Reading in the Wild

When I read the work of Donalyn Miller, aka The Book Whisperer, she always shows me how painfully misunderstood I was as a student. I was low and lacked study skills, but I was always reading. 

I'm critical of the idea that reading is so important. I'm a reader and a librarian, of couse I think reading is great. But so is painting. And running. And vacuuming. How can I claim my thing is the best thing?

But Miller makes a real case for being a reader. In the first chapter she explains that readers succeed. And it's true of me. I graduated 12th grade a failure. None of my k-12 teachers had any hope for me, but I was a success in college simply because I was a reader. I had been building my reading stamina for years and I could think critically. I got that from simply reading novels I enjoyed.

Cheers to Donalyn Miller. She's a genius.