Reading for Pleasure: International Perspectives

Reading for Pleasure: Exploring the Concept, the Causes and Consequences
Teresa Cremin and Sarah McGeown

Part I: Understanding Readers

1. Reading Motivation: Embracing Multiple Perspectives
Kristin Conradi Smith, Bong Gee Jang and Margaret T. Barr

2. Girls and Boys as Readers: Challenging Binary Beliefs
Laura Scholes, Elizabeth Pink and Sarah McDonald

3. Reading Identities and Recreational Reading
Catherine Compton-Lilly

Part II: The Nature of Texts

4. Sensory Literacies to Foster Reading for Pleasure
Radel James Gacumo, Natalia I. Kucirkova and Karen Coats

5. Fiction Books and Benefits to Wellbeing
Nicola Currie and Sarah McGeown

6. Connected Digital Reading among Adolescents
Kristen Hawley Turner, Rachel Besharat Mann and Lauren Zucker

Part III: Pedagogies and Practices Conducive to Reading for Pleasure

7. Agency within Pleasure Reading
Gay Ivey and Karole-Ann Friddle

8. Informal Book Talk
Lucy Rodriguez Leon, Samantha Jayne Hulston, Helen Hendry and Teresa Cremin

9. Shared Reading Aloud
Federico Batini and Maria Ermelinda De Carlo

Part IV: Environments Conducive to Reading for Pleasure

10. Home, Parents and Siblings
Rachael Levy and Anna Harrison

11. School Libraries: A Systematic Review
Chin Ee Loh and Kasey Garrison

12. Lifelong Reading Journeys
Margaret Mackey

13. Reading Communities: A Pluralist Perspective
Ruth Boyask and Melissa Derby

Conclusion and Reflections for Research, Practice and Policy
Sarah McGeown and Teresa Cremin

Biography

Teresa Cremin is Professor of Education (Literacy) and Co-Director of the Literacy and Social Justice Centre at The Open University in the United Kingdom. Her conceptual and pedagogic research focuses on the social and relational nature of children’s volitional reading and teachers’ knowledge, practice and identities as readers and writers.

Sarah McGeown is Professor of Literacy and Director of the Literacy Lab at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Her research focuses on understanding and supporting children and young people’s reading motivation, engagement and affective reading experiences.

‘Reading for pleasure should indeed be the right of every child. That requires investment – in understanding readers’ motivations and interests; and in resourcing for reading in different contexts in ways that engage, support and provoke the curiosity of readers in wanting to know more. This book brings together cutting-edge research internationally that will delight and inform its readers.’
Gemma Moss, Professor of Literacy UCL Institute of Education, UK.

‘Reading for pleasure is a critical factor for supporting youth today. This edited volume provides a much-needed resource reflecting multiple perspectives from scholars in the field. It offers diverse insights into how reading for pleasure can be nurtured, and how it can elevate both children and youth.’
Margaret Vaughn, Professor, Washington State University, USA.

‘Reading for Pleasure is a term used by teachers and scholars who view the teaching of reading as a matter of social justice. A rich body of evidence exists that demonstrates its potential to enhance academic outcomes and redress inequalities of opportunity. This book brings together international scholars to build a timely, research-informed case that reading for pleasure matters – a lot! Led by the experts in the field, the chapters provide an overview of past studies and current issues across a wide range of areas and global contexts. It speaks a powerful message that needs heeding.’
Alyson Simpson, Professor, The University of Sydney, Australia.