Audiobooks are excellent tools to help students build literacy skills as well as improve listening, writing, and vocabulary competencies. In many shared or independent reading situations, audiobooks offer support to reluctant and struggling readers, special-needs students, and English-language learners. They are also embraced by voracious readers.…

This article describes a pilot study conducted with 10 identified avid adolescent readers who completed the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) (Pitcher, Albright, DeLaney, Walker, Seunarienesingh, & Moggie, 2007) that includes both a survey to determine students' self-concept and value of reading and an interview that sheds light on what…

Although scholars have long advocated the use of informational texts in the primary grades, gaps and inconsistencies in research have produced conflicting reports on how teachers used these texts in the primary curriculum, and how primary students dealt with them during instruction and on their own (e.g., Saul & Dieckman, 2005). Thus, to add…

This interview study is an exploration of the popular cultural and lifelong literacy practices of adult readers of comic books. Focusing on 4 participants from a pool of 12, the researcher used Kvale's (1996) method of meaning interpretation to analyze utterances and speak to the various uses reading held for these people. Aaron, Kyle, Peter, and…

A central goal of most library media programs is to inspire lifelong readers, who recognize and value the cognitive, affective, and even physical experiences they obtain through reading. Unfortunately, national surveys have reported that reading for pleasure is on the decline, especially among children and young adults. Many young people are…

The author explores how the use of joke books can promote fluency in young readers. One young girl's fluency improved measurably, and her engagement and motivation to read the particular kind of text involved played a significant role. (Contains 2 tables.)

This paper presents tips that parents can use to help their children become proficient readers. They are: (1) Talk to your children and then listen; (2) Create a language-rich environment; (3) Read with your children; (4) Help students find reading materials (5) When giving gifts or asked for gift ideas for your child, recommend books, magazine…

In Botswana, it is common to hear the lament that there is no culture of reading. We aim to contribute to the development of more specific understanding of a culture of reading by reporting on information gathered from teachers who attended workshops we offered titled "Teachers as Readers AND Readers as Teachers: Creating Young Readers and…

This article offers a savvy guide to the best graphic nonfiction books for middle schoolers. These include: "Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography" by Andrew Hefler; "Clan Apis" by Jay Hosler; and "Corpses and Skeletons: The Science of Forensic Anthropology" by Rob Shone.

This article offers a savvy guide to the best graphic nonfiction books for teens. Many of these titles work well with teens, offering them quick access to facts and an enjoyable encounter with books and information literacy. In putting together this list of essential titles for high schoolers, the author searched for graphic nonfiction that is…

What kinds of books do children want to read? And how can a teacher find those books? The author provides some ideas for interesting new books in the categories of graphic novels, humorous adventures, poetry, and books about math.

Offering a separate, popular reading collection can be a valuable public service in academic libraries. Popular reading is also known as leisure reading, recreational reading, and reading for pleasure. These phrases are synonyms for an interest in reading bestsellers, mysteries, romance novels, biographies, graphic novels, humor, self-help, or…

This study investigated the effects of reward proximity and choice of reward on the reading motivation of third-grade students as measured by indicators of task persistence. The major finding from this study was that students who were given a book as a reward and students who received no reward were more motivated to engage in subsequent reading…

It is evident that many schools across the country are sweeping aside the fun and invigorating parts of education in order to prepare students for standardized tests. More and more classroom teachers are finding that they have less time to assign creative, hands-on projects and tasks to their students. On the elementary level, for example,…

Read-alouds nurture language and literacy practices required for a successful schooling experience. They motivate children to read more and nurture language expression across the curriculum. Read-alouds not only provide content for learning, they also introduce authors and genres; model ways of reading, types of writing, and other ways of…