How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids

by Thomas C. Foster

Overview

The go-to bestselling guide to help young people navigate from a middle school book report to English Comp 101

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids, New York Times bestselling author and professor Thomas C. Foster gives tweens the tools they need to become thoughtful readers.

With funny insights and a conversational style, he explains the way writers use symbol, metaphor, characterization, setting, plot, and other key techniques to make a story come to life.

From that very first middle school book report to that first college course, kids need to be able to understand the layers of meaning in literature. Foster makes learning this important skill fun and exciting by using examples from How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, from short stories and poems to movie scripts.

This go-to guide unlocks all the hidden secrets to reading, making it entertaining and satisfying.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062200877
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/23/2013
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	507,046
Lexile:	820L (what's this?)
File size:	358 KB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Thomas C. Foster is the author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, How to Write Like a Writer, How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor, and other works. He is professor emeritus of English at the University of Michigan, Flint, where he taught classes in contemporary fiction, drama, and poetry as well as creative writing and freelance writing. He is also the author of several books on twentieth-century British and Irish literature and poetry.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6–9—This companion to the author's adult titles is geared toward young people who want to get a bit more out of J.K Rowling or Dr. Seuss. Foster uses both of these authors, along with Shakespeare and Homer (not Simpson), to illustrate various approaches to literature. He argues that there is really only one story, that of a journey or quest, and that it takes shape in many forms, in novels, plays, and poems. The book also delves into symbolism, irony, and the political and geographical aspects of literature. Readers will enjoy seeing Green Eggs and Ham from Foster's perspective of how food is often more than just a meal. Of course, he also touches on how the Bible, folk and fairy tales, and ancient literature form the basis of many of our favorite stories. His passion for literature is evident, and the text is readable and encouraging. While it would be a rare reader who would be familiar with every title the author cites, the arguments that he poses are solid and the examples are always apt. Students won't find literary research here, but they will find some valuable guidance on how to read critically and hopefully be inspired to read more widely.—Carol Fazioli, Barth Elementary School, Pottstown, PA

School Library Journal

The New York Times–best-selling How to Read Literature Like a Professor is redacted for teachers of young readers. The premise behind Foster's works is that there's a "grammar of literature…a certain set of patterns, codes, and rules that we can learn to use when we're reading a piece of writing." If students learn that grammar, they can read better and appreciate more about what's going on in the books they read. Short essays offer insights into myth, symbols, setting, Shakespeare, the Bible, quests and various themes. The author shares a "big secret: there's only one story"--all stories grow out of other stories and contribute to the mix, and what students are doing as they learn to read more widely and insightfully is joining a conversation between old books and new. The title and cover, though--actually, the whole premise of this volume--are misleading: This will work best as a guide for teachers of young people, providing many interesting insights into a range of children's and young-adult literature, from Green Eggs and Ham to Twilight, along with adult literature accessible to younger readers, such as Dracula, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. An upbeat and engaging guide to literature for English teachers working with young readers. (reading list, acknowledgments, index) (Nonfiction. 12 & up)

Kirkus Reviews