How does seeing figurative language help you be a more thoughtful reader?
You can read a book and think it’s a good story. Or you can read a book and notice the symbols, setting, and figurative language and understand the meaning of the story on a whole different level. This book is for the reluctant reader and the avid reader, the young and the old, but especially for the middle schoolers. Written by New York bestseller author and professor Thomas Foster, How to Read Books Like a Professor: for Kids teaches the reader some secrets to understanding books and points out helpful examples and connections along the way.
Through humor and insight, the Foster teaches how to read books using familiar books, stories, and movies as examples. With chapter titles like “Nice to Eat You” and “Where Have I Seen You Before,” readers learn about the skills needed to find meaning and make connections. Not only will they read better, but their summaries and conversations about literature will also be much richer.
This book is so good I suggest you get a copy this summer and read it aloud to your kids, ages 5th grade and up, especially the middle schoolers. With each short chapter, ask your kids where they have seen other examples of this topics in books, movies, or video games. Once they start noticing things mentioned, they will begin finding more and more examples as the book goes on. I’ve taught through it in summer tutoring courses and read it aloud to a homeschool student. Most kids fuss when you tell them to read a book, but every single student I’ve worked with admits by the middle of the book that this one is a good and helpful book.
This best selling book should be at the top of your summer reading list, even if you are an adult.
Want some other book recommendations? Read here and here.
Table Talk: What is the difference between a simile and a metaphor? What’s the most outrageous hyperbole you have read lately?
