Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf ended up having quite a few page markers in it by the time I finished. When two of my favorite subjects come together – reading and neuroscience – it’s like a book written just for me. It started off a little rocky though. Wolf’s introduction zoomed all over the place and I had a difficult time keeping up with her. Blessedly, once she got going, the book turned into exactly what I had hoped.
Our brains are genetically programmed for language but, I found out, our brains are not “born to read.” Our brains are so incredibly amazing and this book points out how amazing they are. When we learn to read we actually change our brain’s structure and connections, so much so that “you are what you read,” is almost quite literally true. Our reading brain begins developing from the oldest parts of our brain, the part that recognizes shapes and patterns. From there it begins to make connections between the sounds we hear and the shapes and patterns on the page. Pretty soon we turn into little code breakers as we learn how to translate the letters on the page into words. More areas of our brain get involved and, once we have reached the stage of expert reader, our brains practically light up like a Christmas tree as we engage the various parts to recognize pattern and language and thinking and emotion.
Because of the way the brain develops, most of us can’t learn to read until we are five or six. A good many parents out there trying to get their kids to read early are disappointed. Before we can read the myelin covering the axons in our brain cells must be fully in place and that doesn’t generally occur until we are five or six. Many of you are probably thinking that you were reading sooner than that. I checked with my Mom and she said I was a competent reader before I was five. Wolf doesn’t talk about those of us who were able to read early, but I suspect we were able to do it for a number of reasons, one of which includes a brain that developed just a little earlier than the other kids’.
The environment in which all children develop has a huge impact on whether or not they become good at reading. Children who are good readers were frequently read to by adults. They were also talked to and encouraged to talk. By the time they got to kindergarten they had a good sized vocabulary. Learning to read is faster and easier if you already know the word you are reading on the page.
I don’t remember the moment I learned how to read but I remember being read to by my parents, my grandparents, my babysitter, aunts and uncles. And talking. My family had dinner together every night. Gatherings with other parts of the family always meant the grown-ups sitting around and talking and they would talk to the kids too and ask us questions. And they’d tell us stories. All these things, my whole family, contributed to me becoming a good reader.
The really cool thing is that the more we read, the more we change our brains. It’s a loop of sorts; the more we read the more the brain changes and that allows us to read more and more difficult material that further changes the brain. Even when we reach the expert reader stage we continue to change our brains by adding more vocabulary, information and associations. Apparently every word has an entire network of meanings and associations built up around it. When you read the word “bear” for instance, your brain finds all of the meanings of the word and then uses the context in which the word appears to determine its final meaning. So when you read “The bear ran into the woods” your brain instantly calls up all the meanings of “bear” and then decides it is the animal and then the animal bear network in your brain lights up pulling in all the associations and things you know about bears. This happens within milliseconds.
I could go on and on about all the things I learned in the book. Wolf writes quite a bit about the development of writing and alphabets and how brilliant the Greeks were when they deliberately created an alphabet based on phonetics. Then there is the fascinating work being done on dyslexia and the way a dyslexic brain reads versus a “normal” brain. Wolf also takes the reader on a millisecond by millisecond guided tour of what happens in the brain when you read.
Neither Proust nor squids have much to do with the book, Wolf uses them as examples a few times and it makes an interesting title. If you want to know how we learn to read and what happens in our brains when we do, this book will tell you all you want to know. Even better, once you make if past that first chapter, it is well-written and gives your reading brain a good deal to think about.
Wonderful review! I am so keen to pick this up and read it now! Thank you, Stefanie!
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This was fascinating. When my youngest son was in pre-school (about 3-1/2) I remember showing a pad of paper to his Montessori teacher upon which he wrote “train.” I was astonished and excited. She smiled calmly at me and said, “Well, of course. John can write AND read.” I really can’t explain the why of it, but he was reading proficiently by kindergarten – and has never lost his love of reading.
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Happy new year, Stefanie!
I’ve had this book hanging around forever, I should just read it already, cuz it sounds fascinating!
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Sounds like a fascinating read–the idea that your brain can actually change and grow in new ways is absolutely fascinating to me.
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This sounds so interesting, Stefanie. Thank you for the great review and bringing this one to my attention!
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I’m not usually a big fan of this type of non-fiction, but this sounds fascinating! Since my youngest child is on the cusp of learning to read right now, I think I have to read this one! Thanks!
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This sounds great! I like the idea that we are what we read, and that even when we become expert readers we can continue to grow and learn more. The thought that with each book my brain has changed a bit and my reading become a little more advanced is really great.
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Oh, how interesting! I think I need to read this one for sure. I learned to read VERY early (my mom says I was reading very simple picture books between ages 2-3) and it’s been the single most important guiding force in my life. I remember going to kindergarten and being shocked that kids couldn’t read yet! On the flip side, my brother learned to read at a ‘normal’ age, around 5-ish, even though my dad did all the same stuff with him around books and reading. He also likes to read still, but not as much as me.
Perhaps oddly, my dad (who taught me to read) has a learning disability and both he and his brother are barely literate (but very smart). Brains are so cool.
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This sounds so wonderful! I just read two books geared toward parents about how to prepare your toddlers for learning to read and I too was fascinated by how talking and teaching vocabulary makes such a big difference. Sounds like this should be the next I read on the subject.
Of course, I’m right now reading blogs while my son plays, so I guess I’d better go talk to him some more…
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Litlove, oh thank you. I suspect you will find it fascinating when you get to it and it might even give you some insight for your students.
Grad, what a great story. I wonder if there is a connection between reading early and become a lifelong avid reader?
Isabella, happy New Year to you too! You are sure to like the book. Looking forward to your thoughts on it when you get to it.
Art, the brain is an amazing thing and the more I learn about it the more amazing it gets.
Iliana, thanks! It’s very fun knowing how the brain works while engaged in a favorite activity.
Gentle Reader, oh, you’ll find this interesting then because of your son but you will also find yourself trying to reconstruct your own reading history too.
Dorothy, the idea that we are what we read is pretty cool. It would be really interesting to find out what an expert reader’s brain looks like towards the end of their lifespan. Maybe someone will do a study sometime and tell us.
Daphne, I had the same experience in kindergarten too. My dad isn’t a very good reader either but he knew reading well was important so would still read books to me and my sister when we were small. I am grateful for the effort it must have taken him to do it.
Rebecca, the great thing is that we don’t need fancy theories and expensive toys for kids, we just need to spend time with them talking and reading. Given the books you’ve just read, you will definitely find this one interesting.
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Dad used to read to us? I don’t remember that. Are you making it up? :p
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You always read such challening books–you inspire me (who often goes for the easy comfort reads). I wish my niece was more of a reader, but her parents are not readers at all. I think if she saw them she might be more apt to want to do it herself. Of course I try and make up for all of us, but she’s not buying it!
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Cindy my sister, yes he did. You can be forgiven for not remembering though since you were so small 🙂
Danielle, well thanks. The book isn’t that challenging though, it is quite easy to read and not over technical. Maybe you will inspire your niece to become more of a reader someday.
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I love your review of this. So inspiring and an enticement for people to pick it up! I agree that there are so many elements of this book it is hard to summarize in one go, though you’ve done a great job. Reading & neuroscience are definitely a wonderful combination and I am always fascinated by books on that topic as well.
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Melwyk, thanks! Sometimes I think if I had been better at math I would have become a scientist. I actually started off college life majoring in biology, so I love reading science books that don’t require math 🙂
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I catch up a bit late – this book does sound fascinating!! I wonder if she wrote about reading Asian languages (characters) vs reading alphabets? I’m interested in that part, although I’ll probably never have the courage to tackle such a book! The learning process seems so different, because our eye needs to learn to separate characters that look alike, I guess.
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Very stimulating and thought-provoking book. To the poster above, the author does indeed write about Asian languages (Chinese and Japanese) comparing them with alphabets.
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