Springfield Schools News and Issues

About Springfield Schools News and Issues

Megan Gildow of the News-Sun newspaper in Springfield, Ohio, covers local school districts, their teachers, students and anything in between. Districts she covers include: Springfield City Schools, Clark-Shawnee Local Schools, Northeastern Local Schools, Northwestern Local Schools, Tecumseh Local Schools, Southeastern Local Schools, Greenon Local Schools, Catholic Central Schools, Emmanuel Christian, and area charter schools.

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Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > January > 26 > Entry

New books encouraging reluctant readers

By Megan Gildow | Monday, January 26, 2009, 10:12 AM

A couple weeks ago the New York Times featured an interesting piece on the “Wimpy Kid” series, the new big thing in kids literature.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney chronicles the life of Greg Heffley, an average kid in every sense of the word. So when the most popular literary character of the last decade is a wizard, why is Kinney getting attention?

His books are attracting grade-school boys who are usually classified as reluctant readers. The stories are about a boy who is in many ways like them - or as Kinney describes it, their worst characteristics, amplified - and are told in a style that incorporates illustrations heavily.

In tomorrow’s paper, I’ll be exploring some of the latest titles that have attracted new readers and some of the things teachers are doing that get reluctant readers into books, as well as how that can help students achieve more.

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