I attended a reading conference this week, and one of the
presenters, Donalyn Miller, talked about how to create lifelong readers.
She explained that one of the things that avid readers do is
they make plans. People who read a lot always know what they are going to read
next. This is something that we need to teach children how to do so that they
are never bored in between reading books that are of interest to them. One of
the ways that we can do this is by introducing children to a great author and
reading them one book by that author, then encouraging them to read other books
by that author. So I took her advice this week, and I read two powerful books
by Linda Sue Park.
A Single Shard is
the 2002 Newbery award winner. This phenomenal piece of children’s literature follows
an orphan boy in 12th century Korea. His dreams of becoming a potter
are dwindling as he apprentices under the toughest, yet most talented, potter
Min. I loved this Historical fiction novel for a few reasons:
1.
Tree-Ear, the main character, showed the utmost
respect to authority. This is something that is so often not taught and lost in
our current culture. I can see lots of great discussions stemming from this.
2.
I learned about a topic which I had started with
no interest in… pottery. During this time period, China was the leader in the
cutting edge ideas and produced the best pottery. However, in the 12th
century A.D. Korea invented a new idea, and this book shares what that idea
was. Very interesting stuff.
3.
Also, it was good for me to get out of just
reading American history novels. I want to be well-rounded in what I know. This
book was a great introduction into this time period in history.
A Long Walk to Water
is also written by Linda Sue Park. It is based on a true story about two children, Nya and Salva. One
child lives in present day Sudan and another lived in 1985 Sudan. It parallels
their narratives and teaches the reader about the struggles of children living
in this war torn, developing country. Both children have experiences that are
similar as they walk and search for water to survive every single day. This
book reminded me of the blessings that are bestowed on my life because I live
in America. The fact that I don’t ever have to worry about having enough water
each and every day of my life is more major than I ever realized.
