Donalyn Miller

I had picked up this book once or twice at book fairs last year, but was never compelled to buy it. Then this year I dropped in on one of the teachers in my new school at back-to-school night. She is an amazing teacher -- she teaches the 4/5 G/T class with such creativity and flexibility, and tremendous freedom for her students to be struck by inspiration and run with it. She told parents she devotes a lot of time during the school day for independent reading -- far more than most other show more teachers. She said she read a book a few years ago that changed her life, and since implementing the practices from the book in her classroom her students' reading scores had gone through the roof. Well, of course, I had to find out what the book was, and she lent it to me. I am very impressed, and wish every child could have a teacher like this one, but in this era of nonstop assessment those teachers are few and far between.

Ms. Miller's belief is that endless instruction of discrete reading skills, worksheets, and testing have killed the love of reading for students. She advocates for a dedicated time every day for self-selected independent reading, arguing that student choice should be honored, that students who grow to love reading in the classroom will continue reading at home and beyond, and that what kids need to master those discreet, tested reading skills is actual practice time reading actual books. Ironically, struggling readers receive more reading instruction, but are allowed less time to actually read, and very rarely catch up. Her success stories with students are amazing, but what I found most inspirational was her love of reading that she instills in each student. She has a requirement of students to read 40 books a year, which is often 10 times or more than they have ever read in a year before. She offers alternatives to time-honored but joy-killing practices like book reports, book talks, reading logs (oh, how we hated those!!!! My girls read constantly, but reading logs were an intrusive chore that we usually made up the night before they were due), reading incentive programs, whole-class novel studies and more well-used reading instruction strategies and assignments. I'm not sure this book would be interesting to anyone not teaching, but for the sake of students everywhere, I sincerely hope teachers do read it. show less

Good book if you are a middle or elementary English teacher, or a high school English teacher with an unusual amount of curricular oversight, or maybe an elementary librarian or a parent. Clearly written, lots of example reading logs and student work and support for the idea that building independent reading skills are important. Yay for that! Not so helpful, unfortunately, for a middle school librarian who has zero control over anyone's classroom or reading time.

Although this book is about the author's teaching experiences with the 6th grade, there is much to be learned and applied to any classroom. Miller discusses how modern education sucks all the joy out of reading for students. If we want students to love reading, then we need to rework our classrooms and reading assignments. There should be choice, there should be opportunity to change books, there should be constant access to books, and there MUST BE TIME TO READ. This book will revolutionize show more the way I teach English in the coming years (if we ever get back into our classrooms). show less

I have always been a big believer that the traditional way of teaching literature/reading -- assigning books that kids should read, and then quiz the hell out of them or make them construct dioramas or do other projects that prove that they read the book -- is definitely not the way to instill a love of reading. What quicker way to turn a kid of than giving him vocabulary words from the books and make him them write down the definitions? Teachers suck the fun and joy out of reading.

Donalyn show more Miller's The Book Whisperer gave me renewed joy for reading for pleasure and conviction to speak out about how important it is to let kids read for pleasure and fun. She points out all the obvious advantages -- which she needs to do because educators sometimes forget those obvious advantages, and then gives us guidance about how we can return the LOVE of reading to our students.

I offer a middle school elective class that consists of kids coming into the library, finding a comfy place to sit so they can read for 40 minutes -- uninterrupted and not questioned. They read what they want for how long they want. If they want to abandon a book and pick up something else, they are welcome to do so. If they want to pluck a book off the library shelves and look at the pictures, they are welcome to do so. When they leave the library, I say good bye and they go on with their day. I don't question them to make them prove that they have read. If they want to tell me what they are reading, I love hearing about it, but it's not required for my class.

Sometimes in our society we tend to place negatives on the things we do for pleasure. Reading is among them -- if we're sitting in a comfy chair and read the day away, our societal mores tell us that we wasted the day because we didn't do something productive. I ask everyone, since when is reading -- which stimulates our brain, improves vocabulary and comprehension, and gives us knowledge -- unproductive. Thank you for Donalyn Miller for writing the book that gives us the freedom to read again. show less