On Thursday I happened to see a bookmark that my 4th grade daughter was using:
My future is bright—I read every day, and I know reading is cool! Being a good reader will help me succeed and do my best in school.
Yes, reading is cool and it can help you succeed. But, reading is more then cool and the success it allows for is not just about doing your best in school (which is currently too closely tied to the Test and to getting a job that makes lots of money). What would/could a bookmark that went beyond “reading is cool” look like? I want to create one for Rosie that reflects some other, equally (or more) important, descriptions of the awesomeness of reading.
As I think about what that bookmark might look like, I’ll start with a list (that might make into my Lists! for my latest book project):
Why Read?*
- To Enter New Worlds
- To Dream
- To Recognize that Other Ways of Being are Possible (and already exist)
- To Exercise Curiosity
- To be Recognized
- To Resist
- To Escape
- To Increase Understanding
- Adventure!
- To Retreat and Be Restored
- To Witness Humanity
- To Listen and Learn
- To Be Challenged
- To Light a Fire
- To Encounter Mystery
- To Solve a Mystery
- To Relax
- To Join in Ongoing Conversations
- To Feel, To Laugh, To Cry
*Some reasons, other than being cool, being a Success!, or acing the Test.