Mar 21, 2023·edited Mar 21, 2023Liked by Nancy Fann-Im
I'm a high school English teacher so I know these conversations well! I totally agree with what you say here about opening up the world (and other worlds!) through fiction and being able to see through another person's eyes and experience the world as they do. Have you heard the phrase /concept "windows and mirrors"? We've found it helpful at work when discussing why stories are so vital. The "windows" are what you're describing here, seeing out of our own world and into someone else's world so we can better understand them; the "mirrors" are when we see people like ourselves reflected back to us and we can better understand ourselves. Both, I think, make us feel less alone. 📚 I've found graphic novels can be a great way to encourage reluctant readers back into fiction - there's so many amazing adaptations as well as originals and the artwork is often incredible. Audiobooks are great too - sometimes the kids who struggle a little to get immersed in a book find it useful to listen to the audiobook and read along with the paper copy. Ithink it helps them to keep their focus too just like when I read a novel aloud to the whole class. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading this today! 😊
Thank you -You convinced me on why I need to keep on encouraging my 14 year old to read fiction.
When I was concerned about my son re-reading the same few series over and over again and not being exposed to new fiction, a librarian once said to me, "It still is reading and he's getting something different every time."
There is some comfort in the predictability of re-reading and they may need that in their developing years to take comfort in that, when everything else around them, is so unpredictable. Likewise, "when schoolwork is in a tougher part of the year", the librarian commented, she notices "the students tend to pick lighter books to lighten the brain work a little."
Some food for thought as we continue to support our children.
Great piece, found myself nodding at several points.
It's funny, I have a 2.5 year old and I've already started to notice a dip with her interest in books. It's definitely still there, but now that she's been exposed to screens a bit more, she's far more likely to request Sesame Street or Encanto than she is a book. 2.5 is definitely still early, no doubt, but she loved-loved-loved books from, I don't know, six months old, and wanted them read/flipped through all the time.
Some days, all it takes is a suggestion from myself or my wife (i.e., "What if we read this book instead?"), but, on days where my self-doubt is a bit stronger, I take it pretty hard, for the reasons you bring up here. I really want her to love reading. I think she will, and that the best course of action for now is just to chill haha. But it's something I do think about all the time.
It also made me think about a recent New Yorker piece: "The End of the English Major". And how interest in literature is changing, at least at the collegiate level, and where younger generations tend to think it fits in greater society. Or, if it does at all. Here's a link to it, in case anyone is interested: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/the-end-of-the-english-major
So very true and a good reminder as I haven’t read fiction for a while.
If it’s any consolation, all 3 of my boys stopped reading as young teens but are avid readers again now. I have sent them your words of your actual letter to your son. It’s as relevant now to us as adults I think.
How beautiful, Nancy. Thank you so much for sharing. What a different world it would be, indeed, if we did more of that perspective-taking. You've convinced me that reading fiction is a great way to do that. I love memoirs for the thrill of getting inside people's heads and learning about myself through the challenges they've overcome IRL. But I totally see how fiction can do that in even truer ways. It reminds me of my high school English teacher talking about The Things They Carried...how even if the stories didn't all happen as they were told, they were TRUE nonetheless. Thank you for being vulnerable here, and letting YOUR readers into YOUR mind. You are a gem.
I'm a high school English teacher so I know these conversations well! I totally agree with what you say here about opening up the world (and other worlds!) through fiction and being able to see through another person's eyes and experience the world as they do. Have you heard the phrase /concept "windows and mirrors"? We've found it helpful at work when discussing why stories are so vital. The "windows" are what you're describing here, seeing out of our own world and into someone else's world so we can better understand them; the "mirrors" are when we see people like ourselves reflected back to us and we can better understand ourselves. Both, I think, make us feel less alone. 📚 I've found graphic novels can be a great way to encourage reluctant readers back into fiction - there's so many amazing adaptations as well as originals and the artwork is often incredible. Audiobooks are great too - sometimes the kids who struggle a little to get immersed in a book find it useful to listen to the audiobook and read along with the paper copy. Ithink it helps them to keep their focus too just like when I read a novel aloud to the whole class. Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading this today! 😊
Thank you -You convinced me on why I need to keep on encouraging my 14 year old to read fiction.
When I was concerned about my son re-reading the same few series over and over again and not being exposed to new fiction, a librarian once said to me, "It still is reading and he's getting something different every time."
There is some comfort in the predictability of re-reading and they may need that in their developing years to take comfort in that, when everything else around them, is so unpredictable. Likewise, "when schoolwork is in a tougher part of the year", the librarian commented, she notices "the students tend to pick lighter books to lighten the brain work a little."
Some food for thought as we continue to support our children.
Great piece, found myself nodding at several points.
It's funny, I have a 2.5 year old and I've already started to notice a dip with her interest in books. It's definitely still there, but now that she's been exposed to screens a bit more, she's far more likely to request Sesame Street or Encanto than she is a book. 2.5 is definitely still early, no doubt, but she loved-loved-loved books from, I don't know, six months old, and wanted them read/flipped through all the time.
Some days, all it takes is a suggestion from myself or my wife (i.e., "What if we read this book instead?"), but, on days where my self-doubt is a bit stronger, I take it pretty hard, for the reasons you bring up here. I really want her to love reading. I think she will, and that the best course of action for now is just to chill haha. But it's something I do think about all the time.
It also made me think about a recent New Yorker piece: "The End of the English Major". And how interest in literature is changing, at least at the collegiate level, and where younger generations tend to think it fits in greater society. Or, if it does at all. Here's a link to it, in case anyone is interested: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/06/the-end-of-the-english-major
So very true and a good reminder as I haven’t read fiction for a while.
If it’s any consolation, all 3 of my boys stopped reading as young teens but are avid readers again now. I have sent them your words of your actual letter to your son. It’s as relevant now to us as adults I think.
Thank you for the reminder
How beautiful, Nancy. Thank you so much for sharing. What a different world it would be, indeed, if we did more of that perspective-taking. You've convinced me that reading fiction is a great way to do that. I love memoirs for the thrill of getting inside people's heads and learning about myself through the challenges they've overcome IRL. But I totally see how fiction can do that in even truer ways. It reminds me of my high school English teacher talking about The Things They Carried...how even if the stories didn't all happen as they were told, they were TRUE nonetheless. Thank you for being vulnerable here, and letting YOUR readers into YOUR mind. You are a gem.