Every Child a Super Reader - by Pam Allyn & Ernest Morrell (Paperback)

About the Book

Literacy change agents Pam Allyn and Ernest Morrell show educators how to help students develop 7 key strengths to become self-reliant "super readers" Belonging, Curiosity, Kindness, Friendship, Confidence, Courage, and Hope. Includes reading/writing lesson ideas for each strength, as well as ways to meet speaking and listening standards. Embedded videos show ways to cultivate each strength. Supports the Lit Camps curriculum.

Book Synopsis

When we take children's key strengths and immerse them in an intellectually invigorating, emotionally nurturing, literature-rich community, we grow "super readers"--avid readers who consume texts with passion, understanding, and a critical eye.

Organized around the 7 Strengths inherent in super readers (belonging, curiosity, friendship, kindness, confidence, courage, and hope), this powerful resource helps children:

- Develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills
- Learn comprehension strategies
- Build a robust vocabulary
- Deepen analytical prowess and an ability to talk and write about text
- Develop empathy, a strong identity as a reader, and an expanded understanding of the world

Featuring stirring reading and writing lessons, robust assessment tools, ready-to-share Family Guides, and embedded videos that illuminate the 7 strengths and more, Every Child a Super Reader shows teachers, parents, caregivers, and out-of-school providers why reading is the ultimate super power, opening a world of possible for every student.

Review Quotes

"It's not overstatement: every (yes, every) child can be a self-propelled super reader. Allyn and Morrell provide you with the tips to turn your kids into readers for life. Hint: It involves great books!"
-James Patterson

"The concept of the Super Reader in this book focuses heavily on social environment and engagement. It encourages family, friends, peers and community to pitch in for ideas in this book to be fully realized. If you're expecting a self-taught learning experience for your child, you should look elsewhere.

The seven strengths include: belonging, curiosity, friendship, kindness, confidence, courage, and hope. The idea is once you get these themes ingrained in the child's mind, it will encourage the joy of reading and open dialogue with others to what they are reading.

The first part of the book focuses on the importance of community engagement and the themes or 7 strengths. The second part brings in some techniques for better reading incorporating ideas from the part one.

This book encourages the child to have opinions and question what they are reading and have open dialogue rather than an objective based system where they just look for the answer to the questions given to them.

The book is targeted at children who are in rough communities and minority children who's parents want them to catch up or even exceed those more privileged students with better resources to start, and the best approach according to this book is to have a community and family involvement to encourage better reading habits and a feedback loop for sharing ideas and concept for what the super reader is reading.

There are some tips and tricks in this book on how to excel at reading as well as some exercise which encourages critical and independent thinking. I'd say this book opens up a good foundation for readers to enjoy/interact with what they are reading, opening up potential for future success." --Vincent

Provided via Amazon Vine

"This remarkable book is an impassioned invocation to believe that every child can become not just a reader, but a super reader who can change the world through literacy. Pam Allyn and Ernest Morrell take us on a walk through seven core strengths that can open the world of possible for all children."
- Georgia Heard


"Two of the field's most respected literacy educators introduce the concept of 'super reader, ' a concept that needs to become part of our societal nomenclature. Their book contains kernels of wisdom for educators--guiding lights as we construct a world in which reading and young readers are deeply valued. The ultimate benefit is the potential kinship and connection that will be forged between those who teach reading and the children who will discover the power and promise of reading."
--Alfred W. Tatum
Dean, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Education


"We know that it is essential to teach students reading knowledge, skills, and strategies explicitly, but too often we forget that it is also essential to develop students' curiosity, compassion, courage, and other personal and social values. Allyn and Morrell remind us of this quite powerfully, with many concrete practices we can use in and outside of classrooms. Learn how powerful readers--and reading education--can become."
--Nell K. Duke, University of Michigan

About the Author

Pam Allyn is the Executive Director of LitLife and LitWorld, nationally and internationally known literacy development organizations that provide innovative, results-driven literacy strategy support for grades pre-K-12. She is the Founding Director of Books for Boys, an award winning reading initiative. Pam is the author of three books, Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys, The Complete 4 for Literacy and the 2010 National Parenting Magazine Award Winner What to Read When. She is also the co-author of The Complete Year in Reading and Writing series, K-5 and The Great Eight: Management Strategies for the Reading and Writing Classroom.

Pam is a graduate of Amherst College and received a Masters Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.Pam Allyn is the Executive Director of LitLife and LitWorld, nationally and internationally known literacy development organizations that provide innovative, results-driven literacy strategy support for grades pre-K-12. She is the Founding Director of Books for Boys, an award winning reading initiative. Pam is the author of three books, Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys, The Complete 4 for Literacy and the 2010 National Parenting Magazine Award Winner What to Read When. She is also the co-author of The Complete Year in Reading and Writing series, K-5 and The Great Eight: Management Strategies for the Reading and Writing Classroom.

Pam is a graduate of Amherst College and received a Masters Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.