Igniting Interest, Helping Struggling Readers

Igniting Interest (2:30) The world is overflowing with fascinating books – but not all of them are easy to read. Many of us are reluctant to reach for the fruit at the top of the tree. Our first guest, children’s book author, Michael Buckley says he too was once a reluctant reader. But today, he’s writing the kinds of books he wanted to read when he was young, but shied away from – as many kids do. The fan mail he’s getting – from both kids and parents – confirms that his books are sparking an interest in those who have never wanted to read at all. Buckley is the New York Times bestselling author not only of The Sisters Grimm series, but also the Nerds series, the YA trilogy Undertow, and “Kel Gilligan’s Daredevil Stunt Show.” He’s worked in television development for Discovery Channel, TLC, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network, where he co-created the animated series, Robotomy. He's also the co-founder of the OMG Book Festival - a traveling middle-grade book carnival targeted at reluctant readers and disenfranchised children. Helping Struggling Readers (12:21) Next, Literacy Expert Melanie Kuhn shares some of the basic things we can do as adults to help the struggling reader – children who don’t have access to lots of texts in the home or who avoid texts because they think of themselves as poor readers. Melanie R. Kuhn is The Jean Adamson Stanley Professor in Literacy at Purdue University. She received her Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Georgia and has written two books on fluency, along with numerous scholarly articles and chapters. Her most recent book is Developing Fluent Readers: Teaching Fluency as a Foundational Skill co-authored with Lorell Levy. Her research also includes literacy instruction for struggling readers.  Love of Literature Starts Young (23:01) We finish up the show with Cole Wissinger of the Worlds Awaiting team. He talks about his personal interest in literature, something that was nurtured by his early home life.