Wolfing Down Books

by ucumari www.flickr.com

Several years ago, a group of teachers and I had the distinct pleasure of having a phone conference with Gary Paulsen.  Our school librarian had organized it for us and Paulsen was on the "interview cycle" because he was promoting his new book Nightjohn.  It was a wonderful and insightful chat and I was thrilled because Paulsen was, and still is, one of my favorite adolescent literature authors.

There was a lot about that call that helped me become a better teacher, but one memory applies here . . .Paulsen advocated for teaching kids to be voracious readers.  He said, "Teach them to read like a wolf eats." 

I've shared that with my students for years . . . "Read like a wolf eats." In other words, read like your life depends on it . . . read as much as you possibly can . . . gobble up books like they're your last meal, and so on.  I've been a book-pusher for several years . . . I sell books like a person selling hot dogs at a baseball game.  I do mini book talks whenever I finish a book, even if it's not a book that the kids would read.  (I think it's critical for them to see me as a voracious reader too.) Invariably, kids start asking, "I just finished this great book, can I share it with the class?"  Every. Year. I don't have to assign book reports, I just model what voracious readers do . . . read and talk about their books.