As an author of children’s books, John Gile, naturally enough, is a proponent of reading and writing. “Survival skills for the 21st Century,” he calls them.
Gile recently spoke before a group of more than a dozen teachers and parents at the Borders bookstore in Naperville, during a workshop titled “Tips and Tools for Parents and Teachers Who Want Their Children to Want to Read.”
Mary Miles, the bookstore’s community relations coordinator, said Gile offered to conduct the workshop following a December book signing.
“John came here to sign copies of his latest book, `What Is That Thing? Whose Stuff Is This?’ and offered to come back in a few weeks and give this workshop,” Miles said. “He offers a great perspective for parents and educators and he makes reading fun and accessible.”
Reading specialist Elaine Dugan of Naperville said she hoped to learn some techniques for students she works with at Storm Elementary School in Batavia.
“We have a number of children who struggle with reading at our school, and many of us who teach reading talk frequently and share a lot of ideas,” Dugan said. “I’m hoping to learn something I can bring back to others.”
Ken Mooney of Riverside said he works as a volunteer in a literacy program and, even though some of his students are adults, he thought Gile might have something to offer them as well.
“A few of the adults I work with are only reading at the 3rd- and 4th-grade level,” Mooney said. “Even though I know Mr. Gile’s books are for children, I thought there might be something here for me.”
Gile’s first book, “The First Forest,” was published in 1989, a fable which brought the Rockford native many invitations into classrooms across the country.
To date, he has traveled more than 100,000 miles and worked with nearly 500,000 students in 42 states and abroad. He was a featured speaker at the World Congress of the International Reading Association in New Zealand last summer, and his books are used in schools throughout the country.
A stint in the Army before college gave him a love of reading and language.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I went into the Army,” Gile said. “They gave me a battery of tests and decided the way I could best serve was to work as a Russian interpreter. I was sent to California to learn the Russian language, and it was then I really fell in love with my own language. I decided then I wanted to become a writer.”
Gile told those attending the workshop that multimedia and the electronic barrage children are exposed to do not have to get in the way of learning to read and loving it.
“In the early years, the media thing is a problem because when you give a child a video it’s kind of like saying, `Don’t bother me,'” Gile said. “When you share a book with a child, it’s a way of saying, `Please, bother me.’
“Everywhere I go, I seem to find the children craving more personal attention. Videos and computers are great but before you can have computer literacy you have to have basic literacy. And the time spent with electronic media takes away from the time we need to spend with children.”
Reading aloud to kids also should serve as a diagnostic tool, Gile said, since it can identify potential problems earlier.
“One of the biggest stumbling blocks to reading is physical impairment, which a recent study out of Iowa found affects 25 percent of children,” he said. “That’s why it’s important to read aloud and then listen to the child read back to you.”
Gile said the keys to developing reading ability include modeling and promoting it in every way possible. His tips include reading aloud, listening to kids read, having them write in journals and being present whenever your child picks up a book.
“Make reading a celebration, have rewards, take trips to the library and the bookstore,” Gile said. “If you truly love your kids, you have to spend time with them, and what better way to do that than with a book.”
