children’s literacy

This is the first post in what will become a regular monthly feature on my blog, “In The Spotlight.” During the last full week of each month, I will devote all three regular posts to spotlighting the work of one particular author or organization, or will focus on one particular topic. This inaugural “In The Spotlight” week features a double focus (plus a bonus!) One day last spring while I waited to board a plane in Minneapolis, I sat reading Emma Walton Hamilton’s book Raising Bookworms: How to Get Your Kids Reading for Pleasure and Empowerment. A man sitting near me got my attention by asking, “Are you a teacher?” (No, although I certainly considered teaching as an option.) He then said, “I wish I’d had that book when my son was growing up.” He told me that when his son was very small, he loved books. He loved being read to, he loved reading – until he got to school, where somehow he got the message that real boys don’t like reading. The man in the airport told me, with more than a tinge of regret in his voice, that his son was only now starting to read for enjoyment again. His son is 30. I, too, wish that Raising Bookworms had been available to that man to counteract the wrong thinking that so influenced his son.