Classics: Why We Should Encourage Children to Read Them
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
- Marg
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 04 Jan 2012, 07:55
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Classics: Why We Should Encourage Children to Read Them
The 90-page e-book neatly divides into 17 brief, mostly four-page chapters including a definition (“books of all time rather than books of the hour”, “clean, decent fiction written primarily to tell a story rather than make money”), favorite girls’ and boys’ classics (as voted on by her students), language skills and vocabulary, imagination, general knowledge, love for literature, descriptive powers, artistic and scientific temperament, morals, middle school, fun quiz and the choice of abridged or unabridged versions.
The content is particularly rich with details of her own and her students’ development in the chapters entitled Check This Out, My Encounter with Dracula, Frankenstein and Science, and Classical Characters Who Have Influenced My Reality.
Pathan’s insightful style drops valuable gems for the reader to take away. Here are just a few:
“Choosing the right first classic is very important in the education process”.
“Classics are like bound movie scripts for our brain production house”.
“Classics are the safest and most time-tested method to ignite the flame of creativity”.
“Classics are tools of information that encourage the student to think practically”.
”More than anything else, classics give a middle school student some direction in life”.
“The world is not a humdrum affair of facts but an adventure without limitations”.
“Children need a bit of good fiction to nourish them in a world that seems out to kill them”.
“A good writer will manage to help the reader create a good ending for him or herself".
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and have adopted the author’s prescription of reading a classic once a week, or at least once a month. This is not difficult, now that we can buy e-book readers and download free classics due to the Gutenberg project.
It is ironic that the author, as well as feeling “totally cool and self-actualized”, also writes, “The growing globalized society of the late 1990‘s has developed to such greatness that though I am 23 I feel completely ancient”. In wisdom, yes, she is ancient and her book can be a work of rejuvenation, not just for literacy but for humanity also.
- dea0045
- Posts: 38
- Joined: 18 Sep 2013, 23:48
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-dea0045.html
I do find it curious though that the author of Classics says that classics are "clean, decent fiction". I think many people would disagree with that statement considering most classics and school reads are considered "banned books" for different reasons. Just food for thought...
- cristhian
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 19 Sep 2013, 09:08
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Edit: website ref deleted
- Marg
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 04 Jan 2012, 07:55
- Bookshelf Size: 0
That's a good point. I guess if you set out to write something for all people of all time, you are bound to provoke anxiety in some people with a vested interest in a shorter vision. To succeed in writing a classic and surviving being banned, you would also have to present an honest (clean? decent?) view. Abridged versions are needed sometimes. Classics certainly broaden the minds of young reader as they grow.dea0045 wrote:I wholeheartedly agree that we should encourage children to read the classics. I think that it is great that teachers are picking current releases to try to get kids more excited about reading but... Those books are more likely to get read outside of school or for accelerated reader. We should be teaching the classics in school because when else are kids going to read them (unless they are just avid readers).
I do find it curious though that the author of Classics says that classics are "clean, decent fiction". I think many people would disagree with that statement considering most classics and school reads are considered "banned books" for different reasons. Just food for thought...
-- 19 Sep 2013, 14:46 --
Yes. I really think "habit" is a key word. We can start by reading to them every day and encourage them to make it a habit to read on their own every day. If your child likes the book, with images, it was a good choice!cristhian wrote:I am really grateful that this types of sites are available to our community, in spite of the fact that many people nowadays are losing the habit of reading. Children are the ones who need to carry on this habit, therefore we as grown ups have to foster reading at schools, mostly. I think the best way to do so is through tales or with eye-appealing illustrations like for instance I`ve bought this book titled "Treasure Island (Sterling Illustrated Classics)" which I got and my kids enjoy it a lot you know since it has plenty of images.
Edit: website ref deleted
- cristhian
- Posts: 8
- Joined: 19 Sep 2013, 09:08
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Edit: website ref deleted
-
- Posts: 40
- Joined: 17 Sep 2013, 14:19
- Favorite Book: Tigana
- Currently Reading: Shadows Over Bakers Street
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gipps.html
- Marg
- Posts: 11
- Joined: 04 Jan 2012, 07:55
- Bookshelf Size: 0
-
- Posts: 40
- Joined: 17 Sep 2013, 14:19
- Favorite Book: Tigana
- Currently Reading: Shadows Over Bakers Street
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gipps.html
-
- Posts: 99
- Joined: 25 Sep 2013, 02:05
- Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... 3">Letters from a Bipolar Mother (Chronicles of A Fractured Life)</a>
- Currently Reading: Mightier Than the Sword (The Clifton Chronicles, #5)
- Bookshelf Size: 183
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-lunarowan.html
-
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 03 Sep 2013, 09:56
- Bookshelf Size: 6
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-sarahpapesh.html
- Latest Review: "Life is a Circus Run by a Platypus" by Allison Hawn
Well said, LunaRowan! I think classics provide a glimpse into a literary past that is lost on current authors. I think they should be passed down for generations to come!LunaRowan wrote:Classics are classics for a reason. Most show the development of human society through the decades and they cast a whole different light on history than they'd learn in any social studies class. They also introduce young readers to different speech and ways of speaking that would otherwise be lost to the annuls of dead languages. I encourage classics be taught just as in-depth and often as contemporary literature and to pass on these "classics" to further generations.
-
- Posts: 12
- Joined: 14 Oct 2013, 01:01
- Favorite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird
- Currently Reading: The Savage Detectives
- Bookshelf Size: 0
I only wish I had read more classics as a kid. The ones I did read myself were fantastic, even at the time.
-
- Posts: 91
- Joined: 15 Oct 2013, 02:59
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 28
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-namrata.html
- Latest Review: Man Mission by Eytan Uliel
- Skk5122
- Posts: 7
- Joined: 24 Nov 2013, 11:40
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-skk5122.html
-- 24 Nov 2013, 11:49 --
While I definitely see a place for classics, as a high school teacher I see first hand some students' struggles with the classics if they already don't enjoy reading. I think there should be a balance between classic lit and new things that appeal to modern teenage interests.
- tstaf4d
- Posts: 54
- Joined: 13 Dec 2013, 07:41
- Favorite Book: My Name is Memory
- Currently Reading: Marcelo in the Real World
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-tstaf4d.html