Recently one of my favorite journalists wrote a review of a restaurant that he said was so bad that "I'm only writing about it as a warning." I'm not delusional enough to think I have anywhere near the audience or influence as this gentleman, but all the same, I'm reviewing Reader, Come Home only to warn you off it.
If you know me personally, you know that we have a particular, personal interest in neuroscience in our house, and also a child on the cusp (we hope!) of learning to read. Maryanne Wolf's book seemed like a "must read" from both perspectives, and from the first few pages, I foolishly hoped it would provide me practical insights on preparing my son for this brave new world. According to the back cover, Reader, Come Home, is a "must-read" and "a game changer for parents and educators." As if.
Here are my take-aways: 1) Read to your children. 2) There's some evidence that reading hard copy, instead of electronically, increases retention. For some people. 3) It's probably not good to use technology as a babysitter - it might just rot the brain a bit. And, no, that's not the scientific term for what happens. Admittedly, I was shocked by the statistic that the average amount of time spent by three- to five-year-old children on digital devices was four hours a day in 2015.
That said, I'm going to presume there's not much new here for most anyone who would pick up Reader, Come Home. The neuroscience could be new, but I found Wolf's explanations far too obtuse, and for all the times she used the word "plasticity," there was little there about what we parents might do, if anything, to fully maximize this magic time.
Zero stars.
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