For many kids, an adult in their life helped them on their search for a book that got them hooked on reading.
For Connecticut Public podcast host Daniela Doncel, that adult was West Hartford fifth grade teacher Elysha Dicks.
“Recommending books to kids is my favorite thing that I do in my job,” Dicks said. “Matching kids to their perfect books, based on their interests and other books that they've loved, that's really fun to put a book in a kid's hand that ignites a passion for reading.”
Jean Feiwel, a former editor at Scholastic who dreamt up the title for “The Baby-Sitters Club” series, said students ages 8 to 12 reach a pivotal point where they decide whether to make reading a habit.
“Middle grade was really where you sort of claimed readers. You claimed them and then you would have them hopefully for life,” Feiwel said.
Combating the ‘decline by 9’
This age is especially important, according to Scholastic Publisher Jackie De Leo, because something pivotal begins around the time kids enter the fourth grade and start reading more independently.
“There is a moment, and it is around 9, when that changes from, ‘I love reading, and reading is one of my favorite things to do, and I love being read to,’ which I think is really important, to, ‘I have to read. I don't want to read,’” De Leo said. “And it's no longer one of their favorite activities.”
A report by Scholastic found over half of kids ages 6 to 8 read for fun five to seven days a week, compared to about 35% of kids ages 9 to 11.
So she said young readers need to find books they want to keep reading.
“ I think that's a really important step for beginning readers, that it takes a lot of confidence to say that ‘I'm a reader,’” De Leo said.
As a fan of “The Baby-Sitters Club” growing up, she remembers setting a personal challenge. She wanted to read all of the books in the series through the first Super Special featuring the perspective of each girl while on a special cruise vacation, “Baby-Sitters On Board,” which was recently reimagined as a graphic novel.
“When you look at that stack when you're done, you feel very proud. And I think this way of once you're in, you wanna learn more,” she said. “It's easier than starting a new voyage or a new discovery.”
On the hunt for your book
Though school can make it tougher to read for pleasure as students get older, industry leaders say it’s still possible to find a way back to the bookshelves.
Scholastic Publisher David Levithan said part of getting hooked on reading is discovering a series that kids want to sink their teeth into.
“It was this idea that if you create the world, reading won't seem like a chore to kids. It'll actually seem like the fun thing they wanna do,” Levithan said. “It is something that they wanted to escape into, not escape away from.”
That's exactly what Dicks has found in her Connecticut classroom.
“If a child can develop a love for reading as a pleasure and something that they choose to do in their free time, that's dreamy to me,” she said. “That makes for smart, thoughtful people.”
The nonprofit United Through Reading also recommends creating a reading routine, reading as a family, joining book clubs and celebrating reading achievements.
And Dicks says it's never too late for somebody to become a reader.
“You gotta find your book,” she said.
Learn more
“Generation: Baby-Sitters Club” is the third season of the Connecticut Public podcast series “Generation: The media we love & how it shapes us.” Over five episodes, we ask how these novels shaped children’s publishing and literacy, and inspired future leaders of writer’s rooms, boardrooms and beyond.
The season finale of “Generation: Baby Sitters Club” is out now on your favorite podcast feed. Follow and subscribe, so you won’t miss our announcement for the next season!
