Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits

Written by Susan Kelley and Donalyn Miller

Narrated by Julie McKay

In Reading in the Wild, reading expert Donalyn Miller continues the conversation that began in her bestselling book, The Book Whisperer. While The Book Whisperer revealed the secrets of getting students to love reading, Reading in the Wild, written with reading teacher Susan Kelley, describes how to truly instill lifelong "wild" reading habits in our students.



Based, in part, on survey responses from adult readers as well as students, Reading in the Wild offers solid advice and strategies on how to develop, encourage, and assess five key reading habits that cultivate a lifelong love of reading. Also included are strategies, lesson plans, management tools, and comprehensive lists of recommended books. Originally copublished with Editorial Projects in Education, publisher of Education Week and Teacher magazine, Reading in the Wild is packed with ideas for helping students build capacity for a lifetime of "wild" reading.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705260982

Reviews for Reading in the Wild

[Marjorie Matthews · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I’m a homeschooling mom. This book is written for public school teachers. But I still liked it! There is good information about how to meet kids where they are and encourage them to be “wild readers”, readers in their outside-of-school life. There are a lot of websites that become tedious to listen to, fyi. But loads of good book recommendations. I love books about books! Now on to “book whisperer”!

[sammusher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good book if you are a middle or elementary English teacher, or a high school English teacher with an unusual amount of curricular oversight, or maybe an elementary librarian or a parent. Clearly written, lots of example reading logs and student work and support for the idea that building independent reading skills are important. Yay for that! Not so helpful, unfortunately, for a middle school librarian who has zero control over anyone's classroom or reading time.

[skstiles612 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Donalyn is by far one of my favorite authors when it comes to reading about ways to inspire kids to learn to love reading. I purchased this book and added it to our Professional Development Plan. I felt this book was important enough that all of my ELA teachers needed to read it. By adding it to our plan we would need to discuss it. Through this book she makes recommendations about the right way to encourage students to read, the right way to recommend books and genres. The right way to make sure your kids are reading “in the wild”, when they are away from you, instead of only when they are in your class. This should be a must read for all beginning teachers no matter what subject they teach. In the real world of teaching, no matter what subject you teach, if your student can’t read well then they won’t really do well in any of their classes. All subjects require the ability to read and comprehend. Put this on your list of must read books for this year.

[supendleton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a practical approach to creating reading communities in classrooms. Miller gives book suggestions and helps other teachers see how she manages to create a reading workshop in her classroom and also meet district and school requirements. She also gives great lists and surveys that can be reproduced at the end of the book. Reading this book makes me want to go find her other book, The Book Whisperer.

[mkish-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Donnalyn Miller reads my mind! This book covers all the topics on reading in the classroom and beyond that I've been thinking about. It is filled with a lot of wonderful ideas that I know will impact my students and create "wild readers". Just like The Book Whisperer, this is a must read for anyone wanting to influence the lifelong reading habits of young people.