{"id":3530,"date":"2014-12-19T19:37:26","date_gmt":"2014-12-20T00:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/?page_id=3530"},"modified":"2026-05-22T20:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T00:15:37","slug":"the-value-of-play-reading-for-fun","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/?page_id=3530","title":{"rendered":"Reading For Enjoyment or a Challenge!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is the joy of learning through play still foremost in early childhood education? Does this really include reading for enjoyment, and not just reading as many condensed and abridged pieces of mind candy as possible to win a contest?\u00a0 What could replace a child&#8217;s activities if there were no homework? (I once had a student writing about this). See Richard Louv&#8217;s book <em>Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.<\/em> This can be a good place for a discussion of the value of play in childhood, including the reading of true fairy tales (a broad term not just about fairies). \u00a0A good author covering the latter is Bruno Bettelheim in <em>The Uses of Enchantment<\/em>. Even older learners need to read for enjoyment sometimes! \u00a0Here is another discussion of fairy tales, &#8220;<a title=\"Techno Magic\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.oup.com\/2014\/12\/techno-magic-cinema-fairy-tale\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Techno-Magic: Cinema and Fairy Tales&#8221; <\/a>from Oxford UP. \u00a0From the Digital Commons, and a link to the reading list of Joseph Campbell: <a title=\"The Fable and the Fabulous\" href=\"http:\/\/digitalcommons.unl.edu\/englishdiss\/96\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;The Fable and the Fabulous: The Use of Traditional Forms in Children&#8217;s Literature.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No matter how much time you spend on Amazon, Google or an old fashioned, peaceful, musty library, finding one good book can make your day, or your life! You are on a journey which may at some point in your life, or repeatedly in your life, may be more important to you than the destination!&nbsp; Finding a particular book at a particular time may seem like serendipity, or is it? Then you find the next book and many more and soon enough you&#8217;re creating your own wealth of knowledge and philosophy of life, and then you may want to share that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m sharing here in this downloadable PDF titles of some print books in my actual library, some of which I have referenced when advising students on their research, and links to other books of interest.&nbsp; The following link to my MA Thesis on <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalrepository.trincoll.edu\/grad\/26\">Orwell<\/a> also brings you to JSTOR part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways. Some colleges offer library-created lists of open sources for any reader, such as my alma mater <a href=\"https:\/\/fordham.libguides.com\/OAResources\">Fordham<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RWWorkingBibliography2.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:390px\" aria-label=\"Embed of RWWorkingBibliography2.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-85f77bbf-0601-4652-b519-0d6f02d8ae83\" href=\"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RWWorkingBibliography2.pdf\">RWWorkingBibliography2<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/RWWorkingBibliography2.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-85f77bbf-0601-4652-b519-0d6f02d8ae83\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>From the PDF some <em>nonfiction books on my shelf. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise<\/em>, by Pico Iyer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Great Work: Our Way into the Future<\/em>, by Thomas Berry<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos: Humanity and the New Story<\/em>, by Brian Swimme<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang<\/em>, by Marcelo Gleiser<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains<\/em>, by Nicholas Carr<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole,<\/em> by Benjamin Barber<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Raised Catholic (Can You Tell?),<\/em> by Ed Stivender<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Why I Write<\/em>, by George Orwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>On Lying and Politics<\/em>, by Hannah Arendt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The (Burning) Case for a GREEN NEW DEAL,<\/em> by Naomi Klein<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Age of American Unreason in a Culture of Lies,<\/em> by Susan Jacoby<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Knowledge Deficit: Closing the Shocking Education Gap for American Children<\/em>, by E.D. Hirsch, Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Beyond Measure: Rescuing an Overscheduled, Overtested, Underestimated Generation<\/em>, by Vicki Abeles<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Closing of the American Mind,<\/em> by Allan Bloom<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>mindset: The New Psychology of Success, <\/em>by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Outliers: The Story of Success,<\/em> by Malcolm Gladwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>David &amp; Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants<\/em>, by Malcolm Gladwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Other Minds, The Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness<\/em>, by Peter Godfrey-Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Social Conquest of Earth<\/em>, by Edward O. Wilson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Guns, Germs and Steel<\/em>, by Jared Diamond<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The World Until Yesterday<\/em>, by Jared Diamond<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Devaluing of America<\/em>, William Bennett<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Leisure the Basis of Culture<\/em>, by Josef Pieper<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Fifth Discipline: The Art &amp; Practice of The Learning Organization<\/em>, by Peter M. Senge<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Tuesdays With Morrie<\/em>, by Mitch Albom<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Five People You Meet in Heaven, <\/em>Mitch Albom<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>How to Read and Why<\/em>, by Harold Bloom<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Elements of Style<\/em>, by William Strunk and E.B. White<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction<\/em>, by William Zinsser<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Writing to Learn: How to Write \u2013 And Think \u2013 Clearly About Any Subject At All<\/em>, by William Zinsser<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The New SuperLeadership: Leading Others to Lead Themselves<\/em>, by Charles Manz, Henry Sims<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Lean Thinking<\/em>, by James Womack and David Jones<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&nbsp;Tough Choices OR Tough Times: The Report of the&nbsp;new&nbsp;Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce.<\/em>&nbsp; National Center on Education and the Economy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>An American Imperative: Higher Expectations for Higher Education: An Open Letter to Those Concerned about the American Future<\/em>. The Wingspread Group on Higher Education<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters<\/em>, by Michael S. Roth<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Work of Nations<\/em>, by Robert Reich<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Story of Ethics: Fulfilling Our Human Nature,<\/em> by Kelly Clark, Anne Poortenga<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Universe and Dr. Einstein: The Clearest, Most Readable Book on Einstein\u2019s Theories Ever Published,<\/em> by Lincoln Barnett (Foreword by Albert Einstein)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Global Paradox,<\/em> John Naisbitt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Underground History of American Education: An Intimate Investigation into the Prison of Modern Schooling<\/em>, by John Taylor Gatto<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling<\/em>, by John Taylor Gatto<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Childhood Lost: How American Culture is Failing Our Kids<\/em>, Edited by Sharna Olfman<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Last Child&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder<\/em>, by Richard Louv<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Horace\u2019s Hope: What Works for the American High School,<\/em> by Theodore Sizer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform<\/em>, by Diane Ravitch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don\u2019t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need \u2013 And What we Can Do About It<\/em>, by Tony Wagner<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Making Professional Development Schools Work<\/em>, by Levine Trachtman<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<em>Do What You Are<\/em>, Tieger and Barron-Tieger<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Passion and Purpose,<\/em> Marlys Hanson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Savage Inequalities: Children in America\u2019s Schools<\/em>, by Jonathan Kozol<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Colleges That Change Lives,<\/em> Loren Pope<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Biotech Century: Harnessing the Gene and Remaking the World,<\/em> by Jeremy Rifkin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Ask the Beasts: Darwin And The God Of Love<\/em>, by Elizabeth Johnson<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Evolutionary Faith: Rediscovering God in Our Great Story<\/em>, by Diarmuid O&#8217;Murchu<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Becoming Human: Evolution and Human Uniqueness<\/em>, by Ian Tattersall<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Coming Global Superstorm,<\/em> by Art Bell, Whitley Streiber<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness<\/em>, by Edward Abbey<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A Rulebook for Arguments<\/em>, by Anthony Weston<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Common Sense<\/em>, by Thomas Paine<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Power Structure<\/em>, by Arnold Rose<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Radical Liberal<\/em>, by Donald Kaufman<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Radiant Cool<\/em>, by Dan Lloyd<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Spirit of Zen,<\/em> by Alan W. Watts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Silent Life<\/em>, by Thomas Merton<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Phenomenon of Man<\/em>, by Teilhard de Chardin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Divine Milieu<\/em>, by Teilhard de Chardin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Teilhard de Chardin: The Man and His Meaning<\/em>, by Henri de Lubac<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Doors of Perception Includes Heaven and Hell<\/em>, by Aldous Huxley<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The World&#8217;s Last Night<\/em>, by C.S. Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Mere Christianity<\/em>, by C.S. Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Tao of Physics<\/em>, Fritjof Capra<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>George Orwell Into the Twenty-First Century,<\/em> by Thomas Cushman, John Rodden (Editors) (All of Orwell&#8217;s books and essays)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Books by Tom Wolfe, such as the <em>Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby<\/em>, and <em>The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Books by Charles Dickens<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Brave New World<\/em>, by Aldous Huxley (fiction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Brave New World REVISITED,<\/em> by Aldous Huxley (fiction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Looking Backward<\/em>, by Edward Bellamy (fiction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Pilgrim&#8217;s Regress<\/em>, by C.S. Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength<\/em>), by C.S. Lewis (fiction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Crying of Lot 49,<\/em> Thomas Pynchon (fiction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A Canticle for Leibowitz<\/em>, by Walter M. Miller (fiction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Argo Merchant Disaster<\/em>, by George Starbuck (poetry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A Little Treasury of Modern Poetry<\/em>, by Oscar Williams (poetry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">under milk wood, by Dylan Thomas (poetry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Poetry of Dylan Thomas, by Elder Olson (poetry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam<\/em> (The Astronomer Poet of Persia) (poetry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins<\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is the joy of learning through play still foremost in early childhood education? Does this really include reading for enjoyment, and not just reading as many condensed and abridged pieces of mind candy as possible to win a contest?\u00a0 What could replace a child&#8217;s activities if there were no homework? (I once had a student &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/?page_id=3530\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Reading For Enjoyment or a Challenge!<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":8680,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3530","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P2jH4N-UW","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3530"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28431,"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3530\/revisions\/28431"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collegeresearchsharing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}