Reading for pleasure

Teaching every child to read is only half the story

Josh may be happy with his monster books, but if we want him to love reading beyond a superficial level, we have to give him access to the very best books and language possible, says James Clements…

“We’re not reading that, are we? It’s for babies,” says Josh, summing up the view of most of the class. “Just look at the cover – it’s got a cartoon mole on the front.” Well, it seems my inner city London Year 4 class are not as keen to read The Wind in the Willows as I had hoped. This is going to call for a first class PR job, so I begin the lesson with a monologue extolling the virtues of this classic of children’s literature. I describe the characters, beloved by generations of children. I discuss the beautifully crafted language driving a roller coaster of a plot, racing from the comedic escapades of Mr Toad to quiet moments of poignancy and tenderness. I describe the eternal themes of friendship and the spirit of triumph over adversity that the book encompasses. Josh looks at me, unmoved. “Two words, Mr Clements,” he says, tapping the front cover and smiling. “Cartoon mole.” Josh, like many eight-year-old boys, knows his own mind. Although Josh doesn’t come from a home where reading is particularly valued, his Key Stage 1 teachers have done a brilliant job of teaching him to read, and now he’s working comfortably at the level expected of him for his age. Last year he graduated from his school’s reading scheme to become a ‘free reader’ and as far he’s concerned, that’s it – his reading is sorted. After a year of choosing his own books, Josh knows exactly what he enjoys reading and it is certainly not books about cartoon moles. What Josh likes is looking at pictures of Chelsea players in Matchmagazine. He likes books about war and battles. He likes his books to be short and written in a large font, preferably with a picture of a monster on the front. By Josh’s own admission, these books are not as good as playing Call of Duty on his Xbox, but if he going to be forced to read something, these books are the most bearable. But if Josh can read, surely that’s enough?

Of course teaching every child to read well is vital, but it is only half of the story. To have real success with reading, it’s got to be about helping children to become lifelong readers. That means teaching everyone to read and encouraging a love of reading that burns so strongly that children put down their computer consoles and actually choose to read.

I like a challenge

Developing a love of reading can make a huge difference and its effect on achievement extends right across the curriculum. In fact, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development states that: ‘Developing a love of reading can be more important for a child’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic background.’ Unlocking the world of books can have a profound influence on children’s future lives. Every child deserves the chance to become a reader, and if we’re going to get every child to enjoy reading, it has to be schools that are the driving force. So, why does it matter if Josh doesn’t want to read The Wind in the Willows? If he is happy reading his monster books, isn’t that enough? There are two aspects to enjoying reading. There is the one where Josh gets to read as many monster and football books as he can and we make time in the school day for him to do that because we know it won’t happen at home. Once Josh can read, we need to give him time and space to do just that, to make his own choices and follow his own interests. If that leads him to collecting and reading books that are instantly exciting, books about robots and monsters and aliens that he wants to pick up and read because of their shiny covers, so be it. The importance of texts that children want to read should never be underestimated. But that’s not the whole story to enjoying reading: it is merely the veneer.

As teachers we have a responsibility to dig beneath the surface and explore a second aspect: the type of enjoyment that comes from reading something challenging. Every child should have the opportunity to experience the sense of achievement that comes when the seemingly incomprehensible suddenly swims into focus. At the core of this approach is helping children to identify themselves as readers, as the sort of people who take on and understand challenging books. If schools can teach everyone to read to a good standard and give them the opportunity to read rich, engaging books, we have a much better chance of helping children to become lifelong readers with the confidence and stamina to take on complex, multi-layered texts.

Great works of literature

If we want children to love reading beyond a superficial level, then we have to give them access to the very best books and language possible. They need to be supported to read Shakespeare and other ‘classics’ before their attitudes harden and their minds close. They should read both the great works of children’s literature and also some of the rich fiction written for children today. Children should encounter books that perhaps they wouldn’t choose to read themselves, books that introduce them to great ideas and take them beyond their current life experience. Over the course of KS2, Josh will read The Odyssey and Lord of the Flies, he’ll discover the brilliance of Mark Antony’s speech in Julius Caesar and argue about who is responsible for King Duncan’s death in Macbeth. In Year 6, taught by the headteacher, he’ll study works of literature by Larkin, Tennyson, Dickens and Wilde. He’ll have time to think and talk and argue about books and the complex ideas they contain, developing the language of literature and also, I hope, a genuine love for these books. But all this is to come. Back in our classroom, Josh finds himself overruled and we spend the next five weeks reading The Wind in the Willows together as a class. We learn how characters can develop and change over the course of a narrative and we analyse how a skilful author can show this through a character’s actions and dialogue. We study how grammar and punctuation can drive the pace of a scene, creating a sense of tension. Somehow we even manage to have an impromptu discussion about whether the weasels are involved in a legitimate act of revolution. We talk, we read, we write. We learn to love Kenneth Grahame’s characters and the world of the riverbank a million miles away from the noisy housing estate that surrounds our school. Everyone has the chance to enjoy one of the great works of children’s literature, a book they would not have picked up themselves because it has a cartoon mole on the front. Once we’ve finished, Josh comes to find me. “That was quite a good book, Mr Clements,” he says. Praise indeed. “Have you got a copy I can read?” I hand over the copy we’ve been reading as a class. Josh smiles and sets off to break. Then he turns around. “Do you know what?” he says. “I actually thought Mole was quite sweet in the end.” A horrified look crosses his face. “You won’t tell the others though, will you?”