Introduction WHAT READING MAKES POSSIBLE
Reading shapes lives; reading even saves lives. Consider the stories of our greatest leaders across time, culture, and place. Almost all credit reading as an essential force that catapulted them to success. Thomas Edison, for example, had little formal schooling but was a “relentless autodidact” and profited mightily from reading books in his father’s home library, as well as the Detroit public library (Walsh, 2010). But Edison’s story has its basis in science; indeed, explicit, systematic cognitive research gathered over many decades provides proof beyond dispute that reading not only builds our brains, but also exercises our intelligence (Krashen, 2011). Reading Makes Us Smart Anne Cunningham, renowned cognitive psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, explains that reading is a “very rich, complex, and cognitive act” (2003) that offers an immense opportunity to exercise our intelligence in ways we lose if we don’t read. Hundreds of correlated studies demonstrate that the most successful students read the most, while those who struggle read the least. These studies suggest that the more our students read, the better their comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency—and the more likely they are to build a robust knowledge of the world. In short, reading provides us with a cognitive workout that transcends not only our inherent abstract problem-solving abilities, but also our levels of education. Reading makes us smart.
A childhood spent among books prepared me for a lifetime as a reader.
—Carol Jago, past president of the National Council of Teachers of English
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WHAT READING MAKES POSSIBLE
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