Reading In the Wild (Ariela Cruz)

The first thing I liked about the book, “Reading in the Wild” was the title and the cover of the book. I personally love “reading in the wild” myself. Every time I go camping I always take a book with me and prop up next to a tree just like the little boy in the cover. Even when I am not camping and I want to a start a new book, I find myself putting a chair outside and reading. So I was drawn to the book just because of the title and the picture cover. When I was reading a passage that I really liked was where the author talks about, “Creating Book buzz” in her classroom. I real like what Miller says when she sates, “Readers develop confidence in self-selecting books when they recognize books and authors and experience a wide range of material that informs their future book choices.”

I think it is so true that readers develop a confidence when they recognize books and authors. I know that I get excited when I recognize an author and books by that author. When I see that an author that I like to read recommends another book I am always thinking, “Oh I have to read that book because if she likes it, Ill probably like it too”. There is a great feeling in being able to recognize an author and also recommending the author. It’s awesome to say, “Oh yeah Margaret Peterson Haddix wrote that series, I think you would really enjoy it.” I like that Miller really encourages her students to read by presenting them with different book choices and giving them the opportunity to check them out of her classroom. Her book drawings idea was also a good idea because it really entices students to want to check out a book even if they don’t necessarily want to read it. It’s the idea if my friends like the book maybe I will too.

I think one of my fears is that I won’t be able to entice my students to read but after reading some of Millers ideas on how to do that, I am not so worried. The one thing that I want to make sure I do is to stay connected with books and authors that kids read now a days. I think that’ll be a tool I can use when I become a teacher.