Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers

How many times have we heard the laments of parents and teachers, “if only my kids read more”? Penny Kittle in Book Love tackles the problem of students who don’t read, and offers English teachers tactics to combat this problem. The summative message of her book is that the first step in getting students to read is to get them to enjoy what they are reading. For a future teacher, this book is a treasure trove of ideas to get kids to enjoy reading. She begins her book by informing her readers of the accepted fact that only twenty percent of students actually read the literature they are given in class. Combining that fact with the idea that students will have to read between 200 and 600 pages in college weekly to be successful, it creates a problematic situation that lines students up to fail once they hit higher education. It is obvious that students need to get reading, and they need to do so quickly! As a pre-service English teacher, one of the thoughts that haunts my psyche, is what if the kids won’t read? I love the ideas that Kittle introduces to promote reading success. First of all, she has students measure their reading speed in pages per week and then measuring how that changes over the course of the year, and then she gives interesting ideas on how to keep track of their reading. My favorite of these is have students do “roller-coaster” reading, in which they balance complex reading with enjoyable simpler reading. Every time they finish what they deem deep, difficult reading, they follow it up with shorter more lightweight piece. It keeps the kids from burning out from the harder texts, and it keeps them reading. She also has the students rank their books in terms of difficulty and also has them reflect upon how their reading rate changes over the course of a term, semester, etc.. While I love her ideas, the sheer volume she has her students read is my main, and really only point of contention with this text. She says that it is within reason that students can read up to sixty books a year. Even if students can read that much, the question is “should they?” To me, that many books can encourage “speed reading” which is something that Kittle chastises for being ineffective. It also does not take into account (as referenced by the student reading logs in the book) the textbooks that students read in other classes. I totally understand and support having high goals for students to strive to achieve, but I feel goals that are too high could do students an ultimate disservice. My absolute favorite portion of Kittle’s book is her chapter on conferences. Not only does she provide an extensive rationale of the positive influence of conferencing she also gives her readers guidelines to follow for the conferences. To me, this chapter is the section that I can foresee myself going back to again and again during my teaching career. She gives guiding questions to use when dealing with all different types of students (for example: those who won’t read, those who are struggling, those who don’t feel challenged, etc). Along with these guided questions, she gives examples that she faced in her own career and how one can expect these conferences to go. She makes you really feel like you’re in the classroom with her students, and her word choice shows you just how much of a difference she can make with only a three or four minute chat with her kids. It is at this point in the book that I realized that the trepidations I have towards teaching are totally normal, every teacher has faced them, and because of that, people like Kittle have given us strategies to fall back on that actually work. It was at that moment that I was very thankful that I bought this book. Despite a spot or two where I disagreed, I would wholeheartedly recommend Book Love to every teacher, in-service or pre-service, because its strategies are so useful I can’t imagine myself hitting the classroom without it on my bookshelf. Whether it is creating a classroom library (something she makes sound so easy) or her description of “big idea” books, you will find yourself saying both “why didn’t I think of that” and “I can’t wait to use this!” I believe that every teacher, of any subject can create a fun and comfortable classroom of readers by taking Kittle’s tactics and molding them with their own ideas and personality.

This is one of the best, most inspiring “teaching books” that I’ve ever read. Penny Kittle has a love of reading and books that makes me know we are kindred spirits. Her ideas and experience for sharing that love in her school inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing. I devoured this book slowly, both so I could absorb the thoughts and so my wallet could recover from all the amazing title recommendations. You might say that’s not devouring then, but I assure you it is.

Love, love, love this book! This is a great companion text for any Donalyn Miller followers (i.e., "The Book Whisperer," "Reading in the Wild"). It has completely changed how I teach in my HS ELA classroom! I highly recommend this book!

Penny Kittle really knows how to zero in on what's right and what's wrong about reading instruction. An outstanding book.

This book changed my teaching life. Seriously. It is THAT good. I balked at the price tag, but I'd have gladly paid four times that amount for the inspiration and practical applications, all (FINALLY) designed for high school classrooms. I've been able to implement after reading it.

Interesting ideas on getting adolescents to read. Specific information on how to implement her plan. Testimonials from former students! Increase reading stamina and comprehension.

I took an online class based on this book, and I did learn some new things, even though I have been teaching for a long time. It's a motivating, helpful book.

Book #122 Read in 2016 Book Love by Penny Kittle This book was a great read about establishing and maintaining a community of readers in your classroom. I shared parts of it with the students in my Young Adult Literature and would recommend it to my teaching colleagues. I enjoyed it.

I bought this book last summer and it has become one of my favorites. I carried this book around with me all year, so it looks pretty worn up by now. I drew lessons from it all the way to the end of the school year. It is a must-read for teachers of all grade levels. It provides lots of good practical tips for encouraging reading and fostering the love of it.

High school English teachers, this is what we've been waiting for! Kittle shows us why and how to motivate our teen students to find books they love and, in the process, improve their reading levels - which is something we are not accomplishing with our current, outdated methods. This book has inspired me to be determined: I WILL find a way to fund, stock, and maintain a classroom library that will get kids reading, thinking, and writing. Thank you, Penny Kittle.

How many times have we heard the laments of parents and teachers, “if only my kids read more”? Penny Kittle in Book Love tackles the problem of students who don’t read, and offers English teachers tactics to combat this problem. The summative message of her book is that the first step in getting students to read is to get them to enjoy what they are reading. For a future teacher, this book is a treasure trove of ideas to get kids to enjoy reading. She begins her book by informing her readers of the accepted fact that only twenty percent of students actually read the literature they are given in class. Combining that fact with the idea that students will have to read between 200 and 600 pages in college weekly to be successful, it creates a problematic situation that lines students up to fail once they hit higher education. It is obvious that students need to get reading, and they need to do so quickly! As a pre-service English teacher, one of the thoughts that haunts my psyche, is what if the kids won’t read? I love the ideas that Kittle introduces to promote reading success. First of all, she has students measure their reading speed in pages per week and then measuring how that changes over the course of the year, and then she gives interesting ideas on how to keep track of their reading. My favorite of these is have students do “roller-coaster” reading, in which they balance complex reading with enjoyable simpler reading. Every time they finish what they deem deep, difficult reading, they follow it up with shorter more lightweight piece. It keeps the kids from burning out from the harder texts, and it keeps them reading. She also has the students rank their books in terms of difficulty and also has them reflect upon how their reading rate changes over the course of a term, semester, etc.. While I love her ideas, the sheer volume she has her students read is my main, and really only point of contention with this text. She says that it is within reason that students can read up to sixty books a year. Even if students can read that much, the question is “should they?” To me, that many books can encourage “speed reading” which is something that Kittle chastises for being ineffective. It also does not take into account (as referenced by the student reading logs in the book) the textbooks that students read in other classes. I totally understand and support having high goals for students to strive to achieve, but I feel goals that are too high could do students an ultimate disservice. My absolute favorite portion of Kittle’s book is her chapter on conferences. Not only does she provide an extensive rationale of the positive influence of conferencing she also gives her readers guidelines to follow for the conferences. To me, this chapter is the section that I can foresee myself going back to again and again during my teaching career. She gives guiding questions to use when dealing with all different types of students (for example: those who won’t read, those who are struggling, those who don’t feel challenged, etc). Along with these guided questions, she gives examples that she faced in her own career and how one can expect these conferences to go. She makes you really feel like you’re in the classroom with her students, and her word choice shows you just how much of a difference she can make with only a three or four minute chat with her kids. It is at this point in the book that I realized that the trepidations I have towards teaching are totally normal, every teacher has faced them, and because of that, people like Kittle have given us strategies to fall back on that actually work. It was at that moment that I was very thankful that I bought this book. Despite a spot or two where I disagreed, I would wholeheartedly recommend Book Love to every teacher, in-service or pre-service, because its strategies are so useful I can’t imagine myself hitting the classroom without it on my bookshelf. Whether it is creating a classroom library (something she makes sound so easy) or her description of “big idea” books, you will find yourself saying both “why didn’t I think of that” and “I can’t wait to use this!” I believe that every teacher, of any subject can create a fun and comfortable classroom of readers by taking Kittle’s tactics and molding them with their own ideas and personality.

This is one of the best, most inspiring “teaching books” that I’ve ever read. Penny Kittle has a love of reading and books that makes me know we are kindred spirits. Her ideas and experience for sharing that love in her school inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing. I devoured this book slowly, both so I could absorb the thoughts and so my wallet could recover from all the amazing title recommendations. You might say that’s not devouring then, but I assure you it is.

Love, love, love this book! This is a great companion text for any Donalyn Miller followers (i.e., "The Book Whisperer," "Reading in the Wild"). It has completely changed how I teach in my HS ELA classroom! I highly recommend this book!

Penny Kittle really knows how to zero in on what's right and what's wrong about reading instruction. An outstanding book.

This book changed my teaching life. Seriously. It is THAT good. I balked at the price tag, but I'd have gladly paid four times that amount for the inspiration and practical applications, all (FINALLY) designed for high school classrooms. I've been able to implement after reading it.

Interesting ideas on getting adolescents to read. Specific information on how to implement her plan. Testimonials from former students! Increase reading stamina and comprehension.

I took an online class based on this book, and I did learn some new things, even though I have been teaching for a long time. It's a motivating, helpful book.

Book #122 Read in 2016 Book Love by Penny Kittle This book was a great read about establishing and maintaining a community of readers in your classroom. I shared parts of it with the students in my Young Adult Literature and would recommend it to my teaching colleagues. I enjoyed it.

I bought this book last summer and it has become one of my favorites. I carried this book around with me all year, so it looks pretty worn up by now. I drew lessons from it all the way to the end of the school year. It is a must-read for teachers of all grade levels. It provides lots of good practical tips for encouraging reading and fostering the love of it.

High school English teachers, this is what we've been waiting for! Kittle shows us why and how to motivate our teen students to find books they love and, in the process, improve their reading levels - which is something we are not accomplishing with our current, outdated methods. This book has inspired me to be determined: I WILL find a way to fund, stock, and maintain a classroom library that will get kids reading, thinking, and writing. Thank you, Penny Kittle.

Fantastic ideas for engaging students.

This book changed my approach to teaching. My 8th grade team and I were able to take Kittle's ideas and implement them effectively in the classroom and saw a noticeable change in our students.

A must read for any English teacher

Penny Kittle is simply the best. If you teach literacy to kids of any age, this is a must read!

I love everything that Penny Kittle writes. This book will leave you determined to promote choice in your language arts classroom, and to do all that you can to end fake reading.

Love this book! Great resource.

Great book !

Incredibly helpful and actionable ideas that I could (and did) implement immediately into my classroom. Awesome book!

Once again Thank yo unto Penny Kittle for her expertise in Reading Love...

Gets at the HEART of why we teach literacy in the first place. Critical in this time of high stakes testing.

This book affirmed how I feel about teaching! I saw her in Ohio this past spring and she has me revved up to start the new school year.

Yes! Changed the way I teach.

Must read for all middle and high school librarians and teachers.

This book has given some really good ideas about to incorporate independent reading into my classroom. It's hard to spark student interest, but these book covers all of my questions I would have liked to ask Mrs. Kittle.

SOO inspiring! So much to get you going in the classroom and to become a school that values personal reading!!

I absolutely loved this book! Penny Kittle reminds us of the importance of our job as teachers. This book is inspiring and will convince you to give students time to read in class every day.

I love everything Penny Kittle writes.

Just what I'd hoped!

Terrific presentation of this meaningful and successful program.

It's right on target with the way we should be helping our students with their reading. The other 9th grade teacher at my school and I have changed the way we teach to include these strategies.

Excellent and useful book.

I love Penny Kittle's ideology on learning and reading.

Penny Kittle presents an outstanding case for the importance and necessity of creating a class and school culture of reading!

Penny Kittle's advice for getting high school students to find value in reading is spot on. Every high school reading and English teacher needs to read this book and put Kittle's ideas into practice. It's a pedagogical paradigm shifter.

As a former HS ELA teacher who now teaches middle school, I wish I had adopted Kittle's philosophy years ago. This would be a great read for a book study and would foster some terrific discussion.

Every teacher and parent should read this book!!! Penny Kittle teaches us how to help students become life long learners and readers. Excellent book for all people who are committed to helping adolescents succeed.

One of the elements of this book that sticks with me the most when I talk to high schoolers in my library is this: we give kids books written by adults for adults and expect them to like reading.

All educators need to read this book.

This book is AMAZING and raises a lot of important questions about our attitudes about reading and teaching reading to teens.

Every middle school and high school teacher needs to read this book!

It has been a long time since I have been so inspired and empowered! Kittle makes you believe one classroom teacher can make a lasting impact on lives in and outside the walls of their own classroom. A MUST read for ALL teachers of all subjects! Any language arts teacher that does not find themselves inspired and rethinking their instruction may need to reconsider their career choice.

Great!

Inspirational! Loved the book. i teach 6th but I felt the book had so much that would benefit children who are younger as well as high schoolers. I cried when I read the last chapter.

This book provides all the reasoning behind the extreme importance of increasing independent reading time for all students. By using book talks and establishing or increasing the classroom library, Kittle gives us the recipe for inspiring a love of reading in all students. While Kittle does not provide a step-by-step guide on how to implement a focus on reading across the curriculum at your school, she certainly points to the justification and benefits of doing so. Share this book with your colleagues. For more nuts and bolts on how to implement the writing workshop in your classroom, see Write Beside Them, also by Penny Kittle.

While I agree with Kittle that students should strive for greater fluency and read more and more often, I found Kittle's writing to be bland, her expectations rather obtuse (citing the example of a student who read more than 200 books in one year, in addition to his/her course work), and her assertion that students needn't worry about text complexity (that reading for the sake of reading is of utmost importance) is inaccurate. I also found her tone bothersome--her assumptions that educators do not adequately differentiate instruction or provide students the opportunity for choice in what and how students learn were off base. Certainly, I encourage all students to read a variety of texts (fluff included), but this text is inappropriate for secondary instructors who are instructing students at the high school level (or beyond). I hope to not only incite a love of reading for my students, but the ability to think critically about what they read as well. This book doesn't even skim the surface on that front.

Loved it

This is honestly one of the best books I've ever read about reading in the classroom. It was exactly the motivation I needed to jump start a reading challenge in my classroom. In this book, Penny Kittle discusses not only how to incorporate reading time into the classroom, but also how to plan reading conferences with students, how to reflect on the reading process, and how to motivate students to become life-long readers. I highly recommend this to teachers of reading in middle and high school.

As a group of English teachers and a library media specialist, we read this book for professional development. We thought that Penny Kittle had a lot of great ideas to create and encourage independent readers. She touches on conferencing, book talks, building stamina, piquing interest, and there are many anecdotes about reluctant readers. We would recommend this book to high school teachers who are planning to or have implemented independent reading in their classroom.

This is an amazing book! Penny outlines exactly how she encourages her students to read, and exactly how she assesses them and conferences with them. Sprinkled throughout are also several success stories of her students who have gone on to become lifelong readers. I have had the pleasure of hearing Penny Kittle speak in person, and she obviously has a passion for reading, writing, and success in her students that shows through in her speaking and her writing. Not only is she an amazing teacher, but she has an amazing ability to teach other teachers and inspire others to seek the best in their students!

The strategies and recommendations in this book are great. There were a lot of takeaways. It was very comprehensive. It's a strong beginner's guide to independent reading. If you are looking to expand your classroom library or hoping to initiate an independent reading project in your classroom, this would be a great choice. Her website is an extremely helpful companion to the book.

Perhaps because I’ve read Donalyn Miller already, I found that this book didn’t offer many new ideas. I was hoping to beef up what I was already doing and find new ways to get my students into reading. It had a lot of the same things I’ve read in other books. If I had read this book first, I would have loved it!

A great resource for English Language Arts teachers at the high school level. Although I set aside time in our weekly class schedule for my students to choose their own books in our classroom, I know that I still need to go the extra mile and support my struggling readers. Penny Kittle writes in a respectful and down to earth tone. This was important to me because I resent preachy professional development books. Having read her book "Write Beside Them," I feel safe in saying that Kittle speaks directly to her reading audience and by using her story of ups and downs, carries her passion from the classroom directly to the text. A must-read!

Penny Kittle has written a book that is easy to read and creates a passion for teachign reading. The ideas that are presented in the book are practical and easily implemented. A great book for teachers of all grades to read as a reminder of what is really important in teaching reading.

Great book

I LOVEBook Love. Will be using it in my Graduate course to share the easy to implement strategies to the teaching professionals in the class.