There are so many great books out there for kids, but how do you get them to dig in to the right books and get the most out of them? Educator Diane Frankenstein talks with Common Sense Media about her book Reading Together and gives parents pointers on how to raise avid readers.

Common Sense Asks: I was pleasantly surprised that in Reading Together you encourage parents to read aloud even with kids who aren’t struggling or are way beyond the picture book stage. What’s the benefit to parents and kids of continuing to read aloud together?

Diane Frankenstein says: Parents mistakenly think that once their children can read on their own, they no longer need to be involved. Reading and discussing a story creates and nurtures the habit of taking about what matters to children. And in our fast-moving, media-saturated world, thoughtful conversations are more important than ever before. The most recent information addressing the challenge of getting children to read comes from the 2008 Scholastic study, “The Kids and Family Reading Report,” which shows that “kids’ reading drops off after eight years, and that parents can have a direct impact on getting kids to read… When kids start reading independently, parents need to become more, not less, involved… Parents must play a key role in helping their older children select books that capture their imagination and interest… Kids say that one of the main reasons why they do not read more is because they cannot find books that they like to read.” Simply put? If pleasure doesn’t drive reading, kids don’t become readers. (See pages 3-4, Reading Together.)

Common Sense Asks: Throughout the book you stress different ways to start a conversation with kids about the books they read. What are the best ways to start a discussion? What ways don’t work at all?

Diane says: Read a book -- ask a question -- start a conversation. This is the essence of Reading Together. Nobody comes into the world knowing how to talk about a story. Finding meaning in a story calls for guessing, speculation and pondering; it’s less about what you know and more about what you think. It’s a little like thinking out loud. I call this skill conversational reading, which is less about trying to figure out the meaning of the stories and more about what the story means to children in their lives now. Some guidelines to follow:

• A conversation about a story is not to be confused with a literary discussion about the story; be realistic about your expectation for the conversation.
• Follow Winnie-the-Pooh’s advice on conversation: “It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words, but rather short, easy words like ‘what about lunch?’”
• One good question, a question that takes you someplace in your thinking, can begin a good conversation.
• “What do you notice?” and “What do you think?” are good questions to begin a conversation.
• Start your conversation with the reader’s interest.
• Make personal connections to the story: “Has this ever happened to you?” “What would you do in this situation?”
• Beginning a conversation with “What is the meaning of the story” could easily puzzle and frustrate children. They need to understand the story before they can understand the meaning of the story.
• Don’t turn reading and the conversation about a story into a vocabulary lesson. Learning words in isolation gets in the way of comprehension and pleasure. (See pages 9-11 in Reading Together for more tips.)

Common Sense Asks: How does discussing books help kids enjoy reading more?

Diane says: The premise of Reading Together embraces the notion of talking together. Children who talk about stories and the subject stories explore better understand what they read. Children who better understand stories become more confident readers, and this confidence directly impacts the pleasure children find in the stories they read. (See page 8, Reading Together.)

Talking about what matters to children, whether it be inside a story or outside, gives children the language they need to shape their thinking -- it teaches them how to think. As E. M. Forster said, “How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” (See page 14, Reading Together.)

Conversational Reading -- the essence of Reading Together -- is making comments and asking questions. It is talking with children about the stories they read. Conversational reading encourages a reader to linger, saunter and contemplate a story. Metaphorically speaking, it is shinning a flashlight into a dark cave and saying, "Did you notice that? Look over there."

Common Sense Asks: You explore 101 books thoroughly with a synopsis, key themes (such as “compassion” and “bullies”), discussion points, further reading, and more. What’s your favorite book to share in this way with children and why? Which themes resonate with you the most?

Diane says: Asking what is my favorite book is like asking me which son is my favorite… The qualities that best define my “favorite books” offer a compelling story, literary merit, characters that I care about and care about what happens to them, and stories that jump-start conversations on subjects that matter to children.

The challenges of childhood/growing up -- friendship, popularity, bullies, envy, fairness, fear, gossip, self-reliance, mistakes, kindness, perseverance -- are just a few of the many challenges parents want to help their children understand.

The best of books are always about more than one subject. To help a child find a book that speaks to a specific subject, the “World of Ideas” on the Story Pages in Reading Together list the subjects that the book explores.

Common Sense Asks: You also mention something that many young readers will find reassuring -- that it’s great for kids to both reread books and read slowly. Why is that?

Diane says: I encourage children (and adults as well!) to read a book more than once. When you first read a book you are following the basic plotline. A second read delivers different pleasures by allowing you the opportunity to pick up the subtleties and nuances of the story that are often missed on a first read. I think we all need to slow down. Encourage your child to read fewer books and know them well. Children need comprehension not speed to be good readers. Too many people find themselves on literary StairMasters, moving fast but going nowhere.

Common Sense Asks: Like Common Sense Media, you mention the importance of the right book at the right time. Why do you think this is so important?

Diane says: Choose books that speak to both the appropriate reading level and a child’s developmental readiness for the story. Children read for story and when they are working too hard with the mechanics of reading, it becomes difficult for them to enjoy the story. Let go of how easy or challenging a book may appear. Children want books they can understand.

While children are honing their reading skills, I encourage parents and teachers to do more reading aloud to the child. Audio books, but not the abridged books, are not “cheating” and they add more stories into a child’s "memory bank." Most children associate books on tape with pleasure and they have the added benefit of increasing vocabulary.

Common Sense Asks: When I told a busy mom about this book, she immediately asked if you had a website. Are you thinking of starting one and adding more suggested books?

Diane says: My website, www.dianefrankenstein.com, is designed to be useful to adults who, in one way or another, work to bring children and books together. For over 20 years, I have worked with teachers, parents and educators to ensure that children view books and reading not as a chore, but as way to discover and learn.
The content is regularly updated, and my “Musings” discuss current topics and ideas that relate to raising children who not only love individual stories and books, but children who learn to love to wrestle with ideas, stories, and in the end, become critical, clever thinkers.

Common Sense Asks: And finally, any hints for keeping kids reading?

Diane says: Everyone likes stories, but not everyone loves to read. If pleasure doesn’t drive reading, children won’t read. There is no magic formula in raising a child who loves to read but there is a winning equation: Read a book; ask a question; start a conversation. Help children find their “home-run book,” ask a question about the story that taps into their curiosity and interest, and have a conversation that helps children better understand the story and shows them how to make a story their own. Share your enthusiasm and passion for a story -- passion is contagious! The most important outcome may not just be how many books children have read, but how many conversations they've had about them.