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Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers 1st Edition

4.7 out of 5 stars 240 ratings

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 “I believe each of my students must craft an individual reading life of challenge, whim, curiosity, and hunger, and I’ve discovered that it is not too late in high school  to lead a non-reader to reading.  It’s never too late.”Penny Kittle

Penny Kittle wants us to face the hard truths every English teacher fears:  too many kids don’t read the assigned texts, and some even manage to slip by without having ever read a single book by the time they graduate.   As middle and high school reading declines, college professors lament students’ inability to comprehend and analyze complex texts, while the rest of us wonder: what do we lose as a society when so many of our high school graduates have no interest in reading anything?

In Book Love Penny takes student apathy head on, first by recognizing why students don’t read and then showing us that when we give kids books that are right for them, along with time to read and regular response to their thinking, we can create a pathway to satisfying reading that leads to more challenging literature and ultimately, a love of reading.

With a clear eye on the reality of today’s classrooms, Penny provides practical strategies and advice on:

  • increasing volume, capacity, and complexity over time
  • creating a balance of independent reading, text study, and novel study
  • helping students deepen their thinking through writing about reading
  • building a classroom library with themes that matter to 21st century kids.

Book Love is a call to arms for putting every single kid, no exceptions allowed, on a personal reading journey. But much more than that, it’s a powerful reminder of why we became English teachers in the first place:  our passion for books.  Books matter.  Stories heal.  The right book in the hands of a kid can change a life forever.  We can’t wait for anyone else to teach our students a love of books―it’s up to us and the time is now.  If not you, who?

For information about the Book Love Foundation, which provides classroom libraries to deserving teachers and schools, visit
booklovefoundation.org.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

The Beatles might have thought that all you need is love, but lucky for teachers, Penny Kittle knows better. She knows that when you want to create lifetime readers, you not only need to fill the room with books, not only need to show your own passion about books, but need to help kids develop lifetime reading habits. In this book, Penny shows all of us how to help kids develop those habits as she shares her masterful teaching strategies that turn aliterate students into kids who not only can read, but want to read. --Kylene Beers, author of When Kids Can't Read/What Teachers Can Do

Book Love is nothing short of miraculous. Penny Kittle knows the developmental stage of adolescence like she invented it. This book alone could make me a good teacher. It's detailed, so incredibly readable and I swear, filled with simple miracles. --Chris Crutcher, author of Period 8

Book Love focuses on a critical question all but forgotten in this age of standards and testing: What can we, as teachers, do to help our students develop a love for reading? Book Love is a breath of fresh air. It challenges many damaging practices that have become norms in our nation s classrooms, offering insightful, practical ways for teachers to begin instilling a love of reading in our students and showing teachers and administrators how to build reading lives that last. Kittle is right we cannot wait for someone else to teach our students to love reading. It starts with us, and I am hopeful that for many teachers it will start with this book. --Kelly Gallagher, author of Readicide

Worried the teenagers you teach will never pick up a book on their own? Let Penny Kittle show you how to kindle a passion for reading with authentic texts and techniques aimed at students' most vulnerable spot their hearts. --Carol Jago, author of With Rigor for All

Penny Kittle invites us into her high school classroom where many of her students fall in love with reading for the first time. Through reading research, her practical classroom rituals, and the powerful words of her students as they describe years spent not reading, Penny builds an undeniable case for pleasure reading in the high school English classroom as a path to reading competence, stamina, and engagement. --Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer


Worried the teenagers you teach will never pick up a book on their own? Let Penny Kittle show you how to kindle a passion for reading with authentic texts and techniques aimed at students' most vulnerable spot their hearts. --Carol Jago, author of With Rigor for All

Penny Kittle invites us into her high school classroom where many of her students fall in love with reading for the first time. Through reading research, her practical classroom rituals, and the powerful words of her students as they describe years spent not reading, Penny builds an undeniable case for pleasure reading in the high school English classroom as a path to reading competence, stamina, and engagement. --Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer

About the Author

Penny Kittle teaches freshman composition at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She was a teacher and literacy coach in public schools for 34 years, 21 of those spent at Kennett High School in North Conway. She is the co-author (with Kelly Gallagher) of Four Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency as well as the bestselling 180 Days.

Penny is the author of Book Love and Write Beside Them, which won the NCTE James Britton award. She also co-authored two books with her mentor, Don Graves, and co-edited (with Tom Newkirk) a collection of Graves’ work, Children Want to Write. She is the president of The Book Love Foundation and was given the Exemplary Leader Award from NCTE’s Conference on English Leadership. In the summer Penny teaches graduate students at the University of New Hampshire Literacy Institutes. Throughout the year, she travels across the U.S. and Canada (and once in awhile quite a bit farther) speaking to teachers about empowering students through independence in literacy. She believes in curiosity, engagement, and deep thinking in schools for both students and their teachers. Penny stands on the shoulders of her mentors, the Dons (Murray & Graves), and the Toms (Newkirk & Romano), in her belief that intentional teaching in a reading and writing workshop brings the greatest student investment and learning in a classroom.

Learn more about Penny Kittle on her websites, pennykittle.net and booklovefoundation.org, or follow her on Twitter.


Penny's students make a statement about how
student choice in reading has affected them.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HEINEMANN
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 26, 2012
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0325042950
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0325042954
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 11 - 17 years
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.4 x 0.41 x 9.3 inches
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 6 - 12
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 240 ratings

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4.7 out of 5 stars
240 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book extremely useful for middle and high school teachers, with one noting it gets at the heart of why we teach literacy. Customers praise its readability, with one mentioning it's a great companion text for Donalyn Miller followers.

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29 customers mention "Reading level"29 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's approach to reading instruction, finding it a must-read for teachers of all grade levels, particularly middle and high school educators, with one customer noting how it gets to the heart of literacy teaching.

"...Not only does she provide an extensive rationale of the positive influence of conferencing she also gives her readers guidelines to follow for the..." Read more

"...the reasoning behind the extreme importance of increasing independent reading time for all students...." Read more

"...team and I were able to take Kittle's ideas and implement them effectively in the classroom and saw a noticeable change in our students." Read more

"This is one of the best, most inspiring “teaching books” that I’ve ever read...." Read more

22 customers mention "Readability"22 positive0 negative

Customers find the book highly readable and consider it a must-read, with one customer noting it's a great companion text for Donalyn Miller followers.

"...For a future teacher, this book is a treasure trove of ideas to get kids to enjoy reading...." Read more

"Excellent book! I finished it in one night! I can't wait to use what I learned this year!" Read more

"...Penny Kittle has a love of reading and books that makes me know we are kindred spirits...." Read more

"...Testimonials from former students! Increase reading stamina and comprehension." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    How many times have we heard the laments of parents and teachers, “if only my kids read more”? Penny Kittle in Book Love tackles the problem of students who don’t read, and offers English teachers tactics to combat this problem. The summative message of her book is that the first step in getting students to read is to get them to enjoy what they are reading. For a future teacher, this book is a treasure trove of ideas to get kids to enjoy reading.
    She begins her book by informing her readers of the accepted fact that only twenty percent of students actually read the literature they are given in class. Combining that fact with the idea that students will have to read between 200 and 600 pages in college weekly to be successful, it creates a problematic situation that lines students up to fail once they hit higher education. It is obvious that students need to get reading, and they need to do so quickly!
    As a pre-service English teacher, one of the thoughts that haunts my psyche, is what if the kids won’t read? I love the ideas that Kittle introduces to promote reading success. First of all, she has students measure their reading speed in pages per week and then measuring how that changes over the course of the year, and then she gives interesting ideas on how to keep track of their reading. My favorite of these is have students do “roller-coaster” reading, in which they balance complex reading with enjoyable simpler reading. Every time they finish what they deem deep, difficult reading, they follow it up with shorter more lightweight piece. It keeps the kids from burning out from the harder texts, and it keeps them reading. She also has the students rank their books in terms of difficulty and also has them reflect upon how their reading rate changes over the course of a term, semester, etc..
    While I love her ideas, the sheer volume she has her students read is my main, and really only point of contention with this text. She says that it is within reason that students can read up to sixty books a year. Even if students can read that much, the question is “should they?” To me, that many books can encourage “speed reading” which is something that Kittle chastises for being ineffective. It also does not take into account (as referenced by the student reading logs in the book) the textbooks that students read in other classes. I totally understand and support having high goals for students to strive to achieve, but I feel goals that are too high could do students an ultimate disservice.
    My absolute favorite portion of Kittle’s book is her chapter on conferences. Not only does she provide an extensive rationale of the positive influence of conferencing she also gives her readers guidelines to follow for the conferences. To me, this chapter is the section that I can foresee myself going back to again and again during my teaching career. She gives guiding questions to use when dealing with all different types of students (for example: those who won’t read, those who are struggling, those who don’t feel challenged, etc). Along with these guided questions, she gives examples that she faced in her own career and how one can expect these conferences to go. She makes you really feel like you’re in the classroom with her students, and her word choice shows you just how much of a difference she can make with only a three or four minute chat with her kids. It is at this point in the book that I realized that the trepidations I have towards teaching are totally normal, every teacher has faced them, and because of that, people like Kittle have given us strategies to fall back on that actually work. It was at that moment that I was very thankful that I bought this book.
    Despite a spot or two where I disagreed, I would wholeheartedly recommend Book Love to every teacher, in-service or pre-service, because its strategies are so useful I can’t imagine myself hitting the classroom without it on my bookshelf. Whether it is creating a classroom library (something she makes sound so easy) or her description of “big idea” books, you will find yourself saying both “why didn’t I think of that” and “I can’t wait to use this!” I believe that every teacher, of any subject can create a fun and comfortable classroom of readers by taking Kittle’s tactics and molding them with their own ideas and personality.
    20 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Excellent book! I finished it in one night! I can't wait to use what I learned this year!
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book provides all the reasoning behind the extreme importance of increasing independent reading time for all students. By using book talks and establishing or increasing the classroom library, Kittle gives us the recipe for inspiring a love of reading in all students. While Kittle does not provide a step-by-step guide on how to implement a focus on reading across the curriculum at your school, she certainly points to the justification and benefits of doing so. Share this book with your colleagues. For more nuts and bolts on how to implement the writing workshop in your classroom, see Write Beside Them, also by Penny Kittle.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book changed my approach to teaching. My 8th grade team and I were able to take Kittle's ideas and implement them effectively in the classroom and saw a noticeable change in our students.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This is one of the best, most inspiring “teaching books” that I’ve ever read. Penny Kittle has a love of reading and books that makes me know we are kindred spirits. Her ideas and experience for sharing that love in her school inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing.
    I devoured this book slowly, both so I could absorb the thoughts and so my wallet could recover from all the amazing title recommendations. You might say that’s not devouring then, but I assure you it is.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2017
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I bought this book last summer and it has become one of my favorites. I carried this book around with me all year, so it looks pretty worn up by now. I drew lessons from it all the way to the end of the school year. It is a must-read for teachers of all grade levels. It provides lots of good practical tips for encouraging reading and fostering the love of it.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    High school English teachers, this is what we've been waiting for! Kittle shows us why and how to motivate our teen students to find books they love and, in the process, improve their reading levels - which is something we are not accomplishing with our current, outdated methods. This book has inspired me to be determined: I WILL find a way to fund, stock, and maintain a classroom library that will get kids reading, thinking, and writing. Thank you, Penny Kittle.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2016
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Book #122 Read in 2016
    Book Love by Penny Kittle

    This book was a great read about establishing and maintaining a community of readers in your classroom. I shared parts of it with the students in my Young Adult Literature and would recommend it to my teaching colleagues. I enjoyed it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Client d'Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bon pour les professeurs
    Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Mon fils voulait ce livre comme cadeau de noël et il faut enchanté par son contenu
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  • dm68
    5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read
    Reviewed in Canada on October 13, 2013
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Penny Kittle has written a book that is easy to read and creates a passion for teachign reading. The ideas that are presented in the book are practical and easily implemented. A great book for teachers of all grades to read as a reminder of what is really important in teaching reading.
  • Heather in Nova Scotia
    5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVEBook Love. Will be using it in my Graduate course ...
    Reviewed in Canada on September 7, 2015
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    I LOVEBook Love. Will be using it in my Graduate course to share the easy to implement strategies to the teaching professionals in the class.
  • Erin Michelle Ross
    4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile teacher resource
    Reviewed in Canada on December 24, 2019
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    A great resource for English Language Arts teachers at the high school level. Although I set aside time in our weekly class schedule for my students to choose their own books in our classroom, I know that I still need to go the extra mile and support my struggling readers.

    Penny Kittle writes in a respectful and down to earth tone. This was important to me because I resent preachy professional development books. Having read her book "Write Beside Them," I feel safe in saying that Kittle speaks directly to her reading audience and by using her story of ups and downs, carries her passion from the classroom directly to the text.

    A must-read!
  • Edward A Haluschak
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great value!
    Reviewed in Canada on April 24, 2019
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great book