Reading by right: successful strategies to ensure every child can read to succeed

Literacy has been recognised as a human right for over 50 years. This book contends that, as reading underpins literacy, it should also be seen as such. In Reading by right, leading researchers, teachers, literacy consultants and librarians from the UK, Europe, Asia and the US provide compelling experiential evidence to support that contention.

The authors provide unique perspectives of the value of reading, how it can be developed and nurtured, and how to ensure that every child and young person is able to exercise to the best of their abilities and circumstances this human ‘right’.

There is a great deal of unpacking of what is actually meant by being able to read. Assumptions and perceptions are tested right from the start, with the first chapter featuring a program highlighting reading education that over time grew from offering traditional books to include books for readers with visual and other impairments.

The chapters generally follow the format of discussing their perspectives by using specific case studies to illustrate needs, describe the funding available (if any), how localised the program was, how many children were impacted, professionals involved and discussion of outcomes. Each chapter also ends with relevant readings and resources to follow up. In this way, the reader is able to gain insights from experts and more importantly from children themselves as to what works when it comes to beginning and encouraging the practise of reading.

What is made clear is that there is no one standard or structured program that will work for each child or group. Key elements to ensuring reading endure in a child’s life long enough for it to become a self-sustaining activity, include enthusiastic positive interventions that begin as early as possible (before school); family involvement (as much as possible); encouragement of imagination; a mirroring of diversity that exists in society (racial, cultural and multiple abilities); and content that spans broad interests.

It’s obvious that access to resources and people is very much an issue and some great examples of library and community collaboration illustrate that these issues do not have to be insurmountable.

It was also good to see ‘bibliotherapy’ feature (Chapter 6) in the context of Korean programs with delinquent youth.

Most of us utilise reading every day of our lives, for our work, as part of study/education, for enjoyment and when seeking information. Very few of us dissect how we got to be able to do that. The beauty of this book is that it gets us to reflect on the ‘how’, and the challenges faced by those children who may not be able to acquire that skill as a matter of course, but who may need interventions to ensure that they develop competence, and equally importantly, an enjoyment of reading as they proceed through life.