Helping students own their reading and writing through a partnership with their favorite authors

"The act of reading is a partnership....The author builds a house, but the reader makes it a home."  In her recent book, Between the Lines, Jodi Picoult and her co-author and daughter, appreciate the sincere relationship between writer and reader.
Gary Paulsen writes in The Winter Room (pages 1-3; 1989; Bantam Doubleday)
    If books could be more, could show more, could own more this book would have smells...
It would have the smells of old farms; the sweet smell of new-mown hay as it falls off the mower through the field, and the sour smell of manure steaming in a winter barn, It would have the sticky-slick smell of birth when the calves come and they suck for the first time on the rich, new milk; the dusty smell of winter hay dried and stored in the loft waiting to be dropped down to the cattle; the pungent fermented smell of the chopped corn silage when it is brought into the manger on the silage fork. This book would have the smell of new potatoes sliced and frying in light pepper on a woodstove burning dry pine, the damp smell of leather mittens steaming on the back of the stovetop, and the acrid smell of the slop bucket by the door when the lid is lifted and the potato peelings are dumped in- but it can't.
Books can't have smells.
If books could be more and own more and give more, this book would have sound...

He continues on with rich description of the sounds, of the soft gold light but he writes that books can't have sound or light.
If books could have more, give more, be more, show more, they would still need readers, who bring them sound and smell and light and all the rest that can't be in books.
The book needs you. 
G.P. 
 Wait... the Common Core guidelines are advocating for two stages of reading: one where the reader is focused on the "four corners of the text" and only after a "clear understanding of what has been read" do they recommend that the reader bring in prior knowledge and connections to the text. Wait...let me  think about this!  This drawing a line in the sand separating the reader's experience and the text goes in direct opposite of the sentiments of the books' authors. Is the Common Core Standards really asking readers to neglect the responsibility they should bring to the page? Wait...(here I go again!) If you read a previous blog I wrote about a young reader who brought in the fish and game newspaper, you will remember that this boy did not view himself as a reader in the classroom but he sure was engaged with every page of that newspaper because he loves to fish. The only reason why he was reading in the first place was because he loves to fish followed by a desire to learn more about fishing. BUT first and foremost, he loves to fish. The only  way into text for many kids, especially those who struggle and/or dislike reading,  is through finding themselves on the page. AND the authors expect this.
Now, it seems unlikely that those in charge of the Commom Core Standards will listen to teachers or even principals, probably not even to the Superintendents when we voice our concern about this approach to reading BUT maybe it is time for the writers to step in and explain how their books should be read.
How can a student truly understand the message in The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson if they must remain within the four corners of the text? They need to use their personal experiences of jumping rope, of being a kid in summer, building friendships, and recognizing Mrs. Beasley with the help of an older reader (a much older reader -my age!) to  arrive at a greater understanding of prejudice. It is clear to me that the writer was very intentional in wanting and needing to meet the reader on the page.
So, I am asking authors to put their voices out there along with educators to bring to light the importance for  honoring both the aesthetic and efferent stance in reading. The books need us!