Books have always been a apart of my life. As a young child, there were the Golden Books. They provided opportunities for stories and for advice about going to the doctor or taking care of your pets. The rack at the grocery seemed to be filled with an unending souces of them. Fortunately my mother always put one or two in the grocery cart.

As I matured, I found the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, and Nancy Drew, of course. Although the pages told simple stories, these characters helped me get better with my reading. I discovered biographies on my own. Reading about historical figures --- science and history figures. In fifth grade, I discovered Beverly Cleary's The Luckiest Girl. She led the most exotic life --- her black and pink checkered raincoat and visiting California for a summer vacation seemed so exotic. In high school I discovered Hannah Green's I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. It was a relief to know that the main character had voices in her head like I did. Of course, the main character had a mental breakdown so I just hoped that I would not suffer from the same!

Books allowed me to have a multifude of "friends." They allowed me to live many lives filled with adventures. But more than anything they helped me learn morea about me.

When I started teaching second grade, books were even more important to me because I was responsible for teaching others to read. I had a library in my classroom which consisted of old books from basal series. At that time it did not occur to me that I could bring in many types of books into the classroom because the students were expected to be able to read the basal. Sound familiar? Complete the curriculum??? I had one student, Frank, who was a struggling reader. As the year progress, I noted that he seemed to be picking up on his reading. Because I had to "cover" the basals, I had Frank work with all four reading groups so that he could catch up. He did catch up and ended up as one of my top readers. It was thrilling to know that I had made a difference.

Only years later did I realize that his reading improved --- not because of the book series, but rather because he was reading more. Instead of spending 20 minutes in a reading group, Frank spent over an hour in reading groups during school and more time at home.

So what do I know about books and helping readers??? First, you need a wide variety of books. The experts indicate that a classroom library needs to have at least 500 books --- different genres, levels, topics, etc. Time. Time. Time. The more time that students spend reading, the better that they can get. Modeling in the classroom is essential. The teacher cannot merely say reading is important, but a teacher must read when it is reading time. Our students will understand that reading is important if we are reading. If we spend reading time talking to our colleagues, grading papers, answering emails, then we are sending a different message. Do book talks so that students will learn about other books that they might want to read. Let your students do book talks. Recomend books to students. Know your students well enough so that you can say, "Tom," I think that you would like this book because it is about ___________.  Keep in mind that everyone is a reader --- but each person reads differently. Frank Smith reminded us that everyone needs to be a member of the literacy club. So... Celebrate reading and all readers!

I am a long way from being that child that read the Golden Books. I believe that is what all teachers want to have happen for students. Marie Clay proposed the idea that reading is a self-improving system. But that can only happen if we believe that all students are readers and that we take actions that support that idea.