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How To Read Literature Like A Professor: For Kids (2013)

by Thomas C. Foster(Favorite Author)

3.69 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0062200879 (ISBN13: 9780062200877)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

HarperCollins

review 1: This guide to reading has no plot, but speeds along at a fast pace. It has no characters but the works of literature it discusses. I could not put it down. With engaging style and intriguing content Foster demystifies the reading of literature by bringing together familiar-to-teens and new examples to show how - and why - new literature comes from classic literature, myth, and art, and how it all involves timeless ideas about life. Foster tells readers to expect the enjoyment of "aha" moments when they relate one story to another, and then gives them plenty of opportunities to experience it while reading his book. This book helps to explain that when we ask students to become familiar with literature that isn't of their choosing it is partly in order to bring them into a c... moreommunity of readers with a shared mythology in order to deepen their enjoyment of the reading (and art) they do select for themselves. If ever there was a nonfiction book that would send kids running to the shleves to find books they've missed, this is it. If I were teaching English to 7th - 9th or 10th grade students, I'd want many copies of this book in my classroom - if not in my curriculum. I wish I'd had this book when I was in 8th grade.
review 2: After truly enjoying Foster's books for adults, How to Read Literature Like a Professor" and "How to Read Novels Like a Professor", I was set to enjoy this book and give it high marks as well. I knew there would be no new revelations which weren't in the adult books, and that was not what I was after. I mainly wanted to see what examples he used, as I was curious as to which kids books could be used for that purpose. I must admit to quite a bit of disappointment. Although Foster did use some younger books (most were more Young Adult than "Kids" so I would have retitled the book as being for young adults), I was sorry to see he used a lot of the same examples he did in the adult books. Though some young readers may have read the books he used, many examples weren't from "kids'" books or even classics that kids would read. The chapter which includes a long passage for readers to analyze was right out of his book for adults with barely any changes. Granted, it was not inappropriate for kids, but I don't know of any "kid"-meaning someone under 14, who would be able to relate very well to the passage. I expected him to use more examples from books with main characters who were younger than 15 or at least younger than 18. I did, however, think the examples Foster used from the classics and from modern writers which had young main characters were good choices. I wanted to see more of those. less

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