In 2007, Al Roker, the weatherman from the Today show, dedicated a monthly segment over the summer to help kids engage in reading while they weren't in school. During this series there were four books chosen, one each month, and the author from the book would come in to read a portion of his book, take questions and sign autographs. A select few children from the area were invited for the reading and to ask questions but children from across America can send in questions that can be selected for the author to answer. The children (and parents) are also able to continue their discussion on the book via the website where they had several different resources such as a reading log, questions, and resources. Notably, Al was partnered with Scholastic and has now been such a booming success that it now runs all through the year.
Last January I was watching the today show and saw a segment on children's books. This day they were taking the "kid's pick" which was a book called A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup. The author was HILARIOUS, and I couldn't wait to read the book after hearing his interview with these kids. The kids really seemed to be invested in the book and love the characters and Dr. Soup was extremely charismatic so I figured the book must be great. Truthfully though is this just like Oprah's book club but for kids? A bunch of fluff for kids to read? Or are they providing quality examples of literature?
The mere fact that Al partnered with Scholastic to do this makes me wonder if they are presenting a wide enough spectrum of books. It also seems as though the website and maybe even the program has changed since they began four years ago. Now, when you go to the website I don't see any place where you can send in questions or chat about the book. I don't see reading logs or discussions boards of any kind. They seem to have many more suggestions for books and even have audio books available for preview but there is not much interaction going on. They do offer some resources such as the American Library Association, and Scholastic's website which tells how to teach with the books. These things, however, do not provide any kind of venue for kids to discuss the books with each other which I think would help to establish not only a healthy appreciation for book discussions but also a beneficial way for children to become accustomed to proper use of the internet.
I can't help but wonder if some one other than Scholastic was running this show it may be a better influence for the children and adults getting the suggestions. For instance, one of the books they have listed up on the website now in the article titled "Afghanistan through the eyes of a child" is not even written by a person from Afghanistan, but actually by an American soldier. Is this a good example of multicultural literature? I don't think so! How could this American soldier possibly know what it is like to be an little Afghan girl with a cleft palate?
At any rate, I think that this is a good thing because it gets kids reading but I don't know if it should be something that is relied on by educators. I also think some of these books would not be a worthy choice because they can create false views of the world, such as the example I presented. What are your thoughts?
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