Raising a reader
Welcome to Through Lines! Living creatively, thinking imaginatively, practicing the craft of storytelling, and uncovering your invisible strings
Love to LA
My heart goes out to the county of LA and everyone affected by the recent wildfires. I’ve been checking in with friends, reading stories pouring in from people grieving the loss of their cities, and seeing a wellspring of information emerge on how we all can help.
The devastation is unfathomable—not only of the physical ravages, but of the damage on communities, neighborhoods, and the collective wellbeing.
From afar, I’m already seeing flowing forces of support, and I’m marveling once again at how we, as humans, can come together with such love, ingenuity, and creativity to take care of one another.
The FEMA portal is being shared as a reliable resource, along with the Los Angeles Mutual Aid spreadsheet of resources for those in need.
Parent’s Toolkit
I’m involved in two local mom’s groups, in the two communities I call home. One of these communities is highly skewed to very young families with small children. I attend a book club with this group, and every month, we share the share the ages of our children as a means of small talk. When I lead with “I have a thirteen-year-old,” their mouths inevitably drop, as if teenage-hood is some mythical place over the mountains that they’d heard of, but didn’t know was real. The mode age of their children is two. Some are pregnant, most have at least one baby at home, and none of them have a child over the age of six.
While we’re not in precisely the same parenting phase, they are a group who appreciate literary analysis as much as I do, so book club is consistently a delight.
It’s also an opportunity for us to discuss the reading habits and literacy learning for one another’s children—I topic I’d gladly talk forever about (and probably will).
Literacy matters. Learning to read is important. Understanding story is an essential part of understanding the world we live in.
Reading is a lifelong skill, and it’s a gift we can give our children from the earliest ages.
I feel fortunate to live in places where I don’t need to convince other parents of the importance of a literate environment for children. In a society where book bans are rampant and “quiet censorship” is even more common, most people I interact with on a daily basis understand that books, generally speaking, are good.
These book club moms, and so many other parents I know and meet, want their little ones to read. They may also hope their children will become scientists or mathematicians or entrepreneurs or maybe creatives—but no matter what, these parents know that literacy is fundamental.
A lifetime of reading doesn’t need to look the same for everyone. Not every person needs to read the same amount in a given year, or choose the same kinds of stories. No one needs to prefer fiction or the classics or poetry, and being a book nerd doesn’t have to become a personality trait.
But literacy is crucial, for our minds and memory; for growing empathy and compassion; for building critical thinking; for confidence.
I could go further and argue that literacy is essential for a life of whimsy, and imagination, and magic, and wonder.
One book I’ve been recommending so frequently, I should be getting some kind of commission at this point, is How to Raise a Reader by Pamela Paul and Maria Russ.
This book breaks down crucial literacy milestones, explains how parents and caregivers can support literacy in children at every age and stage, and provides robust book lists for readers at different steps of their reading journey.
It’s a thoughtful, well-written guide for adults, and it stops short of the waxing poetic speeches that so many of us in children’s book publishing (myself included) give when we try to talk about why literacy matters.
They also wrote a tight, informative piece in The New York Times, for anyone who would appreciate the cliff-notes version—though I highly recommend buying the book, because you’ll want to pore over the book lists and request every title from the library for your young reader, year over year.
If you can’t get enough info on how to grow a young reader, the NYPL has a collection of books to share, along with basic tips on the most important pillars of literacy learning at home.
✨Read aloud to you kids!
✨Have your kids see you read!
✨Fill your house with books!
✨Make the local library a beloved third place!
✨Let your child choose their reading!
Personally, I have a habit of leaving books all over the house (the only untidiness I can tolerate in my home): towering on the couch, stacked next to the kitchen table, leaned against the wall by the front door, taking up space in the bathroom, carefully placed on the staircase. It’s a total joy to walk past my children sitting in the hallway, laid out on the living room carpet, or spread out in their bed midday, reading.
Recommendations
Speaking of reading, what book can you recommend this week? Are there any books you shared with a young reader recently?
Glimmers to share
✨Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman
A warning: I wouldn’t recommend this book to the casual “spooky story” reader. This novel is horror, through and through. I was reading it on public transit, and I realized my face was scrunched in disgust at a particular passage (IYKYK), which may or may not be endorsement. But while this book is quite twisted, it’s also full of humanity and heart, and Clay’s signature stunning writing
✨A coffee shop kitty graced us with their presence. It was a very special moment
✨I adore a seasonal picture book! Valentine’s Day has been a holiday that’s struggled to establish literary classics in the same way other occasions have, but that’s changing—starting with Cupig, a hilarious and tender picture book written by the very talented Claire Tattersfield and the extremely brilliant Rob Sayegh Jr.
About Me
I’m Christie, and I’m a story person. I work as a children’s literary & illustration agent. I’m a writer, with published essays and a novel + short stories in the works. I’m a former elementary school teacher and current homeschooling mom. I also do data analysis (stories abound!). Some of my enthusiasms are baking, urban walks, forest hikes, gothic poetry, horror movies, Taylor Swift, and cats. And books - books are my passion and stories are my mission.
Through Lines is here to examine the craft of storytelling, explore publishing industry insights, celebrate the joy of learning, and discover the magic hiding in ordinary moments.