Believe it or not, when I was younger I didn’t enjoy reading. I wasn’t good at it and I knew I wasn’t. It didn’t stop there. It really wasn’t until college that I began to feel comfortable reading out loud. And still, I had to look ahead to make sure there weren’t going to be any words I didn’t know how to read.
Because I can totally relate to reluctant readers, I’ve always had a heart/passion for them. This is one of the biggest reasons why I became a reading tutor. I wanted to help kids see themselves as good readers and fall in love it…before college.
Melissa Taylor of Imagination Soup emailed me not too long ago to ask if I’d read her new book, Book Love, and review it here on This Reading Mama*. When I saw that her focus was reluctant readers, I couldn’t pass it up!
After reading her book from cover to cover, these are a few of my favorite things about Book Love:
- The ideas behind the book are deeply based in reading research without sounding like you’re reading the research…in other words, it’s easy to read and very understandable
- She speaks from experience as a teacher and a parent.
- There is an assessment you can do about your own child to narrow down what might be the reason for your child’s reluctance to reading
- She offers fun activities and manipulatives for teaching your child to read, which you can view here
- She never recommends a worksheet. Her reading suggestions out-of-the-box and hands-on, fostering an intrinsic desire to read.
- She has a PHENOMENAL book list at the end of the book, based on your child’s interests (I think this is my favorite part of the book, if I must be completely honest.)
Want to read more about Book Love? The head over to Melissa’s page. You can read others’ reviews and download chapter 1 for free!
*I was given free e-reader edition of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Please read my disclosure policy for further information.
~Becky
thanks! I agonized over those book lists for hours and hours. 🙂
Your agonizing paid off! 🙂