Selected Bibliography

The following texts approach the act of reading from different scientific perspectives from neurology to historical analysis.

Reading History

A History of Reading in the West

Cavallo, Guglielmo, and Roger Chartier. 2003. A History of Reading in the West: Studies in Print Culture and the History of the Book. University of Massachusetts Press.

Written by a distinguished group of international contributors, this book examines the transformations of reading methods and materials over the centuries; showing that reading revolutions have generally preceded book revolutions. The authors examine not only the technical innovations that changed the physical aspects of books and other texts, but also the evolving forms of reading and the growth and transformation of the reading public. The history of reading is detailed from silent reading in ancient Greece to the novelties introduced by the printing press, up to the electronic revolution that we are experiencing.

A History of Reading

Manguel, Alberto. 2014. A History of Reading. Penguin Books.

In A History of Reading, Alberto Manguel follows the capricious and exciting labyrinth of the 6,000 years of the written word. It is an entertaining essay on the role of the reader, hitherto largely forgotten in the history of literature, from Sumerian clay tablets to CD-Rom. It is a delicious mixture of classical studies, psychology, history, anecdotes, memoirs, fantasy… based on a history as personal as it is universal, that of reading. It is the history of the human species from the original point of view of Manguel who, like a friend eager to share his knowledge and his enthusiasm, is able to tell it in a simple and pleasant tone. Manguel has consulted hundreds of books in all the world’s libraries and has achieved a work that reads like a novel brimming with surprises for all lovers of books and reading. An amazing and fascinating link between the world and the written word.

Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World

Vallejo, Irene. 2022. Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World. Knopf.

This book is an essay on the history of books. A journey through the life of that fascinating device that we invented so that words could travel through space and time. The history of its manufacture, of all the types that we have tested over almost thirty centuries: books of smoke, stone, clay, reeds, silk, leather, trees and, the latest arrivals, plastic and light.

It is also a fabulous collective adventure starring thousands of people who, over time, have made possible and protected books: oral narrators, scribes, illuminators, translators, street vendors, teachers, wise men, spies, rebels, nuns, slaves, adventurers… Ordinary people whose names in many cases history does not record, those book saviors who are the true protagonists of this essay.

Reading Theory

Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Wolf, Maryanne. 2007. Proust and the Squid : The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. Harper Collins.

The brain of every new reader has the extraordinary ability to reorganize itself beyond its original abilities to understand written symbols. But how does the brain learn to read? As world-renowned cognitive neuroscientist and reading scholar Maryanne Wolf explains in this gripping book, we taught our brains to read just a few thousand years ago, and in the process changed the intellectual evolution of our species. There are critical implications for an evolving brain. Just as writing reduced the need for memory, the proliferation of information and the particular requirements of digital culture may short-circuit some of the unique contributions of written language, with potentially profound consequences for our future.

Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World

Wolf, Maryanne. 2018. Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World. Harper.

Years ago, Maryanne Wolf’s Proust and the Squid revealed what we know about how the brain learns to read and how reading changes the way we think and feel. Since then, the ways we process written language have changed dramatically with many concerned about both their own changes and that of children. New research on the reading brain chronicles these changes in the brains of children and adults as they learn to read while immersed in a digitally dominated medium.

Drawing deeply on this research, this book comprises a series of letters Wolf writes to us—her beloved readers—to describe her concerns and her hopes about what is happening to the reading brain as it unavoidably changes to adapt to digital mediums.

Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read

Dehaene, Stanislas. 2010. Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read. Penguin Books.

The act of reading is so easily taken for granted that we forget what an astounding feat it is. How can a few black marks on white paper evoke an entire universe of meanings? It’s even more amazing when we consider that we read using a primate brain that evolved to serve an entirely different purpose. In this riveting investigation, Stanislas Dehaene, author of How We Learn, explores every aspect of this human invention, from its origins to its neural underpinnings. A world authority on the subject, Dehaene reveals the hidden logic of spelling, describes pioneering research on hiw we process languages, and takes us into a new appreciation of the brain and its wondrous capacity to adapt.

Reading Promotion

Read-Aloud Handbook

Trelease, Jim, and Cyndi Giorgis. 2019. Read-Aloud Handbook. 8th ed. Penguin Books.

Millions of parents and educators have turned to this Jim Trelease manual for more than three decades to help children and young people become avid readers by sparking their imaginations and improving their language skills. Updated and revised by education specialist Cyndi Giorgis, this handbook by Jim Trelease explores the benefits, rewards, and importance of reading aloud for a new generation of children. Backed by delightful anecdotes as well as the latest research, an up-to-date trove of book recommendations curated with diversity in mind, Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook offers proven techniques and strategies to help children of all backgrounds. and skills to discover the pleasures of reading and the environment. on the path to becoming lifelong readers.

The Power of Reading

Krashen, Stephen. 2004. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research. Libraries Unlimited.

This updated, and much-looked-for second edition explores new research on the topic, as well as revisits some of the original research reviewed. Krashen also explores in this book research on the role of school and public libraries and research indicating the need for a print-rich environment that provides light reading (comics, teen romance novels, magazines), as well as best in literature to help educate children in reading, comprehension, and second language acquisition. He examines the research around reading incentive/reward programs and, specifically, the research on AR (Accelerated Reader) and other electronic reading products.