[T]imely and important.... if you love reading and the ways it has enriched your life and our world, Reader, Come Home is essential, arriving at a crucial juncture in history.
Wolf wields her pen with equal parts wisdom and wonder. The result is a joy to read and reread, a love letter to literature, literacy, and progress.
Wolf offers a persuasive catalog of the cognitive and social good created by deep reading…. She’s right that digital media doesn’t automatically doom deep reading and can even enhance it. She’s also correct that we have a lot to lose if we don’t pay attention to what we’re doing with technology and what it’s doing to us.
A love song to the written word, a brilliant introduction to the science of the reading brain and a powerful call to action. With each page, Wolf shows us why we must preserve deep reading for ourselves and sow desire for it within our kids. Otherwise we risk losing the critical benefits for humanity that come with reading deeply to understand our world.
This rich study by cognitive scientist Maryanne Wolf tackles an urgent question: how do digital devices affect the reading brain? Wolf explores the “cognitive strata below the surface of words”, the demotivation of children saturated in on-screen stimulation, and the power of ‘deep reading’ and challenging texts in building nous and ethical responses such as empathy…. An antidote for today’s critical-thinking deficit.
In this profound and well-researched study of our changing reading patterns, Wolf presents lucid arguments for teaching our brain to become all-embracing in the age of electronic technology. If you call yourself a reader and want to keep on being one, this extraordinary book is for you.
Wolf has a profound respect for the beauty and power of the reading brain as well as a great curiosity about the digital brain that may soon displace it.
"A tour de force."
Claremont Review of Books
This is a book for all of us who love reading and fear that what we love most about it seems to slip away in the distractions and interruptions of the digital world. Here we are challenged to take the steps to ensure that what we cherish most about reading —the experience of reading deeply—is passed on to new generations. Wolf is sober, realistic, and hopeful, an impressive trifecta. Her core message: We can’t take reading too seriously. And for us, today, how seriously we take it, will mark of the measure of our lives.
Our best research tells us that deep reading is an essential skill for the development of intellectual, social, and emotional intelligence in today’s children. In our increasingly digital world – where many children spend more time on social media and gaming than just about any other activity – do children have any hope of becoming deep readers? In her must-read Reader Come Home , a game-changer for parents and educators, Maryanne Wolf teaches us about the complex workings of the brain and shows us when - and when not - to use technology.”
[Reader, Come Home ] is necessary for these times, as… long-form writing is in crisis, and information is digested in small bits more than ever. With thought leaders like Wolf lending her thoughts to how we can preserve reading in its current form, we can have a brighter future. With Reader, Come Home , Wolf can now claim to have two ground-breaking works.
An accessible, well-researched analysis of the impact of literacy.
A love song to the written word, a brilliant introduction to the science of the reading brain and a powerful call to action. With each page, Wolf shows us why we must preserve deep reading for ourselves and sow desire for it within our kids. Otherwise we risk losing the critical benefits for humanity that come with reading deeply to understand our world.
★ 06/15/2018
2018-05-01
Wolf offers a persuasive catalog of the cognitive and social good created by deep reading…. She’s right that digital media doesn’t automatically doom deep reading and can even enhance it. She’s also correct that we have a lot to lose if we don’t pay attention to what we’re doing with technology and what it’s doing to us.” — Washington Post
“[A] gentle manifesto…. [Wolf] affirms and celebrates the power of reading for the formation of our moral imaginations, and a lifetime of bookish devotion bubbles to the surface of her lovely prose in allusion and quotation.” — Washington Free Beacon
“Maryanne Wolf has done it again. She has written another seminal book destined to become a dog-eared, well-thumbed, often-referenced treasure on your bookshelf.... Reader Come Home conveys a cautionary message, but it also will rekindle your heart and help illuminate promising paths ahead.” — International Dyslexia Association
“This rich study by cognitive scientist Maryanne Wolf tackles an urgent question: how do digital devices affect the reading brain? Wolf explores the “cognitive strata below the surface of words”, the demotivation of children saturated in on-screen stimulation, and the power of ‘deep reading’ and challenging texts in building nous and ethical responses such as empathy…. An antidote for today’s critical-thinking deficit.” — Nature
“[T]imely and important.... if you love reading and the ways it has enriched your life and our world, Reader, Come Home is essential, arriving at a crucial juncture in history.” — BookPage
“Wolf wields her pen with equal parts wisdom and wonder. The result is a joy to read and reread, a love letter to literature, literacy, and progress.” — Shelf Awareness
“Wolf stays firmly grounded in reality when presenting suggestions... for how to teach young children to be competent, curious, and contemplative in a world awash in digital stimulus. [Reader, Come Home ] is a clarion call for parents, educators, and technology developers to work to retain the benefits of reading independent of digital media.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Wolf is a lovely prose writer who draws not only on research but also on a broad range of literary references, historical examples, and personal anecdotes. The strongest parts of Reader, Come Home are her moving accounts of why reading matters, and her deeply detailed exploration of how the reading brain is being changed by screens…. Wolf makes a strong case for what we lose when we lose reading.” — San Francisco Chronicle
“A love song to the written word, a brilliant introduction to the science of the reading brain and a powerful call to action. With each page, Wolf shows us why we must preserve deep reading for ourselves and sow desire for it within our kids. Otherwise we risk losing the critical benefits for humanity that come with reading deeply to understand our world.” — Lisa Guernsey, co-author of Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in A World of Screens
“Scholar, storyteller, and humanist, Wolf brings her laser sharp eye to the science of reading in a seminal book about what it means to be literate in our digital and global age. Informed by a review of research from neuroscience to Socratic philosophy, and wittily crafted with true affection for her audience, Reader Come Home charts a compelling case for a new approach to lifelong literacy that could truly affect the course of human history.” — Michael H. Levine, co-author of Tap, Click, Read: Growing Readers in A World of Screens
“In this profound and well-researched study of our changing reading patterns, Wolf presents lucid arguments for teaching our brain to become all-embracing in the age of electronic technology. If you call yourself a reader and want to keep on being one, this extraordinary book is for you.” — Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading
“Wolf (Tufts, Proust and the Squid) provides a mix of reassurance and caution in this latest look at how we read today. . . . A hopeful look at the future of reading that will resonate with those who worry that we are losing our ability to think in the digital age. Accessible to general readers and experts alike.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“An accessible, well-researched analysis of the impact of literacy.” — Kirkus
“Wolf has a profound respect for the beauty and power of the reading brain as well as a great curiosity about the digital brain that may soon displace it.” — Boston Globe
"[Reader, Come Home ] is an elegant and insightful analysis of how deep reading is under threat, and of how this particular form of attention is being eroded by the digital universe in which we now live. For an English teacher, the book is essential reading. For me, it is one of the most important books of recent years. Wolf expresses with increasing forcefulness what is by now a common anxiety: that digital devices are challenging all of us (certainly not just children) in entirely new ways." — Julian Girdham, teacher at the English Department of St. Columbia's College
"A tour de force." — Claremont Review of Books
[A] gentle manifesto…. [Wolf] affirms and celebrates the power of reading for the formation of our moral imaginations, and a lifetime of bookish devotion bubbles to the surface of her lovely prose in allusion and quotation.
Scholar, storyteller, and humanist, Wolf brings her laser sharp eye to the science of reading in a seminal book about what it means to be literate in our digital and global age. Informed by a review of research from neuroscience to Socratic philosophy, and wittily crafted with true affection for her audience, Reader Come Home charts a compelling case for a new approach to lifelong literacy that could truly affect the course of human history.
Maryanne Wolf has done it again. She has written another seminal book destined to become a dog-eared, well-thumbed, often-referenced treasure on your bookshelf.... Reader Come Home conveys a cautionary message, but it also will rekindle your heart and help illuminate promising paths ahead.
International Dyslexia Association
Wolf is a lovely prose writer who draws not only on research but also on a broad range of literary references, historical examples, and personal anecdotes. The strongest parts of Reader, Come Home are her moving accounts of why reading matters, and her deeply detailed exploration of how the reading brain is being changed by screens…. Wolf makes a strong case for what we lose when we lose reading.
Wolf is a lovely prose writer who draws not only on research but also on a broad range of literary references, historical examples, and personal anecdotes. The strongest parts of Reader, Come Home are her moving accounts of why reading matters, and her deeply detailed exploration of how the reading brain is being changed by screens…. Wolf makes a strong case for what we lose when we lose reading.
Wolf offers a persuasive catalog of the cognitive and social good created by deep reading…. She’s right that digital media doesn’t automatically doom deep reading and can even enhance it. She’s also correct that we have a lot to lose if we don’t pay attention to what we’re doing with technology and what it’s doing to us.
This rich study by cognitive scientist Maryanne Wolf tackles an urgent question: how do digital devices affect the reading brain? Wolf explores the “cognitive strata below the surface of words”, the demotivation of children saturated in on-screen stimulation, and the power of ‘deep reading’ and challenging texts in building nous and ethical responses such as empathy…. An antidote for today’s critical-thinking deficit.
"[Reader, Come Home ] is an elegant and insightful analysis of how deep reading is under threat, and of how this particular form of attention is being eroded by the digital universe in which we now live. For an English teacher, the book is essential reading. For me, it is one of the most important books of recent years. Wolf expresses with increasing forcefulness what is by now a common anxiety: that digital devices are challenging all of us (certainly not just children) in entirely new ways."
Kristen Potter directs listeners through Wolf's incisive examination of the increased consumption of digital media over the written word—and its impact. The exponential growth of digital formats has measurably changed what readers read—therefore, what they absorb, think, learn, and communicate. This change, Wolf says, comes at a cost to our shared humanity. Sound alarmist? Perhaps, but when these ideas are considered through Wolf's persuasive lens and Potter's assured performance, listeners will have no choice to but to imagine what is at stake. The author’s arguments are made through a series of letters addressed to the listener, an effective conceit that Potter embraces through a measured pace and clear enunciation, further reinforcing the all-important transactional nature of reading and listening. A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2018 - AudioFile
Kristen Potter directs listeners through Wolf's incisive examination of the increased consumption of digital media over the written word—and its impact. The exponential growth of digital formats has measurably changed what readers read—therefore, what they absorb, think, learn, and communicate. This change, Wolf says, comes at a cost to our shared humanity. Sound alarmist? Perhaps, but when these ideas are considered through Wolf's persuasive lens and Potter's assured performance, listeners will have no choice to but to imagine what is at stake. The author’s arguments are made through a series of letters addressed to the listener, an effective conceit that Potter embraces through a measured pace and clear enunciation, further reinforcing the all-important transactional nature of reading and listening. A.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
SEPTEMBER 2018 - AudioFile
