The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child

by Donalyn Miller

We have worked so hard to develop systems to teach reading, yet I claim that we had no justification for systematizing an act like reading in the first place.

“If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

My identity as a person is so entwined with my love of reading and books that I cannot separate the two.

I am as much a composite of all of the book characters I have loved as of the people I have met.

Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own education. Through characters—the saints and sinners, real or imagined—reading shows you how to be a better human being.

Choosing not to read is never discussed. It is simply not an option.

Embracing their inner reader starts with students selecting their own books to read.

Time and time again, I have seen a heavy dose of independent reading, paired with explicit instruction in reading strategies, transform nonreaders into readers.

“The man who does not read great books is no better than the man who can’t.”

Students rise to the level of their teacher’s expectations,

Building a trusting relationship with students is easier when you expect them to do the right thing instead of assuming that they are not.

I have been admonished by parents and fellow teachers because I let children read a book more than once. My most treasured books have been read many times by me and each time I discover something different. Books are multilayered; one reading is not enough and this is known only to those who truly read.—comment

I have learned that students hunger for more information, beyond what their social studies textbook offers if we go the extra mile to provide it.

Are we teaching books or teaching readers?

Teaching whole-class novels does not create a society of literate people.

If you cannot find a method for assessing students that uses authentic texts, I would ask why that concept is worth teaching.

Rewarding reading with prizes cheapens it, and undermines students’ chance to appreciate the experience of reading for the possibilities that it brings to their life.

The purpose of school should not be to prepare students for more school. We should be seeking to have fully engaged students now.

If I have ever brought you a book unasked for, know that I cared. I said everything to you that I wanted to with that book.

When we meet and I discover that we have read and loved the same books, we are instant friends.