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Challenge: Reading Together

How a Love For Minecraft Can Help with Literacy

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Danica Davidson author photo by Jennifer Hecht

Do your kids love Minecraft? Do they show you their latest onscreen creations, tell you about creepers while they get ready for school, or go to bed with a stuffed animal zombies? The popular video game is sparking the imagination of millions of children globally, and it can also lead them to reading more books. I have a passion for literacy, and I write adventure novels for ages 7-12 that take place as if Minecraft is real.

Escape from the Overworld

This all started with "Escape from the Overworld," a book that introduces us to Stevie, an 11-year-old boy from the Minecraft world who accidentally finds a portal to Earth. There he meets a creative and smart sixth-grade girl named Maison, and the two go on a series of adventures through the Overworld, the Nether and the End.

To keep with the fast-paced nature of video games, I have dangers around every corner and chapters that end with cliffhangers. At the same time, I have the characters deal with real kid issues, like when Maison is insecure about going to a new school without her friends, or when Stevie feels left out by other kids. The subject of cyberbullying is often brought up, as cyberbullies hack into Minecraft and turn it into eternal night. Since my readers are at or close to the age when kids first start going online, the books also talk about online culture, with Stevie discovering the internet for the first time and marveling how it can be used for both helpful and harmful purposes. But while I talk about all this stuff, I want to make sure the fun adventure part of the story is always the most important, so that the serious stuff can flow through the story and never take away any of the fun.

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I’m aware of how Minecraft is being used in schools, mainly for science and math purposes, so I also like to talk about how Minecraft can help kids with reading. There are other Minecrafter novels out there, along with comic books and nonfiction how-to guides, all of which can interest little Minecraft fanatics. I visit schools and libraries (either in person or through Skype) and the response from kids and parents is overwhelming. I get told by parents all the time, “My kids don’t like to read, but they can’t put your books down.”

When I see kids who say they don’t like to read, I find it’s usually for one of two reasons. Either they need more help with their reading basics, or they’re not finding books that speak to them. If there aren’t books at home, and if the books the school picks aren’t clicking with them, many kids get turned off of reading altogether. I hate to see that, because I believe a love of books leads to so much more: a desire for knowledge and growth, better career opportunities, and a greater understanding of how the world works. I think we should be asking kids what interests them and then help them find books that fit with that interest. For some, it’s Minecraft, but all kids have something that speaks to them and piques their interest.

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I’ve loved to read from an early age, and I love to read eclectically. I hope my books, which might first catch kids’ attention for their video game theme, will grip them with the stories and get them more enthused about reading in general. I write other books as well, and want to write for different age groups and in different genres, but whatever I write, there’s always the same core principle: to make it honest, to make it intriguing, to make it a good story. When I visit with schools and libraries, I’ll also tell the kids about how I started dictating stories to my parents when I was three, how I was writing novels in middle school, how I always knew I wanted to be an author so I wrote and worked and kept at it. I encourage them to let their creativity blossom, to write or paint or sing or do sports . . . whatever it is that makes them feel alive. And if Minecraft is the catalyst to start with, I say we ought to look at all the creative ways Minecraft can be used for both kids’ joy and personal growth.

It all started with one Minecrafter book for me, and then it snowballed after kids found themselves relating to the characters and wanting more. After the introduction with "Escape from the Overworld," the series continues with "Attack on the Overworld," "The Rise of Herobrine," "Down into the Nether," "The Armies of Herobrine" and "Battle with the Wither." The first three books are also available as audio books, narrated by veteran voice actor and video game actor Dan Woren. A spinoff series, starting with the book "Adventure Against the Endermen," is coming out, continuing right after the first series ended, but starring new villains and adventures. I believe in reading, and I believe in helping kids discover books and their own creativity.

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