Since the 1990s, there have been many questions about the reading practices of young people , deploring that they turn less to this hobby than previous generations. It is at the entrance to college that a dropout would occur: the declared number of books read drops from the age of 11. Yet the picture for children’s publishing is far from bleak: in 2020, […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: reading
Yes, young people are still reading. But differently!
Can reading help heal us and process our emotions – or is that just a story we tell ourselves?
The oldest known library, dating back to the second millennium BC, in Thebes, Egypt, reportedly bore a sign above its portals in Greek: Psyches Iatreion, translated as “healing place of the soul”. The idea that reading may confer healing benefits is not new, but continues to intrigue readers and researchers. Of course, this doesn’t apply to reading […] … learn more→
Melodramatic potboilers, worthy classics and DIY escapism: a brief history of the beach read
“Like most people I read a book or two on holiday,” says Stuart, a character in Julian Barnes’ 1991 novel Talking it Over. He does not have time for recreational reading; it must wait until he is at leisure. His best friend, the erudite but erratically employed Oliver, derides this attitude. To Oliver, a summer reader […] … learn more→
Reading stories to children, why it is important
When practiced on a regular basis, reading has a number of cognitive and emotional benefits . Therefore, identifying the factors that promote this activity is of significant interest, in particular to allow the youngest to benefit as early as possible, and in a lasting way, from these benefits. Among these factors, there is one that can have a […] … learn more→
Why do we like to see people read?
A few years ago the dating website eHarmony found that profiles that included reading in their list of hobbies were more attractive to the opposite sex. Specifically, the data revealed that men who mention reading as one of their personal interests receive 19% more messages, although, in the case of women, those who claimed to read received only […] … learn more→
Reading to improve language skills? Focus on fiction rather than non-fiction
We all know that reading is good for children and for adults, and that we should all be reading more often. One of the most obvious benefits of reading is that it helps improve language skills. A major review of research on leisure reading confirmed that reading does indeed foster better verbal abilities, from preschoolers all the […] … learn more→
Learning to read starts earlier than you think
Learning to read begins long before the day when the child tries, for the first time, to decode the words in a book. In the first weeks of life, and even before they are born, babies are already skillfully processing crucial information about the sounds that reach them. They adjust their reactions to the tones and structures of […] … learn more→
Refresh your writing ideas
Reading is key to developing your understandings of what makes good academic writing. Anthropologist Ruth Behar (2020) suggests that academic writers shouldn’t stop at the classic texts in their discipline, but also read other genres. She says We need to read poetry to understand silences and pauses. To challenge the oppression of punctuation. To learn how to make […] … learn more→
What’s all this reading about then – starting the PhD
When you begin the PhD you will be told to read, and read a lot. But you’ll find not any old approach to reading will do. It’s a particular kind of reading that’s expected. So it’s important to get a grip on the complex task that you are being asked to do. In the first […] … learn more→
Childhood reading: endlessly growing up with Tomi Ungerer
Tomi Ungerer’s Giant of Zéralda has become what we call a classic for young people. Criticized by adults, when it was published in 1971 in L’École des loisirs because it challenged the codes and laws of illustrated storytelling for children, this album was immediately adopted by young audiences whose pleasure can never be denied. since. Excellent sesame to enter the […] … learn more→
