Background
According to Carol Littlejohn (Keep Talking That Book! Booktalks to Promote Reading Volume II) there is "no known inventor of booktalking"2. As far back as teachers and librarians have promoted reading and literacy booktalks have existed. One of the oldest sources to mention the actual art form of booktalking is Amelia H. Munson's An Ample Field (1950)3 and in The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts Margaret Edwards discusses performing booktalks in the 1930s when it was difficult to get into Baltimore schools4. The actual term "booktalk" was coined in 1985 by children's author and literature teacher Aidan Chambers5, in his book Booktalk: occasional writing on literature and children.
In the 1950s, booktalks were originally designed to motivate young adults to read because they had the freedom to read but chose not to6. Teenagers don’t read for a variety of reasons including (but not limited to): the notion that reading is not cool, unnecessary, and uninteresting. Books also have to compete with movies, television, the Internet, and other media. By 1980s, there are also booktalks for adults. For example, booktalks in senior centers and in adult book discussion groups in libraries. Booktalks for adults were geared towards the recommendation of new titles rather than the motivation to read1. By 1990s, booktalks were also created for children to motivate kids to read at a younger age7. However, booktalks for children focused heavily on teaching kids to read using mostly picture books.
Read more about this topic: Book Talk
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