Are you doing this?

If we were meeting for coffee, one of the first things I would ask (after giving you a big bear hug) is “What you have read lately that you loved?” Oh, dear colleagues, I hope you are reading for pleasure. If I had my way, reading for fun would be part of every educator’s job description.

Why?

First, it is good for us! Neuroscientist Susan Greenfield says that reading helps lengthen our attention spans and improves our ability to think clearly. We are distracted by technology so often, aren’t we? This benefit feels extremely valuable. A longer attention span and the ability to think clearly? Sign me up. That’s not all. Losing ourselves in a book is a powerful stress reliever. Even if it’s only for six minutes a day! According to cognitive neuropsychologist David Lewis, “Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation.” His study showed that getting lost in a good book for only six minutes relieved stress better than listening to music, sipping tea, or even taking a walk outside.

But an even bigger why . . . If raising lifelong readers is really important to us, if we want our students to read for joy and information, and to enlarge their hearts, minds, and souls, they have got to know that we are doing it, too. So, let’s share our reading lives with them.

• “I read a book last night that made me laugh out loud! Don’t you love funny books?”
• That Kate DiCamillo! She did it again! I loved her latest book so much, but I am beginning to suspect she thinks it is fun to make me cry.”
• “Okay, you guys, I tried a new recipe from a cookbook I got at the library, and it was amazing! Can you believe that a sandwich with cauliflower on it would be good? But it was!”

How?

Do you feel like you don’t have time to read for pleasure? Remember, the research above found we will benefit even if it’s for only six minutes a day! We all have six minutes. If I would pick up a book instead of scrolling on my phone, I can guarantee I’d discover more than six free minutes. And we can read two ways:

• Read with our eyes. There are several moments in a day when we can pick up a book instead of our phones: while sitting in waiting rooms, while waiting to pick up a child, and before we go to sleep.
• Read with our ears. Doing chores or during commuting are perfect times to read with our ears. I read Long Way Down to myself first and loved it. Then I checked the audiobook out of the library and accessed it right on my phone and wow, the experience was made much richer when I heard Jason Reynolds share his words in his voice.

What?

Ask around. What have your friends, colleagues, and family read lately that they loved? Peek around in my Goodreads list or that of voracious readers like Donalyn Miller , John Schu, or Alyson Beecher. Here are a few of my recent loves:

• Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall (picture book)
• Nina: Jazz Legend and Civil-Rights Activist Nina Simone by Alice Brière-Haquet (picture book)
• This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth by Sean Rubin (picture book)
• Born Behind Bars by Padma Venkatraman (You will definitely want to read this middle-grade novel with your ears! Hearing it in Padma’s voice is an exquisite journey.)
• The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo (middle-grade novel)

Some of you are already on board and wishing we really could meet for coffee and talk about books we love. Some of you have let that pleasure get drowned out by other things. It is time to dip your toes back into the reading pool. I promise that if your own passion for the miraculous world of books is reignited, your engagement with the readers you work with every day will increase in a deeply satisfying way.