on a Saturday afternoon? Reading lifts your spirits, and it restores and recharges you. Many teachers don’t spend enough time engaged in relaxing and recreational activities. Their to-do lists are long, and evenings and weekends are spent checking things off those lists. I suspect that while Rita was reading Shouting at the Rain, she was jotting down vocabulary words, planning strategy lessons, thinking of books she could pair it with, and considering which of her students would also love it. Spending time reading a book just for her will go a long way toward making her an even better teacher on Monday morning.
Reading grown-up books builds your brain.
Reading an adult book benefits the brain like a good workout benefits the abs and the quads. Reading an adult-level book, a book at your “instructional level,” creates a neurological demand. Parts of the brain that have evolved for other functions, such as vision and language, connect in a specific neural circuit for reading, which makes it work harder (Pugh, 2010). The benefits of this mental workout are keeping your memory sharp, your learning capacity nimble, and your mind hardy (Wolf, 2008). Doesn’t every teacher need a sharp memory, nimble learning capacity, and a hardy mind? If your brain doesn’t have to work so hard—let’s say, because you’re reading a fifth-grade book—it doesn’t reap the same benefits.
Reading grown-up books builds your vocabulary and general knowledge.
We’re teachers. We know that reading builds vocabulary. The more you read, the more words you’re exposed to that will inevitably find their way into your everyday vocabulary. Again, this benefit is going to be much more limited when reading books written for children. Every book that you open welcomes you into another city, region, country, culture, time, or world. Finding out about those places, people, and cultures increases your general knowledge. I learned about Indian “street children” by reading the middle-grade novel The Bridge Home (Venkatraman, 2019). But I gained even more in-depth knowledge about the Indian slum culture and hierarchy by reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers (Boo, 2012). We also know that reading grown-up books helps make you a better writer and speller.
Reading grown-up books increases your understanding and empathy for others.
There is increasing discord in the world. I believe that there would be less strife if we had a better understanding of each other’s values, customs, and beliefs. You don’t have to agree, just understand. I read a couple of books about the values of southern white people: Hillbilly Elegy (Vance, 2016) and White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America (Isenberg, 2016). I learned about the “honor code” that drives the actions and behaviors of many poor southern white people. Understanding and empathy are valuable tools in a teacher’s toolbox.
Reading grown-up books supports strong self-esteem.
Rita read 103 books last year. Even though they were children’s books, it is quite an accomplishment. She should feel proud of herself. According to Pew Research, one in four Americans did not read a single book from 2011 through 2016, not even a children’s book.
In summary, if Rita would devote even one-tenth of her 100-books-a-year goal to reading grown-up books, she’d
- be taking better care of herself,
- have increased brain power,
- have a larger vocabulary and more general knowledge,
- be more empathic and understanding, and
- have increased self-esteem.
All of this would make Rita a better teacher.
How can I encourage Rita to pick up a grown-up book? I can get on Goodreads and recommend a grown-up book that she might like. To inform my recommendation, I could look back at her “read shelf” from before she became a teacher to get an idea about the kinds of books she enjoys.
I can also suggest that she join a book club or even start a book club with a couple of friends. The book club solution could result in 12 grown-up books in a year, leaving 88 slots for middle-grade books.
