Okay, as the mom of a boy who LOVES to read (nonfiction and LOTS of it), can I just say STOP! If I read one more article that starts this way, I'm going to scream:
Despite everyone's best efforts, we all know that boys don't read. There have been attempts to lure them in with subjects close to the heart of any creature made of slugs and snails: the trumping and nose-picking of picture-book fave Dirty Bertie, the rank silliness of Captain Underpants, and the insane does-what-it-says-on-the-tin popularity of Walter The Farting Dog, soon to be a movie starring the Jonas Brothers (another baffling success story).
In the article Can a Book Really Look Like the Web?, the focus is on the new "Gamer's Edition" of the Guinness Book of Records. There are some interesting thoughts about "reverse engineering" books to resemble the things readers so love about the web. However, must authors always resort to boy-bashing to do it? Can we please give boys and young men just a bit of credit for their reading habits? If we constantly push potty and other forms of low humor on them as something they'll read, aren't we just setting the bar a tad bit low?
Don't get me wrong, "tooting" in our house still brings on a fit of the giggles, but my boy left with a heavily-laden backpack this morning because he was taking 4 books about animals (at 100+ pages each) to school so he'd have something to read in his free time.
Don't get me wrong, "tooting" in our house still brings on a fit of the giggles, but my boy left with a heavily-laden backpack this morning because he was taking 4 books about animals (at 100+ pages each) to school so he'd have something to read in his free time.
Amen! I think you've said it exactly. I think people's expectations are what is at the heart of this one. They don't expect anything--or if they do, the bar is really really low.
ReplyDeleteSome boys will not read. Guess what? Just as many girls won't either. If we show them the love of books and give them choices they will want to read.
ReplyDeleteBoys love non-fiction, but love a great story just as much.
Our attitudes set the tone. Thank you for letting the boy and men bashers know we will read!
Now, is it bad to say that I really want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by By Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
I did cry while reading the End of the Alphabet by Cs Richarsdson. It is a wonderful love story.
Yeah, this one annoyed me too.
ReplyDeleteApparently my son didn't get the memo on that. Granted he's only 14 months old, but books are by far his favorite type of "toy". I meant to comment sooner, but he was shoving "The Lion in the Meadow" into my hands, followed up by a large animal kingdom book that he had to lug across the room while holding it and crawling one handed.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the "Enough already!" sentiment. I am fortunate to have two enthusiastic boy readers who have boy readers as friends. The nine year old brought "Holes" to school today in case it rains and he has indoor recess. A friend of his has asked to borrow it when he's finished.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Amen and Amen. Give boys some more credit. Really I am strong believer is setting expectations high. They do read and many are reading and if we only expect them to read about bathroom humor, than what do we expect.
ReplyDeleteIn my years as a matchmaker of book and boy, I too have noticed that boys lean towards nonfiction. I've also noticed that many boys appreciate fiction set in a time or place of interest to them. In this year's crop of third graders, my boys have a much higher tolerance than girls for fantasy-- I noticed this last year, too. My third graders, girls AND boys, love to read.
ReplyDeletePurhaps if I had red more when I was a child my coment would have been mor sensyble!
ReplyDeleteI edged towards fiction. Both Mum and Dad were non-fiction folk. Can I draw some sort of simplistic conclusion about sexes from that or merely generalise about generations???
My little brother, I find, wants to KNOW things. Stories don't always tell him what he wants to know, or sometimes stories disguise what he wants to know in a way that he has to think about longer, so he more readily turns to clearer sources of knowledge -- sometimes nonfiction, sometimes clearly written fiction.
ReplyDeleteNot everything is bawdy bodies and nose-picking. Good grief.
Hey, I'm Carl, a librarian from Charlotte, NC. I help (with 2 other guybrarians)run a blog called Boys Rule Boys Read which aims at boys 9-12 yrs. old. We really believe that boys can be good readers, can read well (see a post from last week that quotes an author who says boys consistently read above their levels), and that they don't need bodily functions to get them to read. Sorry to promote ourselves, but you've hit a hot button with us. Check us out at http://jaja-cas.blogspot.com or just Google Boys Rule Boys Read. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteyeeesh, even in college that can be a stereotype, and you're right...I usually have more males in my freshman classes that read than females...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kyle who pointed out that some girls don't read either, but, as the mother of two boys and a children's bookseller for the last 13+ years, I talk to and help more enthusiastic girl readers than boys while at work. I've done a little research into this, especially since my 11 year old son asked for a $100 atlas that he will spend hours reading, but I cannot pay him to read "Hatchet." He will only read fiction for book reports. There are some interesting statistics about boys and books you can read at the International Reading Association's site that support the literary boy bashing going on.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.reading.org/General/Publications/ReadingToday/RTY-0812-boys.aspx
At the bottom of it all, good people just want boys (and girls) to be excited about reading and greedy people want to make money off this purported phenomena.
tanya at www.books4yourkids.com
PS - My non-fiction loving son read (for a book report) The Fog Mound #1 by Schade & Buller and AKSED me to buy him #2 to read for fun!!! WAHOO!! You can read my review of it here:
http://www.books4yourkids.com/2009/01/fog-mound-book-1-travels-of-thelonious.html
I agree. I didn't let anybody think they weren't big readers, including my two boys. And no comments about boys not being readers were mentioned in their hearing. Although my sons didn't read as much as me, I exposed them to books all the time. There were always regular trips to the library, read-alouds, books for gifts, and summer reading required by me. Guess what! Now they are both big readers as adults.
ReplyDeleteI'm telling you. My 21 yo son has always been a voracious reader and the two little ones are right there with him. I don't know what these people are talking about. Could it have something to do with blind stereotypes and living up to expectations? Shesh.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! As a mom of a 9-year-old boy booklover I couldn't agree more! I struggle to find books that will hold his attention and don't resort to stupidity to do it. Your backpack story had me LOL! Everyday he loads what he has to have and then fills in every empty space possible with books so he will have plenty for free time!
ReplyDeleteEven though my husband falls into that description of men that don't read, I never assumed that my son would not be a good reader. Knowing my husband's educational background, I blamed poor instruction on his lack of interest in reading--he was never taught the sounds that individual letters make, only sight words. Since I knew that I wouldn't make that mistake with my kids, I figured they would all be readers like me. Barring any learning disabilities, what you expect from the child is more important than gender.
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