Boys & Books I hate to read – what does it mean, why did he say it, and what you can do about it Two resources One story from JDC One personal reflection.

Boys & Books “I hate to read” – what

does it mean, why did he say it, and what you can do about it

Two resources One story from JDC One personal reflection

BOYS & BOOKS For more information, visit:

www.guysread.com For the power point and

handouts, visit www.connectingya.com

For more info, email me: [email protected]

Connecting Young Adults and LibrariesConnecting Young Adults and LibrariesPatrick JonesPatrick Jones

http://www.connectingya.comhttp://www.connectingya.comGetting startedGetting started

What do boys see as obstacles to reading? What are the facts about boys and reading? What are one hundred great books for boys? What magazines and comic books will boys

read? How do you make the connection between

boys and books? Where can I find more information?

What do boys see as obstacles to reading?What do boys see as obstacles to reading?

A national survey conducted as part of YALSA’s 2001 Teen Read Week celebration netted more evidence about what boys see as obstacles to reading. These are the responses of teenage boys; the average age of the survey respondent was 14:

Boring/not fun 39.3% No time/too busy 29.8% Like other activities better 11.1% Cant get into the stories 7.7% I'm not good at it 4.3% Makes me tired/causes headaches 2.5% Video games/TV more interesting 2.3% Too much school work 1.4% Books are too long 0.09% Friends make fun of me 0.01%

What are the facts about boys and reading?

How much do you know about boys and reading?

Answer true and false to each question

What are hundred great books for boys?

Many books boys are asked to read don’t appeal to them. They aren’t motivated to want to read.

SO what does appeal to them?

What do guys read?

Top Titles from guysread.com

Quick Picks 2004

MagazinesNonfiction

subjects

FOR YOUNGER GUYS

The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss. Illustrated by Crockett Johnson.

Go, Dog. Go!, by Philip D. Eastman.

The Stupids Die, by Harry Allard. Grimm’s Fairy Tales ??????

FOR EARLY READERS

Be A Perfect Person in Just Three Days, by Stephen Manes. Illustrated by Tom Huffman.

Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown Captain Underpants Time Warp Trio ????????

FOR EARLY READERS

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin Schwartz, editor. Illustrated by Stephen Gammell.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School, by Louis Sachar. Illustrated by Julie Brinckloe.

The Twits, by Roald Dahl. Illustrated by Quentin Blake.

FOR OLDER GUYS

Tangerine, by Edward Bloor.Holes by SacharLemony Snicket booksGary PaulsenCirque du Freak / Shan??????

FOR OLDER GUYS

Card, Clancy, Crichton, Jordan, King, Koontz, Patterson, and Sanford

Dickey and TyreeGoines? Holmes? Coldest Winter Ever?????

POETRY

Kids are the best judge of the poetry they like, young boys in particular like Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. Older boys will like Tupac, poems written by other teens, and love poems.

NON-FICTION

Choose books based on the subjects they care about. Look at books by Russell Freedman, David Macaulay, Jim Murphy, and Seymour Simon. Older boys won’t read authors as much as subjects of interest.

FACTS ABOUT NONFICTION

Researching reading and at-risk teens is a focus of Dr. Teri S. Lesesne from Sam Houston State University. She says, “In my seven year study of at-risk teens, one of the observations I have been able to verify year after year is that nonfiction matters to these less than enthusiastic readers.  Even though some of them read nonfiction regularly, they do not see themselves as readers because nonfiction is not as valued in

the English classroom.” .

Why don’t boys like to read

1. Associate with failure

2. Time and energy

3. Negative pressures

4. Not stimulated by ideas

5. No encouragement

6. Not a priority

7. Can’t find the good books/stuff to read

Reaching reluctant boy readers with fiction (Quick Picks list)

have a hook to get the reader’s attention immediately move at a fast pace with only a few characters have a single point of view and few flashbacks or

subplots deal with real-life situations/high interest topics have emotional impact; they are gripping and

memorable use short sentences and paragraph and non

challenging vocabulary have attractive covers, wide margins and easy to read

type face and be less than 200 pages

Reaching reluctant boy readers with nonfiction (Quick Picks list)

Nonfiction will meet many of this criteria, but also will

contains lots of illustrations to complement the text

adopt of magazine style layout approach contain first person narrative and real life

experience

Maintaining a collection

Reading is more than fiction; more than books;

Maintaining a collection

Collection development doesn’t mean buying new books

Young adults like magazines

1. Visual 2. Appeal to short attention spans. 3. Speak to developing special interests. 4. Socially acceptable reading material. 5. Information on important stuff - sex, sports, etc. 6. Fads/celebrities 7. Easy reading level 8. Don't have to read them at school: no pressure 9. Dream/fantasize/set goals: the case for comics

Computer Gaming World

Teen People

Dewey or don’t we know ?

What are the nonfiction areas, by Dewey number, which are popular with boys?

Dewey or don’t we?Dewey or don’t we?000 100 200/400

300 500 600

700 800 900

GUYS READ: more information

Brozo, William G. To be a boy, to be a reader : engaging teen and preteen boys in active literacy. Newark, Del. : International Reading Association, 2002. ISBN: 0872071758

Gurian, Michael. What stories does my son need? : A guide to books and movies that build character in boys. New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2000 ISBN: 1585420409

Odean Kathleen Great Books for Boys: More Than 600 Books for Boys 2 to 14 Ballantine Books (Trd Pap); ISBN: 0345420837; (March 1998)

Smith, Michael. Reading Don't Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of You Boynton/Cook Pub; ISBN: 0867095091; (March 2002 )

Sullivan, Michael. Connecting Boys With Books: What Libraries Can Do. ISBN 0838908497 ALA Editions, 2003.

GUYS READ: ten action steps

Link to guysread.com Reward reading Booktalk or tell a story ALA posters:

purchased and created Work with coaches

GUYS READ II: this time it is personal

Buy less fiction Recruit boy volunteers

(community service) Ask and listen Put the books where

the boys are Buy books boys will

want to read

Things Change

(Walker and Company, April 2004)

Connecting Young Adults and LibrariesConnecting Young Adults and LibrariesPatrick JonesPatrick Jones

http://www.connectingya.comhttp://www.connectingya.com

Consulting, training, and coaching for library staff to provide powerful youth services

Author visits to [email protected]

GUYS READ For a full handout packet, visit

http://www.connectingya.com For the power point, visit: http://

www.hclib.org/extranet/ For more information, visit:

www.guysread.com

For more info, email me: [email protected]