In 1979, Jim Trelease, a writer and staff artist for the Daily News, self-published his first edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook. In it he implored parents and teachers to read aloud to children. In a few weeks, the eighth edition of the book comes out. The results, he says, are clear.

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”

Reading, Trelease says, is the building block for all other education. The book includes a plethora of stats and studies to substantiate his claims. His goal, however is not to make better readers, but to instill a love for reading. He says this happens through read-alouds with parents and/or teachers. Two quotes from the book on this…

“This is not a book about teaching a child how to read; it’s about teaching a child to want to read.”

“What we teach children to love and desire will always outweigh what we make them learn.” 

Most importantly, though, reading aloud to our children will build the relationship between parents and kids. Trelease suggests reading aloud, throughout life, even once the child is an avid reader. The benefits are both relational and educational.

I just read the sixth edition of the book and I’m glad I did. This version of the book was published in 2006, right before social media and smart phones really took off. So all his stats and warnings, in the latter pages of the book are on the negative impact of TV, and a little bit about the internet.

As the reader, I wanted to tell him, “You have no idea what is about to happen!” Of course he does, and I’m sure the next version focuses more on other types of screen addiction.

So far there have been three results of reading this book. First, we have become more intentional with reading aloud to our kids. Second, my 5th grade son asked me to continue reading a book last night. Instead of reading our normal 2 chapters we read 11. Then he went up and got a pile of books that he has now placed on the next-to-read list. #Winning!

Lastly, reading the book has inspired me in my own journey of reading. I have always struggled as a reader, mostly just not enjoying reading. I love to learn, but reading has always been tough. Jim Trelease has inspired me to try again and learn to develop a love for reading. Thank you Mr. Trelease!

The next version of the book comes out on September 3, 2019. You can get a copy here. As he has retired, this is the first edition to be edited by someone else. I hope you will enjoy this. Let me know how it goes.

By the way, do you love reading? What led you to love reading? Please share in the comments below. Thank you.

Updated 8/13/19: Cyndi Giorgis is the “someone else” mentioned above who has updated and edited the new version of Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook. You can find out more at her website CyndiGiorgis.com and on Twitter.