Young Reluctant Readers listen to "other" adults... - Competency #2

In searching for a blog that was related to my topic of interest, I came across many that were fantastic and were full of wonderful information and ideas to break through to a young reluctant reader. In reading through them, one seemed to really stand out to me. The name of it is: Ink Spells: Twelve Tips for Reluctant Readers.

Link: http://ink-spells.blogspot.com/2010/06/twelve-tips-for-reluctant-readers.html

The part of the blog that really captured my attention was this part of the entry:

...Good daddy that he was, he had allowed her to pick out a host of picture books well below her reading level (tip#5), and they were stationed at the window, alternately looking out at geese and reading about the adventures of D.W.

Knowing that other adults can somehow influence my children in ways I never can, I swept in and announced that I knew of some books that she would like. Books with animals. TALKING animals. MAGICAL TALKING animals. Did she like magical talking animals? Yes, she did.I scooped up a couple Magic Tree House books that Mighty Mite and I had recently consumed, and gave her a pitch (tip#6): "This is a book about magical seals. They don't really talk, but Annie can understand them anyway." She nodded, very slightly, because of course that sounds like an intriguing book, doesn't it? I held up the second one, open to one of the wonderful pencil illustrations inside. "This one has a baby penguin that does something very special to help Annie. But I can't tell you what it is. You have toread it."

She wasn't going to admit that the books were awesome (though she wasn't fooling me), but I do believe they went home from the library with her (tip#7).

Putting the right books in little hands at the right time (tip#8), by whatever means necessary, is a key part of encouraging kids to read. Reluctant readers will be excited by a story, the pictures inside graphic novels (tip#9), or simply that their friends have read it.

I found this blog both helpful and insightful, which was exactly what I was looking for. I was able to find this blog successfully and very easily using Google Blog Search. If you are wanting to know more about how to "crack the code" to reluctant readers, give this blog spot a shot!