Chapter 4 - Responding to Literature

When I was younger, I read anything from Stephen King to Emily Dickenson to Judy Blume. The list goes on. What I read depended on the mood I was in. The great thing is I had all of these books at my fingertips. I had teachers that did not make me feel like it was a bad thing that I read King's, Salem's Lot. In this chapter, it is suggested that we have a classroom library. I feel it is because of the teachers that I had and their influence of reading that I did have a broad interest and like for reading.

The beginning quote of this chapter reads, "Don't forget that a book is a private contract between a writer and a reader. Don't try to force another reader to share your contract. And. above all. don't kill the joy." This was said by Katherine Peterson, author; personal communication, September 1999. We as educators need to not only remember this for literature, but for all subjects. Remember, children learn differently. We need to accept and be proud of our students that interpret our lessons, process the lesson and then modify it to make sense to them. This is higher thinking. Hopefully, we will experience this when we are teaching.

Here is the sites to some old favorites that got me through different times of my childhood.

http://www.judyblume.com/

http://www.stephenking.com/index.html