May the Fourth be with you.
May the Fourth Be With You.
Today as I write, it is Star Wars Day, a day where fans around the world celebrate this iconic movie series.
What does that have to do with a reluctant reader? I hear you ask. Read this months blog dear reader and all will become clear.
Most people will tell you that the book is always better than the movie, and I would usually agree. However in this case, I beg to differ. I was in my teens when the original trilogy first hit our screens. It amazed me like nothing before it. It was full of so much imagination and fantasy that was ahead of its time for the 1970’s. So, when one of my sons grew to love it too, I embraced it. He was the reluctant reader in our house, but Star Wars helped turn that around.
Finding books that he wanted to pick up and read was almost impossible, enter stage left, the Star Wars Encyclopedias. Large, hard cover books with amazing detailed pictures of the space craft and all things Star Wars related. The Millennium Falcon was his favourite, but he read those books over and over, each time committing more facts to his memory.
Then the paperback novels arrived. We began to collect the series. Each story read until the pages were worn. I admit, he still preferred to watch the movies, but he was reading.
Another strategy to help him read was the Monopoly Star Wars edition. Each time we played, he was having fun and didn’t think about the fact that he was reading. We spent countless hours playing this over several years, imagine how many hours of reading that all added up to.
I don’t know of any other movie series that has had the same impact on lives that Star Wars has. But I would be happy to be enlightened.
If you have or had, a reluctant reader in your house, what movies that are also books have you used to help them want to read?
In most cases the book would have come first. Star Wars is an exception to the rule.
Monopoly is a great strategy for encouraging reading without your reluctant reader realising. Have you used board games in this way? What are your suggestions?