Solving the Reading Riddle

Book excerpt: This book explores what the past 75 years of reading instruction has meant to children, teachers, and parents, and how children's librarians and school media specialists are a crucial part of the developing philosophy and strategy. As a children's librarian, you are increasingly being called upon to support schools and parents in teaching children to read—from early literacy initiatives and read-alouds to parent workshops and collection development endeavors. Yet, if you're like most public librarians, you probably have no clue as to what reading strategies other educators use. Understanding reading instruction theory and practice can help you function better in these roles and communicate more effectively with other educators and parents. Solving the Reading Riddle: The Librarian's Guide to Reading Instruction explains the theories and shows you how to effectively integrate reading instruction theory into your roles as reading advocate, family reading coach, partner with educators, and keeper of the books. Designed for public librarians, this book is also beneficial reading for LIS students in children's librarianship courses, and for teacher librarians needing more information on this topic.