From Chore to Charm

A Conversation with Ms. Skone on Rediscovering the Magic of Reading

Interviewed by Victoria Chzhan, 8th Grade Student

In a world full of streaming, podcasts, and endless digital entertainment, picking up a physical book might seem outdated. But for many people, reading is still a powerful way to find joy, learn new things, and escape from everyday life. To understand why books still matter and how anyone can learn to love reading, we sat down with our favorite English teacher, Ms. Skone. She's a true book lover who shared her thoughts on how to get rid of the “reading is boring” mindset, how to handle classics, what makes paper books special, and how even reluctant readers can find their way into a good story. This conversation is for anyone who's ever struggled to find the right book or wants to bring back that love for reading.

Victoria: For today, I choose the topic of reading because I find it very interesting, and I think you'll have a lot to say about that. So, to start, a lot of kids think that reading is pretty boring. How to find a book that I'll actually like and not regret reading?

Ms. Skone: I don't think reading is boring. I think being forced to read the wrong book at the wrong time can be boring. Reading is like music. If you only ever hear one genre, you might think you hate music. So, the moment you find a story that connects to you, reading stops feeling like a chore and starts feeling like escape. So, I guess finding something that you can connect with, things that resonate with you. It could be something related to an experience you've had, a hobby you like. I personally love mysteries and puzzle-solving. I love reading books because I'm trying to figure out who did it or what's going to happen or what is the answer. Some other people are hopeless romantics and they love romantic stories. So, finding a book that you can connect with and something that you like about your life, that is the key to finding that love for reading.

Victoria: Wow. Thanks for that answer. That's really interesting. Are people already born with a passion to read or can you learn to like it? And what made you love reading?

Ms. Skone: I think that reading is something that you nurture. I love reading. I fell in love with picture books, you know, the children's stories. I think the way they're built and the way they’re constructed is very complex and people don't realize it. When I was in college, I took children's literature. Our professor would go over, how everything had a point to be there, like the cover of the book, the font that they use, the colors, the types of illustrations, the method for the illustrations. When I was in college, I really fell in love with children’s books and I started collecting them. I would just go to the store and start buying all sorts of children's books. I have another example about nurturing reading, about my own children. I have two sons, and when my first son was born, the minute we came back from the hospital, I started reading to him. I even remember my husband asking: he can’t even hear you, why are you reading to him? But I knew he could hear me. And so, I would always read and show him all these books and now he loves reading so much! He loves books, and he loves learning about different things, and that is because I nurtured that in him. Likewise, I've seen students that they don't have that at home. Their parents don't read to them, they don't see their parents reading. So, they don't treat books with the same love and importance that. So, I do think that reading is something that you nurture. You don't have to be necessarily born with it, but if you're exposed to it, and you have a lot of people in your life that love reading, you will automatically love it too because it's something that you see. When babies are born, they learn by mimicking and copying what their caregivers do. That's how speech is learned. That's how, when people are born in a certain country, they get the accent of that country or whoever's around them because they copy everything. It's just like reading.

Victoria: Wow, that's great. Thank you! So, your love of reading always comes from your surroundings. Nowadays, there are so many audio books and podcasts to choose from, that a person might not want to read a physical book. What's something that makes reading a book unique? What will make someone read a book rather than listen to an audio book or a podcast?

Ms. Skone: I think when you read a book, it is like a sensory experience. Because you touch the pages, see the illustrations better. I think there's something nostalgic about bookmarking where you stop reading, or folding the little corners so you know where to get back to. I think that with so many options, with technology, it has lost some of its charm. Because now, people just listen to audio books, but it's not the same thing as holding a real book in your hands. And when authors write books there are specific things that they do in the book that go with the story. It could be a specific font that they use, or the illustrations, or cover art that is supposed to go with the feeling that the author wants to give you when you read a story. I remember reading books on the way to college. I would ride the bus, hang on to my book and just imagine what was happening in the story. Like a movie in my head that I just get lost in. Some digital readers are not in color, and everything is black and white. That loses the essence of the book. If the book was written a long time ago, maybe the author made the cover of the book. You miss all those little things when you're reading in a digital reader or when you're listening to a story. And also, reading makes you practice your fluency, helps you with your grammar, because you're looking at the words, whereas you're listening to the story, you won’t be able to do that. It's deeper and more meaningful to get the actual book, read it, go through it, touch it and look at all the details that the authors hide to make the story more meaningful.

Victoria: Thanks for that. It's actually pretty deep, about how its more meaningful to actually have a physical book. Talking about also different types of books and technology. Have you heard of books that are written by AI? Is that even real? And if this is a type of “literature”, is it even worth reading?

Ms. Skone: is it worth reading? I don't know. It depends on the purpose of reading. If you're looking for a specific type of information, like research, then maybe, because your purpose is just to find the information. But I think that if you're reading for enjoyment, I think you should find books by human authors, not AI, because I doubt that AI has developed a sense of empathy. When authors are writing, their words are supposed to evoke feelings of the reader. Like if it's a sad story, and if it's a good writer, they should make you cry so that you feel sad. For example, people don’t realize how powerful children’s books are. Sometimes it seems like they're just a children's book, but really, they have a deeper meaning. For example, the Lorax by Dr. Seuss, it seems like a silly story, but then it talks about how we should save the planet, right? Not cut so many trees. He has an underlying idea where I don't think AI is far enough to create those kinds of books that they're just going to create a story without really having a hidden meaning. So, as an adult, you might be reading a book to a child that to them, is just a silly story. But underneath that, this is about something bigger than that. And then you can teach them about bigger ideas using something on their level. So, I think I would prefer something written by a human every time.

Victoria: Yeah, that's actually pretty deep, especially when you mentioned about the Lorax. Actually, I suddenly had a wave of nostalgia hitting me because I remember I really loved the Lorax as a kid. Obviously, it's human written and AI will never even be able to even write anything close to that no matter how good technology will ever be. Let’s talk about old books versus new books. Reading old classic literature could be frustrating due to complicated words or strange plots that are hard to understand.  Is it important to read old classics? Why or why not?

Ms. Skone: Yes, because they show us where our stories and ideas come from. They deal with themes that are still relevant like love, injustice, identity, power. Obviously, it's also important to read modern books because it reflects today's voices and experiences, but I think it's important for us to read classical literature books because they also hold big ideas and big themes. Also, they help to understand what was happening during that time, because history shapes our future. Everything that's happening now, are all the big relevant things, it's shaping the future in a few years. So big stories, big books now are going to be classics one day. And it's important to understand, what was happening then, because it might explain, why this happens now. For example, there's lots of books, biographies and memoirs about lots of things that happened during wartime. Because people recorded some events in their lives during important historical events, that they lived through we now have a better understanding of those times. We haven't really faced those levels of experiences, but reading about it, puts you into their perspective, and you think: I'm glad I didn't have to live through that. It’s important to read classics for you to understand how those ideas and those experiences shaped our world now. Yes, they'll have words and vocabulary that we don't use anymore, but that's where language comes from. That's how it evolved. Sometimes I hear some teenagers talk and I don't even know what they're saying because I don’t know some of the slang they’re using. Each language evolves. Each generation creates their own lingo. But it all started in one place, and I think it's important to go back and say, OK, so that makes sense. Even some of the classical music that people listen to, comes back from stories that once were written and that's how people got inspired.

Victoria: Wow! Thanks for proving to everybody out there that reading classics is very important! What would you say is a number one tip to understand and read classics?

Ms. Skone: while you are reading, just stop, and research something that you don’t understand online. So just teach yourself, figure it out and then go back to the story. The plots are so complicated, because that speaks of higher order critical thinking skills back then. They were capable of coming up with such a complex plot. That it's difficult for some people to understand now that speaks of a higher intelligence, which I think it's worth like diving into, and dissecting to figure it out. And this is where you can use AI because it can explain it to you. Then, you go back and reread that, knowing what the author meant, then it's going to make you smarter. So, when you don't know something, grab that part, put it in AI and research it. Yes, it's going to take longer, but you're also going to gain so much more knowledge. So, you're going to even start, maybe start thinking the way they did, because the way they're thinking was innovative. Along those generations, they invented plastic and so many other things that we use now. And nobody has come up with an invention like that. Even the flying cars Imagine the first person that created the car, that's the person who should take all the credit, because after all, they were the inspiration. The one who first came up with the idea. That's who deserves the credit. All of that came from many, many, many centuries before. Their thinking was different. Maybe because they didn't have so many distractions like we do. TV, phones, technology was just different. Maybe they were smarter than us. Who knows.

Victoria: That was really interesting to hear, and I like how you found a good use for AI, and that out of all the movies or books created now, a very small fraction of them is actually original, hit Hollywood movies that won Oscars are all just plots that were in the Bible, for instance. All these things are already there, just that some people who don't bother to research old classics, might not even get a piece of that. So now, we talked about old books, but what books are popular with teens right now? Can you recommend some modern literature that could be interesting for teenagers now?

Ms. Skone: ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ and ‘It Ends With Us’, those were pretty popular among teens last summer, I think. There were shows and movies about it. There's still a lot of people that want to read the book, because either they want to compare them, or they want to find out if the book is better than the movie or the show. I think there are still kids who like The Hunger Games, and Harry Potter. Especially, if it is something that maybe their parents are in love with, and their parents are getting them into that it too. I remember when I was a teenager, a series of books about vampires was very popular. That's what the kids like. And they're like: I'm going to read it because that's what everybody's talking about. oh, did you watch The Summer I Turned Pretty? Did you read it? No, I didn't watch it, but I read it. So, when it comes to teenagers, they want to read and watch things that they can talk about with others. You're not going to hear anybody saying: “oh, I'm reading Shakespeare’’ because that's not in, that's not the cool thing. So, I think it's really whatever is going on in the world of the coolness. That's what they're into. I think realistic fiction and romance are still one of the top favorites. I know there is a group of kids that love graphic novels, and they love reading them, but really again, I think it really has to do with what happens is the world of coolness.

Victoria: Interesting! Talking about trends, how important is it to read books that are outside of the usual school curriculum, and how to choose a good book to read in your spare time?

Ms. Skone: Reading books that are outside of your school curriculum makes you more knowledgeable, builds your vocabulary and helps with writing. The more books you read, the more words you learn. To choose a good book to read, you really just have to ask yourself: ‘’what do I like?’’ Start with a hobby. If you are into trees and nature, then read about that. If you like cooking, then get a book that talks about cooking or food science. My husband reads lots about food. He loves reading about how it started and the origin of some ingredients. How did bread get started? How did someone come up with this recipe, or specific cuisine? I read a lot of professional books on teaching. I think the best way is to go to a good old bookstore and go through all the books there until you find something that interests you. That's what I used to do, and I still do it with my children! Literally my five-year-old just grabs a bunch of books, sits on the floor and looks through them until he finds the one that he wants to read. Using your hobbies as a way to finding new books that you like, is a good start to reading other things outside of your expected curriculum. And it's a good way to entertain yourself! What are the choices now? Your phone, the TV, video games. Reading is a way healthier activity because too much screen time can affect your sleep. Screen time could also sometimes be unsupervised, and it may expose you to things that, that you shouldn't be exposed to. Going to a book store is a very good way to finding new hobbies or just focusing on the hobbies that you already have.

Victoria: That's great! So, I guess reading in spare time is pretty useful because makes you smarter and get to learn more things. Also, about reading for fun, should you rather take notes and analyze a story or just get lost in the story?

Ms. Skone: Get lost in the story. Because when you do, you’re just automatically going to remember it. If you're analyzing every word then it's going to lose the magic of reading. Reading is supposed to be a magical experience. It's supposed to be about getting into a character's head. It's about being in the place where the story is happening. When you are at the end of a book you should be like: “oh no! it’s over!” So, you should just definitely, every single time, just get lost in the book. And then maybe later, once you want to find out something else about the story, you can actually look into it and then take notes. Good readers read a book several times. For example, in elementary school, when you do a read aloud, you don't read it just once. That's what we teach the children. When you do a read aloud, you read it several times, not just because you want them to remember, but because every time, you're doing something different. On the very first time, you don't stop and talk about comprehension questions. The first time you read a book, you read it for enjoyment. And then you go back and when you do a reread. Only then you're talking now about characters and about setting. And you don't just have to read it several times, right next to each other. You can read it once and then in the year or month, read it again. Maybe that time will give you some more life experience and you can understand the story differently.

Victoria: Yes! It's also like hearing a song! When you listen to it for the first time, you really like it. Then in some time, you might hear it again, and discover a noise or sound that you might not have spotted before. Then you are surprised: “wow, why haven't I seen this clue before?”

Ms. Skone: Yeah, I agree.

Victoria: So, what if a reader doesn't really like reading big books, where should they start? Comics, short stories or articles? What's the best choice?

Ms. Skone: Because I love picture books so much, I think I would start with a good picture book. There's so many now picture books that are starting to be made because it’s becoming more and more a thing now. Usually, the love for reading starts from picture books and at a very young age. Kids fall in love with the magic of pictures and stories. Sadly, this might not happen to some children, because they might simply just not be exposed to books enough at school or at home. Going back and reading a book like The Polar Express for example is very useful because it has a lot of words but they are not that overwhelming. It also has a deep meaning about believing in Christmas. When you read it to little children, to them, it's just a train that goes to see Santa. But when you read it as an adult or as an older child, you understand that it's about believing in Christmas and keeping with that belief. Elementary school is important because you read a lot of books. You're exposed to so much literature. At this age you understand what book you like and what books you don’t. For example, my son, had this one book that he really loved. He made me read it with him every night. When I was getting rid of some of his old books that he doesn’t read anymore, I kept this one because I know how much he likes it. This would be the book that he will keep with him and remember it, and I will show it to him when he gets older. When you were a child the books you were reading were smaller in size, but as you get older the volume increases. So now that you are in middle school you are able to read books that are bigger in volume because you have built up to it. So, if someone hates reading, that means that reading is not part of their life, and if you give a person who is not a fan of reading, a very big book they will never really finish it because they don’t have the stamina to do it. They're not going to find the point of it. They're going to be reading the words, but creating those mental images. So, in conclusion, if someone really hates reading, then let them start with a picture book so they can fall in love and create those mental images that we do. When you read a book, you're imagining what's happening, what the character looks like. And when you see the movie of that book you might think: “oh! that's not how I imagined this character would look like”.

Victoria: Wow, you are really making me feel nostalgic about the times when I was just learning to read. I remember I had a little picture book with not much text, but it was so interesting for me! I remember that I had this one set of books that I really loved and read almost every day, about a few kids who had a magical doll house, and every time, this doll house sucked them into the past and they had a very interesting adventure. I can even recall being really scared myself, because every time I was reading the story, I just lost all sense of reality and got lost in the story. The picture book didn’t even have much text; it was only about 2 sentences at the bottom of the page beneath the pictures. Later I was told to read something more complicated, and my interest to that story just naturally passed. When I was about 8 years old, I started to read Harry Potter, and I had a very heavily illustrated version of the book. I agree with you that it is a literal tragedy to read books with no illustrations as a child. Thank you for that answer! My next question is, as a teacher, will you be more impressed by someone who reads one long book carefully, or someone who will read 10 short, easy books, but really fast?

Ms. Skone: I don't think I would pick a favorite. I think both because they're both reading. It’s impressive that the second kid likes to read a lot of books but why is the other child reading carefully? Is it because it's difficult for them? I will be impressed with both because we are all made different and we all have different abilities. Some people can read fast, but some need time to process information.

Just like if you were to start a race. Will you be impressed with a person who ran easily and won the race, or someone who knew that they couldn’t win but still kept running and trying hard and persevered to finish the race? Most likely, you are impressed with both right? One had the athletic ability to do it, and the other one persevered through it, even though there wasn’t anything to look forward to at the end.

Victoria: Wow, that’s great, I really love that. Because really about the race example, I really started thinking about this a bit differently. To finish up for today, what would be your number one best piece of advice for an eighth grader like me to maybe get better at language arts and enjoy reading more, for instance.

Ms. Skone: Fall in love with reading. It’s the only way you're going to enjoy it, and become better at Language Arts. Go to the bookstore, find something that really calls to you. Start looking at genres that you weren't looking at. Don't just look at the one’s you teacher says to look at, but also at other stuff. Read for fun. Find an author that you like. Nurture that love of reading. If no one is nurturing it for you, then nurture it for yourself and find something that is exciting to read and learn about. Once you do that, Language Arts will become easy.

Victoria: That's amazing, thank you so much! So, falling in love with reading is crucially important. I personally, really love Language Arts, it’s been my favorite subject ever since 6th grade. I fell in love with reading at a very young age, so I will use your advice to continue to grow in this area. Thank you so much for being with me today!

Ms. Skone: Thank you too, I had a lot of fun discussing this subject!

In conclusion, our talk with Ms. Skone reminded us that reading isn't a chore—it's a journey. She showed us that loving to read takes time, physical books offer something special, classics challenge us for a reason, and enjoying the story should always come first. Whether you're a lifelong reader or just starting out, the key is simple: pick up a book that interests you and be patient with yourself. The right book at the right time becomes more than words—it becomes an experience. That’s something no algorithm can replace.