1 . An 80-foot floating library, built in 1963 and called Bokbaten in Norway, visited around 250 small communes along the west coast of Norway twice every year before 2020. Many of the villages along the west coast of Norway are most easily accessible by boat rather than car, so in 1959, a group of librarians got government funding to s art a waterborne library service with special on stress on children’s literature.

Large enough to hold around 6, 000 books, the boat also hosted readings, children’s pays, and other cultural events onboard. It traveled along the coast on 64-day tours during the fall and winter months, welcoming up to 150 children at a time and unloading books for each community to keep until the boat made it swayback the next time around. In summer, the library was repurposed as a tourist boat.

But in 2020, it looked like it might be the end for the library. After nearly 60 years in action, the popular boat had its funding cut by the government, which ended the floating library program. “The book boat is a floating house of culture, which means a lot to thousands of children in the communities that don’t have a good library offering,” Norwegian librarian and author Stig Holmas wrote on Facebook at the time. “It has large numbers of visits,” he went on, adding: “What a shame!”

Luckily, 28 local municipalities (市政当局) banded together in support of the beloved library, helping organize 88 cultural events to make people realize the importance of the boat between August and November 2021. Then, in February 2022, the Fritt Ord Foundation, a private Norwegian nonprofit, provided the library with nearly $300, 000 to keep the program running. Later that year, journalist Maria PileS vas and, whose grandfather built the library, was employed as manager for Bokbaten.

The boat is now a traveling bookstore, and it continues to carry on the tradition of inviting authors, actors and musicians to come aboard and perform live readings for children.

4 . Nearly two decades ago when the Google Books Project digitized and freely distributed more than 25 million works, book publishers argued that free digital distribution weakens the market for physical books. However, new research from Imke Reimers and Abhishek Nagaraj reveals that the opposite—increased demand for physical books, through online discovery—could be true.

The two researchers focused on a particular part of Google Books’ digitized works: those from Harvard University’s Widener Library, which helped seed the project in its early days. The condition that enabled their experiment: Harvard’s digitization effort only included out-of-copyright works, published before 1923, which were made available to consumers in their entirety. The works from 1923 and later were still copyrighted and not digitized.

The researchers analyzed a total of 37,743 books scanned (扫描) between 2005 and 2009. They looked at sales for the two years before this digitization period and the two years after, and found clear differences in the increased sales between digitized and non-digitized books. Approximately 40% of digitized titles saw a sales increase from 2003-2004 to 2010-2011, compared to less than 20% of titles that were not digitized. The increase in sales was also found to be stronger for less popular books.

“If a book is readily available online, people may decide that it’s a useful book and want to buy it,” Reimers said. “The ‘discovery effect’, which even increased the sales of a digitized author’s non-digitized works, is a strong driver of increased sales. It’s not a huge jump in sales, but it’s still good news for publishers.”

“And book lovers,” Reimers said, “are known for their preference for physical books, as opposed to digital versions, which could also play a role.” She added, “Whenever I talk to people about my research on books, at some point they all say, ‘I just love the feel of a book in my hand.’”

7 . One Saturday last November, I stepped into my local library. I was about to read a book when I heard an elderly man speak to a lady. “This library will soon become a café. Everyone is reading with electronic devices,” he said. Hearing this, I wanted to shout, “I still read library books!” But my words stuck in my throat and I found teenagers around me were talking to friends or staring at their phones.

Reading online feels robotic to me. It’s like I stare at a screen and click “next” for the following page to appear until the very end of the e-book, and at the end of all of that, I just think, “That’s it?” But when I read a printed book, it’s like I’m holding on to the characters. I can imagine the plot better, as I can picture the scenes of each moment in my head with more accuracy and imagination.

Besides, some online books miss components (组成部分) that are in the printed novels. For instance, the physical copy of a fantasy novel I have read contains a map, but the e-book version does not. That is an injustice to e-book users; after reading and understanding the map, the story made a lot more sense for me, in terms of the setting and plot.

And personally, physically turning to the next page is better than clicking “next”. When reading online, I sometimes worry that I click “next” too quickly. It feels more like a race; I want to finish it because the pages just keep making that “flipping” sound and I wonder how long the book really is.

Some printed books have a special smell that makes the novel feel special to me. It’s hard to describe but I’m sure I’m not the only one that thinks so. I know I cannot convince every teen to switch from the digital book to the printed one, but maybe my writing about the difference will at least get some of them to think about it.

9 . These novels focus on the excitement and drama of returning to class.

The First Rule of Punk

By Celia C. Pérez

(Puffin Books)

On the first day at her new middle school, Malú upsets a popular classmate and violates the dress code with her punk style. Her dad reminds her of the first rule of punk: Be yourself. Will keeping his advice in mind help Malú have a better rest of the school year? Ages 10 and up.

It’s the First Day of School...Forever!

By R. L. Stine

(Square Fish)

This classic book from the author of the Goosebumps series is filled with suspense and humor. Every day, Artie wakes up and the same thing happens — he bumps his head and gets ready for the first day of fifth grade. A twist ending helps explain why nothing changes from day to day. Ages 8–12.

New Kid

By Jerry Craft

(Quill Tree Books)

On the first day at a fancy prep school, Jordan realizes he’s one of only a handful of Black students. He doesn’t feel like he fits in with his classmates or his old friends in the neighborhood. Will he continue to feel stuck between the two worlds? This book is the only picture novel to win the famous Newbery Medal. Ages 8–12.

Save Me a Seat

By Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan

(Scholastic)

If you’re a fan of Fish in a Tree, you may enjoy this novel about two fifth graders. Ravi recently moved from India to New Jersey and feels like an outsider. Joe gets looked down upon because he needs extra help at school. As time passes, they realize they may share a lot in common. Ages 8–12.

10 . Shared Reading is a unique experience and exposes us to great and varied literature.     1    . Short stories, poems or novel extracts are read aloud within the social atmosphere of a group. Then people joining in shared reading share their thoughts and feelings on the text. Shared reading is especially beneficial to children. Here’re some benefits of shared reading.

Create a positive and supportive reading environment. When children and adults come together to read and explore a text, they develop a sense of community and a shared experience.     2    . Besides, it can help build strong bonds and connections between readers.

    3    . During shared reading sessions, children are exposed to rich and varied words. By hearing fluent reading from adults, children can learn more new words. By sharing thoughts and feelings on the text, children develop a deeper understanding of the text. This approach helps them be active readers and learn more words.

Develop a lifelong love for books. As children observe the pleasure and value their adult counterparts place on reading, they are more likely to develop a lifelong love for books themselves.     4    .

Promote social and emotional growth. During shared reading, children participate in discussions and share their thoughts and opinions. What’s more, they listen to others. As for them, it is of significance.     5    . They gain confidence in their abilities to express their viewpoints and engage in meaningful conversations, skills that are vital for success in various aspects of life.