Little bookworms

If you’ve read my previous post, you’d know that I was on practicals (student teaching) for six weeks. During these six weeks, I barely had time to read, but I spent plenty of time with children who read a lot!

I was incredibly surprised and definitely pleased to see how many children actually spend their free time reading. I used to have adult-like conversations with them – discussing books and authors. Those were some of the best conversations, and I thought “I need to share this on my blog!”. I compiled a little questionnaire for them to fill out and decided to share some of their answers with you.

Here’s what I asked and what they had to say:
(I edited their spelling, but left the grammar exactly as they have written it.)

1. Do you enjoy reading?

“Yes! I enjoy reading because it calms me. It is very helpful in your future. Reading helps your spelling, fluency, writing and I am very interested in the stories and I just love reading” – Shayla (10)

“Yes, because the book tells you more about the movie. Example, The Hobbit. It tells you more about the movie.” – Eesa (12)

“Yes, because I like to learn the words and improving my imagination. It also challenges your mind.” – Faizaan (12)

I love that out of a class of 20, at least 10 learners would say that they love reading. The rest of the learners would say sometimes and very few would say that they don’t enjoy reading.

2. What is your favourite book?

“It is Nancy Drew because it has mysteries and it is fascinating to see what happens and keeps you guessing.” – Shannon (13)

(Obviously my favourite answer because Nancy Drew was my childhood!)

“The BFG. It is very funny and exciting and sad” – Eesa (12)

“Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. It is my favourite book because I like to read books by Charles Dickens and out of all the books I have read, Pickwick Paper is the best.” – Thando (12)
This one made me really proud. Children reading (and appreciating) classics is not common!

3. How do you choose a book to read?

(The answers to this were super interesting! I love how children’s minds work.)

“I usually have an author that I enjoy and look out for books by them.” – Joshua (12)

“I don’t judge a book by its cover. I normally read the blurp to see what it is about or I page through the book and read a little of it to see what it is about” – Ammaarah (10)

“I choose by the topic and the cover and the back and read the first chapter” – Shannon (13)

“I look at the story and it depends on my mood or the situation I’m in.” – Shayla (10)

Other answers included looking at the thickness of the book, asking an adult for a recommendation, browsing through the books at a library or just choosing something random.

4. What book do you recommend?

“Harry Potter, novels, books with facts and animals something fun and cool” – Shayla (10)

“Any Stephan King book really. If you enjoy intense horrors his books are for you. – Joshua (12)

“To Kill A Mockingbird.” – Thando (12)

I was stunned by this recommendation. From a 12 year old. TWELVE.

“I recommend The Bodyguard Series by Chris Brandford for children of ages between 12 – 17” – Faizaan (12)

That’s what little bookworms had to say. It was truly inspiring to see children whip out a 400 page (or even a 100 page) novel as soon as they got a free moment instead of being disruptive. The fact that each child has a preference and reason behind reading, is even more inspiring.

I hope that we can take a little inspiration from these little booklovers and spend our free time doing something constructive – like reading!