Let’s talk about it: Reading for Pleasure and book talk

Cremin, Teresa (2024). Let’s talk about it: Reading for Pleasure and book talk. Collins, Book Squad website.

URL: https://collins.co.uk/blogs/the-book-squad-blog/le...

Abstract

Keen readers give themselves daily lessons in life. Through reading, they imagine and experience other worlds, develop empathy for others’ plights, reflect upon their own lives and emotions, and find out about the past, the present and the future of the real world. However, readers are never alone in this endeavour. As Margaret Meek (1988) taught us years ago, skilled authors and artists act as critical companions to the young on their journeys as meaning-makers. Indeed, Meek observed,

‘What texts teach is a process of discovery for readers, not a programme of instruction for teachers’ (Meek, 1988, p. 19-20).

Perhaps equally as significantly, readers develop their understanding of texts through countless conversations with others. Talk is central to learning to read, and to both becoming and remaining a reader. After all, reading should not just be a solitary and individual practice, it is also a deeply social endeavour and we are supported as readers when we talk about texts on our own terms.

In this blog, I’ll explore the role of talk in Reading for Pleasure, (RfP) particularly informal child-led book talk, and share some strategies for classroom practice.

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