A Children’s Book on Reading for Pleasure

Purpose of the project: The purpose of this project is to create a children’s book on reading for pleasure. The book will be used to engage young children by acknowledging and developing their reading identities as students who read for pleasure. It is situated in the belief that adopting a stance of reading for pleasure, particularly as children enter school, will advance reading achievement, increase enjoyment, and promote lifelong readership. Procedure: An extensive literature review was conducted to inform the text of the children’s book. The elements of reading for pleasure were used to develop simple sentences appropriate for kindergarten students. The sentences were further organized into sections representing each element of reading for pleasure. Young children then illustrated the sentences. The results were bound into a picture book that will be used, in conjunction with existing classroom lessons, practices, and routines, to introduce reading for pleasure to young students. Scope of the project: This book project would be appropriate to share with young children as they begin to form their identities as young readers. It could be used in classrooms with primary-aged students as an introduction to reading for pleasure, and also as a tool to support teachers’ and students’ work on reading for pleasure throughout the year. The framework could also be modified to suit varying ages levels or content areas. Conclusion: Adopting reading for pleasure as a focus for classroom practice is a significant departure from the literacy instruction of the last two decades. While teachers and administrators may have difficulty reframing their knowledge and practices around literacy instruction, embracing reading for pleasure is a critical piece of literacy education that can accomplish the goals of literacy instruction and promote pleasure and lifelong readership for students. This picture book is a tool to begin that process.