Keeping Kids Reading: How to Raise Avid Readers in the Video Age

In her new book, Keeping Kids Reading , Leonhardt explains her concept of "reading pathways," an innovative, new way of understanding children's taste in books. Based on observation and interviews with students in more than twenty years of classroom experience, Leonhardt realized that very often kids follow trajectories as readers: Boys who love science fiction and fantasy, for example, often mature into lovers of history and political books. Girls who read nothing but Sweet Valley High books often come to love classic authors like the Brontes--but they may pass through a horror-fiction phase on the way. If you recognize these patterns, and can use what Leonhardt calls "reading hooks" to appeal to your children's individual tastes, you can help them move along the path to becoming lifelong readers.

Keeping Kids Reading includes a special section that answers some of the most common reading questions voiced by parents and educators--including how to handle school related problems--and concludes with a list of favorite books cited by avid readers.