A book review of Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer’s Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits by Donalyn Miller with Susan Kelley
Stars: ****
Jossey-Bass (2013)
Teaching Reading
304 pages
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Summary: In Reading in the Wild, reading expert Donalyn Miller continues the conversation that began in her bestselling book, The Book Whisperer. While The Book Whisperer revealed the secrets of getting students to love reading, this book, written with reading teacher Susan Kelley, describes how to truly instill lifelong “wild” reading habits in our students.
Based, in part, on survey responses from adult readers as well as students, Reading in the Wild offers solid advice and strategies on how to develop, encourage, and assess five key reading habits that cultivate a lifelong love of reading. Also included are strategies, lesson plans, management tools, and comprehensive lists of recommended books. Copublished with Editorial Projects in Education, publisher of Education Week and Teacher magazine, this book is packed with ideas for helping students build capacity for a lifetime of “wild” reading.
Reading in the Wild
This is the second book by Donalyn Miller about reading. I reviewed The Book Whisperer in 2010 and was so happy to see her second book at my local library.
These books are written to teachers and I’m not a teacher (well I’m a homeschool mom now but not a classroom teacher.) However I found lots to enjoy in this book.
Each chapter is a way that wild readers (those who read on their own, not just when it’s required) make time for books. This includes things such as dedicating time to read or sharing books with other readers or showing reading preferences.
She offers examples from her own classrooms on the difference between wild readers and those who only read when they are made to. Although most of the kids in her classrooms end up being wild readers because of her enthusiasm for books and ability to encourage kids to read.
She shares ways that you can inspire kids to want to read, find the right book and want to share with others.
There are 5 appendices including the reader’s notebook sheets she uses with her class, reading habits reflections, assessments, surveys and a list of her student’s favourite titles and series.
Although she is talking to teachers with a full class, I found some things to try with my homeschool.
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