They may have a vested interest in it…but most educators would strongly support the contention of the folks at Scholastic who suggest that you can give the gift of reading this holiday season and turn kids into avid readers by keeping children's books in every room of the home. Local bookstore owner Robin Allen gives a resounding thumbs up to the report as well.
The reason for having more books at home is found in a sneak peek of data from the soon to be released Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report's 6th Edition. Scholastic is the global children's publishing, education and media company.
The new data reveals that children ages 6 to 17 who are frequent readers — those who read books for fun from 5 to 7 days a week — are far more likely to have more books in the home than those who are infrequent readers — children who read books for fun less than one day a week. More than half (52-percent) of frequent readers have more than 100 books at home, while just about three-quarters (73-percent) of infrequent readers have fewer than 100 books.
The sneak peek also reveals where children's books are found in homes nationwide — as well as top book series suggestions from parents.
Robin Allen owns & operates Forever Books in downtown St. Joseph's central business district. She says she is "not surprised at all" at the findings of the report. She tells me, "Children who see books in their house and have personal ownership of books score higher in reading performance." She also says that an ongoing study by a Swedish scientist also released preliminary results recently that suggest "reading a print book versus a digital format is a more enriching experience. Students are better able to recall more aspects of the book's contents and the chronological order of a plot, have a better sense of accomplishment when reading a print book, and are more likely to read more if the physical book is in their sights." Allen also notes, "They also have a sense of ownership with a physical book compared to owning something in a device."
Scholastic's report tells us that, on average, U.S. homes with kids aged 17 and under have 104 children's books, yet more than 6 in 10 families (62-percent) have fewer than 100 children's books in the home. Parents reported that their child's bedroom (85-percent) is the most common place to find children's books in their home. The family or living room (53-percent) and playroom (31-percent) were next in line among common places, but parents also shared that some of them have children's books in their home office (15-percent), dining room (6-percent), bathroom (4-percent) and kitchen (3-percent).
Allen's Forever Books at 312 State Street downtown carries about 4,500 children's books from board books for babies and toddlers, lovely & lively picture books for ages 3 to 8, and books for beginning readers, middle-graders, and teens. They also have a collection of books in science and nature, history, biography, fantasy, and the classics. She's also proud to offer "some wonderful holiday books for all ages."
Allen says her two favorites from the holiday genre are "a charming book for ages 8 to 11 called, A Boy Called Christmas, with wonderful illustrations, and a phenomenal hand-folded pop-up for all ages by artist Robert Sabuda which tells the Christmas story, aptly titled, The Christmas Story."
Scholastic's report says parents of children up through 17 believe every kid should read books about Harry Potter, books by Dr. Seuss, and books like The Magic Tree House and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Forever Books has two new picture books from Michigan author Lisa Wheeler called The Christmas Boot and Dino-Racing. Wheeler was in the house on Luminary night recently, so Forever Books has a few extra signed copies of each of those books. Tomorrow, on Small Business Saturday, South Bend author April Pulley Sayre will be signing her two newest picture books, the lovely Best in Snow and a lively story, Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep. She'll be at Forever Books from 1pm until 3pm on Saturday, November 26th.
Hot sellers locally at Allen's shop include Harry Potter and the Fantastic Beasts books. She also has signed copies of the newest in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Robin's favorite for middle-graders is The Secret Keepers, about a boy who finds an antique pocket watch with secret, but dangerous powers. She has a few signed copies.
Her favorite among the teen genre is The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, and Scythe by Neil Schusterman. Yoon's book is about a couple who meet and fall in love during 12 intense hours in New York City. Robin calls it, "powerful and memorable and speaks to what is going on now in our society." Schusterman's book is "a riveting and thought-provoking science fiction book, where a futuristic Earth is a utopia with no crime or disease and how society handles it all."
If you'd like to help less fortunate readers this holiday season, Forever Books will reprise its annual Angel Tree. You simply pick a tag from the tree, select a book appropriate for the child's age (which they can help you with), and the staff will wrap it and deliver it to the Reading Readiness Center in Benton Harbor. That way, you're putting a new book into the hands of children who most likely have very few books of their own.
