Tunnel/Jacobs: Children's Literature Briefly (Chapter 17)

Tunnel and Jacobs claim that children are motivated to read when they see adults who read. They are right! As a toddler, I was motivated to read by watching my siblings and parents reading. Their mood changes (laughter, sadness, seriousness, crying) when they read specifically roused my curiosity. I wanted to share in their experiences! Of course, I could not read books as a toddler, but I could still look at the pictures and create my own stories. Yet, once I learned to read, the sky was the limit! I became such a proficient reader that I could read on a 12th grade level by fifth grade! Later in life, I actually inspired others to read by simply reading books in front of them, notably my comic books. I had a stressful job in the military, and my emotional escape was humor. I read Archie comic books when I had the chance. My shipmates would hear me laughing and ask me why? At first, they felt that reading comics was juvenile, but later, they would ask me to share my comics with them. They also needed an emotional escape, and the silly comics actually worked for them too! Oftentimes, the comics served as a catalyst, and they moved on to other reading material. Yet, the key point presented in chapter 17 is that if children are reading that teachers/parents need to be careful not to disrupt their joy of reading by making it a chore or criticizing their choice of reading material. Instead, they should encourage them to continue reading and simply suggest other books that are similar to their current reading genre.