Reading Dogs

Sarah wrote a wonderful post for the Nerdy Book Club today.  It will put a smile on your face for sure - from ear to ear.  You have to go there and read this. 

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/you-know-you-are-a-nerdybookclub-member-when/

It got me thinking (I do that a lot when I read) about the use of stuffed animals as reading buddies - particularly in schools where we can't usually have rad dogs hanging around for reluctant readers!  We can, however, find a use for those big ol' stuffed dogs (bears, cats.....) they "give you" if you spend lots and lots of money at a carnival.  I suspect MOST of them end up in garbage piles pretty quickly but they might make really neat reading friends in class. 

Now, as I write this, I can already see the potential problems with too many stuffed animals in schools.  1) Kids will likely fight over them and we will have to come up with a way to spread the usage fairly.  2) When the lice appears in your room ( and surely it will at some point) these precious friends will have to be disposed of quickly.

However, I still think it would be nice to see what happens when stuffed animals were used to encourage reluctant readers.  A little action research perhaps?  Please let me know how it works for your...and I will report on MY "pet" project.