Gateway Books

We did speed dating in the library today. It’s not what you think. Students got one minute to spend with a new book. They glanced at the title and author’s name, perused the blurb, first page, and so on, and decided if it was a book they’d like to spend more time with later. When time was up, they passed it to the right and got acquainted with the next offering.

It is fun to watch students scribble titles down, and sometimes it’s surprising which books capture their attention, serving as a gateway to a new literary experience.

I have had several gateway books in my life. Here are the first ones that come to mind:

• Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire—a gateway into the joy of reading and rereading, delighted each time by the wonderful creature who begged a boy and a girl to see his worth.
• Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett—my entry into chapter books. I will never forget going to the library in second grade and having the librarian pull it out from behind the counter. “I’ve been saving this for you. I think you’ll like it.” I didn’t like it. I loved it. How precious are the librarians who know their readers and match them with books.
• Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery—my introduction to characters who seemed so real, they haunted my thoughts long after I turned that last page.
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman—an entry into sarcasm and humor that made me laugh out loud over and over. I begged my parents to let me read portions of it to them.

Erin Schlesener remembers rereading books over and over as a child, reluctant to leave the worlds she inhabited when lost within their pages. Erin read slowly, and remembers feeling so much pressure to read faster at school that she would skip pages or chapters just to keep up. It wasn’t until years later that she discovered that reading books while listening to the audio version brought coveted titles she had formerly abandoned to full, breathing life. She shares about this, getting book hangovers, and more in her interview with Anne Bogel on What Should I Read Next?

I’m thankful Erin’s teachers didn’t tell her she couldn’t read a book over and over. And I’m thankful no one told me I couldn’t read the books I loved. If you’re ever tempted to limit students to books based on a colored dot, number, letter, or some other code, I am begging you not to do it. I have seen firsthand how this well-intentioned practice can snuff out a love of reading.

For instance, graphic novels are a gateway for many readers. Let them be. A steady diet of whatever they like is what breathes oxygen into a reading life. I promise, if you let them read and reread every Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, they will eventually move to something new, and they will discover their next gateway book.