Encouraging the reluctant reader

Reluctant readers, especially boys, have been in focus this week starting with the National Literacy Trust's report from the Boys' Reading Commission which found that the gender gap is widening and 76% of schools are concerned about boys' underachievement in reading. Michael Morpurgo picked up this theme in a blog post for the Guardian Teacher Network in which he says "The truth is, when it comes to the enjoyment of reading, we are failing far too many children and boys in particular" and then comes up with seven suggestions to deal with this. There's a lot in it about teacher education and the role of libraries and librarians with which I heartily concur. Follow the links to find out more - you can add your own suggestions for books to encourage reluctant readers to the Guardian's ongoing debate here.

In the spirit of Michael Morpurgo's remarks about libraries, I also recommend you look at the University of Strathclyde Library's pages on reluctant readers and books for boys.

PS 9/7/12 Just discovered a useful blogpost, Here come the boys, from the Literacy Advisor (Bill Boyd) which has a lot of useful suggestions to add.

Boosting boys' reading

The Guardian's children's books pages had an article this week by a former librarian, Ellen Ainsworth, entitled 10 books to help boost young boys' reading. They are good suggestions, and we have them all, but perhaps they are a little obvious (Harry Potter, Alex Rider etc)? Bev Humphrey, a Literacy, School Libraries and Technology Consultant, certainly thinks so and has countered with her own post My 10 books to help boost young people's reading. (As you can guess from the title, she also takes issue with the restriction to boys.)

What do you think? I'll certainly be using Bev's post and the very useful comments (some of them!) below the Guardian article to enhance our own lists, particularly Books for Boys.

The slideshow below is of the 10 titles, or series, recommended by the Guardian.

 

Footballers challenge boys' reading apathy

A National Literacy Trust study has revealed that a third of boys agree with the statement "I can’t find anything to read that interests me". Maybe this will help: the NLT has launched the 2010 Premier League Reading Stars and the Scottish Premier League Reading Stars seasons. The latter features 12 players from different clubs, including both halves of the Old Firm, talking about what they love reading. There are also interactive games and downloads. See also our own Football section on our Books for Boys webpages.

 

What boys like

Here's a list from new publisher Nosy Crow who conducted a small survey to discover what boys from 6-9 years old liked to read about. These are the top 5:

1. The future
2. Big zappers (i.e. weapons)
3. Outer space
4. Centre of the earth
5. Sharks

 Follow the link to see the full list. How does it compare to your experiences? Let Nosy Crow know!

Children's book miscellany

This post is an update for several links I haven't had time to blog about individually in the last couple of weeks. I'll start with ones about specific authors. Katherine Paterson is currently serving as the US's equivalent of our Children's Laureate, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Read for your life in Public School Insights is an interview in both podcast and transcript while Fiction Focus's Tuesday Spotlight collects together a number of links, articles and interviews as well as the trailer for the film of Bridge to Terabithia. The latest Horn Book (yet to arrive in the Library) is also largely devoted to Paterson.

Who else? In alphabetical order - much loved picture book authors Janet and Allan Ahlberg feature in Trevor Cairney's blog, Literacy, families and learning; Michael Foreman is interviewed in Write Away and Mo Willems, loved for Don't let the pigeon drive the bus, talks to chron.com.

Films and classics next. Lucy Coats wonders if the Percy Jackson film The Lightning Thief, from Rick Riordan's book, in which the hero discovers that not only is he the son of Poseidon but Zeus is after him for a crime he hasn't committed, will reignite interest in Greek myths. Again, there's a movie trailer to enjoy. Tim Burton's film of Alice in Wonderland is also out, and in the Guardian, AS Byatt "takes another trip down the rabbit hole to celebrate classics she first enjoyed as a child".

Some more about reading itself: boys read as much as girls but prefer the simpler books (Independent); why kids re-read books (Literacy, families and learning); how to make reading cool (Guardian); and sharing picture books, a series of Book Trust videos.

Finally, Curious pages is a blog I've been dipping into for a while. It's billed as Inappropriate Books for Kids, which really seems to mean old-fashioned. The link I've included is to a 1971 Snoopy book. Recent posts include one on Shel Silverstein, complete with video, and another on Florence Parry Heide who wrote the Treehorn books. I love it, but then I'm of that sort of vintage.

National Literacy Trust News

NLT's December newsletter features:

A vision for Scotland - examines the report and final recommendations of the Scottish Literacy Commission which assesses levels of literacy in  Scotland and proposes pre-school literacy support.

New research on writing - NLT research finds social network sites and blogs may have educational benefits such as greater confidence and a more positive attitude towards writing. Chrisitina Clark, Head of Research, adds commentary in To blog or not to blog, that isn't the question.

Scottish Premier League Reading Stars - this programme to raise motivation for reading has been funded for a second year.

Reading programmes for boys - research shows they have led to more boys at primary level reading for pleasure. See also DCSF news  and MLA news on this.

Anthony Horowitz

Why young readers (especially boys) turn to Alex Rider is explained in this article from the Washington Post. However, Horowitz himself isn't too worried about the gender divide in reading as he thinks it "disguises questions that are much, much more serious that we should be asking, such as, for example, are wealthy children reading more than less privileged ones? Are white children reading more than children from ethnic minorities?"

We have a good stock of Anthony Horowitz books in Jordanhill Library.

Getting boys to read

Here's a blog about boys and reading. Getting boys to read is a (US) community based blog for parents, librarians, and teachers which provides information and support through articles, videos, interviews, and their forum. Recent posts include: Teen Boys and Young Adult Lit: An Important Relationship; Digital Storytelling: Engaging Boys with Technology; Should we Separate Genders in the Classroom?; 6 Reasons Why Boys Like Magazines, and Dr. Seuss Stories: Reading that Entertains.

Reading champions for boys

The National Literacy Trust's Reading Champions team has created two new toolkits - one for secondary and one for primary - to support schools to get their boys hooked on reading. The new toolkits are packed full of ideas, activities and case studies to give you plenty of inspiration to start using the Reading Champions framework.

James Patterson

Each month, the National Literacy Trust interviews a well-known figure in the world of reading and literacy. In the latest interview, international bestselling author James Patterson talks about the importance of reading and how to get boys into books. Patterson is currently the most borrowed author in British public libraries and, although writing mainly for adults, has also written for children and set up the website ReadKiddoRead to encourage children to read.

Books for Boys

One of the most popular areas of Jordanhill Library's children's literature web pages is Books for Boys. This has just been updated to include new titles published in the last year or so. All the books listed are in the library here, and still in print so you can buy them if you prefer. Catagories include Adventure and Suspense and Spooky Books - please take a look.

Books, boys and Dr Evil

A series of storybooks for primary schools, using digital pictures and action-packed storylines, has been created to encourage boys to read. Project X, features four friends, three boys, Max, Ant and Tiger, and a girl, Cat, who are pitched against Dr Evil, a wicked scientist who wants to shrink the world. As boys are frequently attracted to non-fiction, each group of books in the Project X series is accompanied by a non-fiction book full of interesting facts and diagrams. For more information, see this Times Online article.

Primary boys into books

Dads and sons ‘Bond’ over spy novels - New £5 million Government scheme to get primary boys reading more

This is a press release from the Department for Children, School's and Families - for England, of course, but still interesting. The £5 million scheme, Primary Boys into Books, expands the programme launched by Ministers last year for boys aged 11-14. Public libraries select free books from the list drawn up by the School Library Association, and deliver book boxes to schools in their local area. Dads are encouraged to take a look too, with authors like Anthony Horowitz, Stephen Hawking and film maker Luc Besson all making an appearance. The books provide a great opportunity for fathers and sons to read together, and while dads are getting stuck into the new Bond novel their sons are reading Charlie Higson’s best selling young James Bond books.

From the cuttings file

Here's a roundup of things I've recently added to the library's cuttings file, which haven't been covered elsewhere in the blog:

AHLBERG, Allan

Jones, N. (2008, May 31). “The fun thing is still making the book”. Telegraph, p. 12.
Cuttings file no 1161.
Allan Ahlberg has a string of children's classics to his name, but he's still as modest as ever.

BOYS AND READING

Horn, C. (2008, 21 March). Books for the boys. Children’s Bookseller, pp. 4-5.
Cuttings file no 1157.
As publishers' confidence in "boys' fiction" rises, the focus turns to exciting marketing campaigns and non-fiction as a growth area.

PULLMAN, Philip

Buchanan, T. (2008). Are you sitting comfortably? Sesame, 237, p. 29.
Cuttings file no 1163.
Pullman discusses fairy tales, the dangers of ignoring the arts and being labelled "the most dangerous author in Britain".

TEACHERS

Cremin,T. (2008). Teachers’ reading and links with libraries. Update, 7(6), pp. 40-43.
Cuttings file no 1162.
Primary teachers' knowledge of books is arguably insufficient for their work and their relative lack of involvement with libraries is of considerable concern.