The Read-Aloud Handbook

by Jim Trelease

Any confusion was because the less you know about a subject or the vocabulary associated with that subject, the slower you must read, the more difficult comprehension becomes, and the less you understand.

Background knowledge is one reason children who read the most bring the largest amount of information to the learning table and thus understand more of what the teacher or the textbook is teaching. Children whose families take them to museums and zoos, who visit historic sites, who travel abroad, or who camp in remote areas accumulate huge chunks of background knowledge without even studying.

If there were a national time shortage, the malls would be empty, Netflix would be defunct, and the cable-TV companies would be bankrupt. Ultimately what it boils down to is Sister Patricia Joseph’s cautionary words to me when I was sixteen. I was the designated class artist and she had asked me to draw something for her bulletin board over the weekend. I showed up empty-handed on Monday with the excuse that I hadn’t had enough time. With a steely look, she said quietly, “That’s all right, James. But please understand, even the busiest people find the time for the things they truly value.”

new parents’ most critical task during these early stages is learning how to calm the child, how to bring him under control, so he can begin to look around and listen when you pass on information.

For starters, we never had any food battles because I was too busy reading to let myself become overly concerned with her food intake. As I read, she ate her finger foods while I spooned in some baby fruit and veggies. Mealtime was fun, positive,

In addition, the parents were avid readers and led by example. The reading included not only books but package labels, street and truck signs, billboards, and so on.

We learned the meaning of this tiny but complex word by hearing it. In fact, we heard it three ways: Over and over and over (immersion); From superheroes—Mom, Dad, brother, and sister (role models); In a meaningful context—the cookie, the crayons, and the potty.

At age six, you’re a beginning reader. As such, you’ve got a limited number of words you can decode by sight or sound. But you’re not a beginning listener. You’ve been listening for six years; you’re a veteran listener! Dr. Seuss deliberately wrote the controlled-vocabulary books to be read by children to themselves.

Visual receptors in the brain outnumber auditory receptors 30:1.32 In other words, the chances of a word (or sentence) being retained in our memory bank are thirty times greater if we see it instead of just hear it.

My mother was fond of the adage “Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.” She used it to caution her four sons against associating with people who might lead us into trouble. But it also works in a positive way. I have a retired librarian friend, Jan Lieberman, who, when I’m in her company, leaves me exhaustingly stimulated about books and theater and food and music and libraries. We’re all products of the people we “hang around with,” and if we make room in our lives for people who are smarter than we are, we make ourselves better.