Yes! I love spelling "boys" that way. It makes me feel so gangsta.
Anyway. I may have posted on a smiliar topic months ago, but I've forgotten if I did, and I hope you did, too. I'm speaking in a few weeks about "boys" and "books," and I'd appreciate any input you can give me by answering any of the questions that follow.
1. What books have the boys in your life liked (titles and ages would be helpful).
2. Why did/do your boys like those books?
3. What kind of books do your boys not like? Feel free to share dealbreakers here.
4. Why is the market for children and YA (this is a true stat) 80% female? In other words, why do girls appear to like reading more than boys?
5. Any tips for getting boys to read?
Thank you, readers. I love you.
10 comments:
First glance I thought you said, "I'm going to write about BOOBS and books."
which could have been pretty awesome, let's be honest. ;-)
My son is 4 and loves "I Stink" pb from the perspective of a garbage truck and "I'm Dirty" from the perspective of a backhoe loader. Their funny, and they have a great voice. He loves the Pigeon books. Also funny with a great voice. He still loves Sandra Boynton board books. But with three sisters, he likes some girly books, too, like Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy.
Let me ask:
Fav. books
Dallin age 9: The Magicians Nephew from Chronicles.
Logan age 7: Rocks and Minerals, with pictures and factual information.
Why?:
Dallin: They could travel into different worlds and stuff.
Logan: It had cool pictures and it taught him about it.
Don't like:
Dallin: Goosebumps- too much gross stuff.
Logan: no kindergarden books or books with just a few little words.
Me: Logan continues to talk about how he chooses books by cover art.
Why Dallin doesn't read at home voluntarily because: He has a hard time visualizing the scenes writers give him. And if he feels confused, he doesn't go on.
Logan says he chooses books that are thin and large because they have more pictures in them.
He said he also likes books that are creepy and cool.
He doesn't like chapter books yet.
These are their real answers, on the spot, at this VERY moment.
ON a sidenote: Ann said gangsta! ha ha
And Kerry, if Ann wrote about that, it probably would be awesome, just like her writing a book about her kids, God, and also SEX.
My 13 year old loves to read. I think it's because he gets in trouble for reading too late at night so reading is dangerous.
Actually, I don't know why. He has loved being read to since he was tiny and after second grade started loving to sneak books in bed.
His favorites in elementary school: Harry Potter, Charlie Bone, some Avi books, Chronicles of Narnia (all except The Last Battle. He never can get through that one,) and Hardy Boys (he still loves Hardy Boys).
Now he loves Percy Jackson, Alex Rider, Fablehaven, 13th Reality. He says he likes them because "they're awesome. They're good writing and have a good plot."
So if you just write an awesome book with good writing and a good plot, he'll read it, too, apparently. And looking at his list, he much prefers books about alternate realities to realism. And action. Lots of action.
1. My 6-year-old has recently read and enjoyed: Mr. Popper's Penguins, Magic Treehouse, Little House on the Prairie (I read this to my children), non-fiction books about tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wolves, science in general. Also, he likes to read about basketball players and has spent time in the past reading about dinosaurs and a book he loved called Five True Stories About Dogs (or something like that).
2. This 6-year-old boy liked the silliness in Mr. Popper's penguins. He liked to imagine a different time while reading Magic Treehouse and Little House. He liked to ask a lot of questions about the non-fiction books he's read and what he learned in them.
3. He did not like the Flat Stanley series. I think some of the dialogue and story lines seemed strange or uninteresting to him.
4. I'm not sure why this is. I would like to find more adventure-type books and non-fiction books that are chapter books for my boys to read - they would love books like this.
5. I have seen some of my nephews really enjoy non-fiction. I think that if children read about what they're interested in, they'll become better readers and want to read even more.
My nine year old, Max, likes the Gregor the Overlander books? Series of Unfortunate Events. Superfudge. Runaway Ralph. All Road Dahl.
My boys read much, much, more than my girls. My girls are more social and don't take time to read.
Strange.
Three out of my four sons were reluctant readers. They didn't care about stories once we passed the picture book stage. But they did love books like the Guinness Book of World Records. Non-fiction was much more appealing to them than fiction. This is still true for them. They take golf magazines; they read business books. They really arent' excited about fiction.
Charles is my English major and is a sophisticated reader. He is also a writer so he is always watching what exacty writers do.
I have 4 children 1 daughter,2 grown up boys and one 15 year old boy. Our 15 year old is a READER....he reads everything and anything. His favorites have been Harry Potter, Alex Rider series and Pendragon series. He really liked the Magic Tree House books when he was younger. He also loved reading the Great Illustrated classics and has now read the real things. Our other two boys while not big readers in their younger years but would read and enjoyed The Hardy Boys,Louis Lamoure books and anything that was based on a sports figure. All of he boys have been into non-fiction more than fiction.
I have often been asked how do you get them to read?....I don't know, but I think the fact that they have seen their parents read helps. Today all of the family can be found reading late into the night.
When I was selling books and raising boys, I was always looking for things they would like to read. I echo that they often preferred non-fiction - in varying degrees of of detail from weird true facts to stories of adventurers which are not quite biographies. I also recommended Scott Card's book many many times and my boys read them. And there is a small book, Deathwatch by Robb White which I sold at DB dozens of time for young male readers. Sort of a juvenile thriller.
Taylor is 4 and loves me to read to him when the book involves anything that has wheels and moves. He is defiantly all BOY! His absolute favorite are books with trains in them as well as anything with tractors, firetrucks, airplanes, or cars.
Post a Comment