I did like the emphasis on reading to children even as they get older and are able to read to themselves. And that is typical of a lot of his correlational claims throughout the book. But Trelease is totally implying that the reading obsession that consumes kids during their Harry Potter years is linked to a drop in teen pregnancies? What? That needs a VERY significant amount of research to draw any kind of usable correlation. Are those tied to Harry Potter mania? I doubt it. Well, what other random social statistics changed during those same ten years? I'm certain there were negative changes. For example, "In the nearly ten years since the arrival of the Potter books, school crime was down, teen pregnancies declined, and teen smoking and drug use dropped." Okay. The conclusions Trelease draws from the research he is citing are often a pretty big stretch. For one thing, the writing and reasoning are lacking. Some of the information is really inspiring and some of it just fell flat for me. Plus, the overall thrust of the book (read out loud to your kids) is something I am passionate about. I would buy this book for that alone and I give 5 stars to that part, which is significant because it comprises over half of the book. On the one hand, Trelease's treasury of read-aloud books is AWESOME. I have really mixed feelings about this book.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |