Tintin and the Reluctant Reader

The following article is written by our regular contributor, Marta Darby, a homeschooling mami of 10 years for our "In Your Words" Literacy Series as we celebrate Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros this month on MommyMaestra.

My son, Jonathan, was a reluctant reader. He had some struggles with spatial relationships when he was very young, and is still very much a kinesthetic learner. We addressed his difficulty with the crossover of brain information by getting a trampoline. (Read about that here.)

He loved being read to, but he didn’t like to pick up books on his own and just read for pleasure. My older son, Adam had had that same problem. I wondered if it was a gender thing? Or maybe it was just my own boys?

When Adam was young, I was introduced to a series of comic-type books by the Belgian author, Hergé. They were written in the 1930’s and the hero was called Tintin, a young Belgian reporter who is aided in his adventures by his faithful dog, Snowy.

I was advised by none other than Jim Trelease, the author of the Read Aloud Handbook, to get some of the Tintin books and put them in a basket in the *ahem* bathroom. Really? That’s the sage reading advice from the reading expert?

This was back in the stone age. Before the internet and cement. When research was actually done in libraries. I decided I had nothing to lose.

So I headed out to the bookstore to special order some Tintin books. Did I mention they were from the 1930’s? I filled a basket full of these and set it in the *ahem* smallest room in the house.

What happened next, was glorious. I would start finding the Tintin books in other places. By Adam’s bed. On the coffee table. Next to the couch. Someone was picking up the books and moving them around the house. Which meant someone was reading them.

Then someone started asking for more. And sharing what he had read. And asking for more. The stories were well-researched, engaging and had a variety of plot lines in various genres. Swashbuckling adventures, science fiction, mysteries, fantasy, political thrillers. The illustrations were clean and easy to follow. Tintin had it all.

Ten years later, when Jonathan was “reluctant” to read, I remembered how The Adventures of Tintin had helped his big brother and again, I brought out the *ahem* bathroom basket and the Tintin books.

And the magic happened again. This time, Jonathan wanted all of us to read them so we could discuss them at the dinner table. That’s when we all started getting attached to Tintin.

Eventually, Jonathan went on to read other, different kinds of literature. He was not as reluctant to pick up other kinds of books and was able to follow other plot lines.

But I still credit Hergé and the Adventures of Tintin for introducing both of my boys to real honest-to-goodness storytelling. And giving them a love and passion for reading and learning.

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Marta Darby is an avid blogger, business owner, Cuban cook, graphic designer, scrapbooker, photographer and homemaker. She was born in Havana and left Cuba with her family when she was 5 years old. She likes to tell anecdotes and stories about her family (all 40 of them!), her passions (dulce de leche and red lipstick), and especially being Cuban. She is happily married to her fabulous gringo husband, Eric, and lives with him and their four children in a tiny house with a white picket fence.

Hagamos Caminos Review

The following is a product review by homeschooling mami, Carla Molina, for our "In Your Words" Literacy Series as we celebrate Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros this month on MommyMaestra.


The only fear I have about homeschooling my daughters is that I won't be able to teach them to read in Spanish. I was never taught to read in Spanish. Actually, I wasn't taught any school subjects in Spanish, but the concepts of math and geography and science and all the other subjects translate easily when you're doing hands-on learning. Reading, however, leaves me completely dumbfounded. I searched far and wide for a curriculum to get my girls (and me) off on the right foot. It was a relief to discover Alma Flor Ada's Hagamos Caminos, a creative reading literacy program.

When it comes to reading, I want my daughter to learn to read independently but also, if not more importantly, love to read. Hagamos Caminos is a literature based program which focuses on nurturing a true affection for reading. The books contain a variety of genres including legends, oral folklore, poetry, riddles and rhymes, even plays from all over the Hispanic world. There are stories based on reality, which my daughter easily identifies with, and tales based on fantasy which engage her imagination. Everyone in our house has fallen in love with the literature in this series. We not only work on the educational exercises, but you'll often find one of the books next to our bed for a quick story before getting tucked in for the night.

I adore the illustrations. They are fun and whimsical and really make the content pop. When we go through the texts just looking at the pictures, deducing what we think is taking place, I appreciate how someone thought to make it beautiful. The same way I love to hold a gorgeous book in my hands, so do my daughters. If my daughter doesn't like the artwork, then a book has a slim chance of making it past page one. So, five points on a five-point scale for visual appeal!

The program comes with eight books, four of which are reading texts and four accompanying workbooks. There are 4 stages to the series: Partimos (pre-K - 1st), Andamos (K - 2nd), Corremos (1st - 3rd) and Volamos (2nd - 5th). Despite the wide span of grade level content, we were able to work with each of the books. We started with Partimos and I was surprised, having had zero experience with a formal reading program, how engaged and excited my daughter was. She enjoyed the variety of activities and I appreciated how much was covered. Not only did she make connections to the stories but she also got to practice math concepts, fine motor skills, pattern identification, and early writing skills. 

All of the books are equally rich in educational content covering a range of skills. We're almost done with Partimos and are making our way through Andamos. With these two books, my daughter has felt easily empowered to work independently and ask for assistance when needed, which is sparingly. It was beautiful to watch her feel so proud of herself as she went through the exercises. The last two books of the series are geared towards older children (1st - 5th grade) so we work on them together. I've thought about putting these away for later but she loves them so much I can't really get them away from her.

The only negative I found with the program is the included DVD. It's a bit dated and not the very best quality. You do, however, get a clear sense of Ada's passion for educating children and her enthusiasm for the program. She shares the principles behind the program which gave me a better perspective on her approach. There are also a few songs which my daughter enjoyed. The video is helpful in getting background on the program but, honestly, I would have felt fine just diving right into the materials.

If you can't tell, I'm really impressed with this program. My daughter is confidently putting the pieces together to learn to read and is genuinely excited for "school" time as we've come to call it. She even applies the methodology for analyzing and thinking about a story to books we read for fun. Hagamos Caminos has made me feel confident in teaching my children to read.

My family has long been a fan of Alma Flor Ada's work and this just solidifies a place in our hearts for her. She is really committed to educating children with respect and love. I highly recommend the Hagamos Caminos program. This set is available for purchase through Del Sol Books. I've already got other books from Del Sol Books, the publishers of Hagamos Caminos, on my daughter's wish list!

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Carla Molina is a weaver of words and creative collaborator. A Jersey girl at heart with lots of love for Boston, she spends most of her time raising two bilingual little ladies and brainstorming more ways to write her heart out. She blogs about being a woman and a creative creature at All of Me Now. And plays cheerleader to the local businesses serving families in her current home state at Petit Rhody.

The Love for Literacy {Guest Post}

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The following is a guest post by teacher and mami, Eileen Carter-Campos, for our "In Your Words" Literacy Series as we celebrate Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros this month on MommyMaestra.



When I hear the word "literacy" so many thoughts race through my mind. I remember when I was a young girl and my mother would order the highlights magazine, our visits to the library, and just glancing over and seeing my mom reading her favorite book. She was the perfect role model for me to become even more curious and hunger for more pages in a book. I looked forward to birthdays and holidays because I knew that a gift card with "Borders" or "Waldenbooks" inscribed on the top would be waiting for me.

This love continued throughout my college years where I continued to collect books, children’s books. I was immersed in them throughout my classroom visits and my lesson plans that were created for my college observations. I was taught how to create a lesson plan that was driven by a piece of literature. I began to have favorite Authors- Todd Parr, Shel Silverstein, Kevin Henkes, Patriccia Polacco just to name a few. I purchased books with the intentions of sharing my own love for reading with my children some day, who were a thought in my mind. How could I raise a child who had a love for literacy just like me?

Upon getting the news that I was expecting I knew I wanted my child to carry on that same love for reading. I packed my bookshelves with loads of books. The books that I collected were Early Emergent, Emergent, Early Fluent, and Fluent Readers. I wanted to have a supply of all books for every stage of reading. I began reading while my son was in utero. I had read prior to having children that the baby would recognize your voice better and I just thought why not start now?

When my son arrived it became a ritual that we read every night. He would choose the book, and the first book that he memorized was that of Margaret Wise Brown, "Goodnight Moon". Listening to him was like music to my ears. Just the fact that he was aware of the repetition and hat the illustrations amazed him every time gave me great comfort that he was well on his way. He soon moved away to Dora & Diego books and was becoming more independent with his choices. This made me even prouder to know that he was comfortable enough to venture off and choose what he wanted, and that I was not pushing him but guiding him.

Of course nothing in life is perfect and we reached our stump in the road just last year. My baby who loved reading so much soon became defiant and was steering away from that love. I questioned why but didn’t pry. I knew something wasn’t right. In my eyes, he was not reading on first grade level but I felt that I should ease up a bit and be mommy and not "maestra". My teacher mode finally kicked in and I began to assess him. According to Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading he was not at target and I questioned how could this be? He is suppose to want to read, he is my son! I soon realized that he did want to read but his decoding skills were weakening as the words were becoming more difficult.

Every night we continued to read. I modeled fluency and we worked with our blends. We read for the phonetics component. As he became stronger in his phonics his love for reading began surfacing again. His reading became fluent and his levels increased within months. I remember listening to his voice, his tone, his expression as he read that "on level" book. My heart skipped more than a beat and by the look of his glance and the radiance of his smile I was reassured that I hadn’t lost that little boy who loved to read. He was brave enough to let his mommy guide him and to continue to strengthen that love for literacy that was so gently instilled.

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Eileen is a 3rd grade teacher of a Charter school in Brooklyn, New York and a freelance writer for VOXXIMujer. A wife, and mother of two energetic young boys. She is a contributor for VOXXI and enjoys blogging about her pride in teaching, parenting, and the blessings and trials that life have to offer. You can follow her on twitter at EileenCCampos as well as on VOXXI.com.