Pam Allyn comments:
“More than ever, dads are reading to their kids. I am thrilled about this. It’s crucial that boys and girls see their dads as readers. This is the number one most important way we are going to break the negative cycle of boys as nonreaders.”
I have not read the book, and I am usually suspicious of any list of “best books for boys” because of stereotyping issues, or authors simply listing their own books, but I’m impressed by Pam Allyn.
I’m also very, very impressed with the Read Aloud Dad blog and you’ll now find it on the sidebar (which I keep over on the, er, side).
Go to this link to read what happens when Pam Allyn visits Read Aloud Dad to answer 10 Burning Questions.
A couple of highlights from Pam’s answers:
* I think it’s really more a question of what we are not doing for boys as a society. We have enculterated reading to the point where it seems uncool to be a reader if you are a boy. What is valued in the media is boys who are active and moving quickly, boys in sports, boys who are not sitting down. We also do not value what many boys like to read. We devalue internet surfing. We devalue reading nonfiction. We have to make a far greater effort to be sure we are including boys and girls in the club of reading, and help them to value their reading journeys.
Add a Comment* One big problem is the emphasis in the upper elementary and middle grades on the whole class novel. The whole class novel has been pretty successful in convincing boys NOT to read. The whole class novel is the single most deadly bullet aimed directly at boys’ impulse to read. The teacher has selected a book for the entire class that is about something the boy doesn’t have that much interest in, or it’s about a twelve-year-old girl.