To Be a Boy, To Be a Reader

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario: Your son has a book report, research paper or you, in any way, suggest he pick up a book and read. I’m guessing if you’re like any of the moms I’ve had conversations with over the years in the library, your imaginary self responded one of three ways: 1) uncontrollable laughter (at the absurdity of your son acquiescing to your wise advice), 2) tears of frustration or head-banging, or 3) the defeated image of you waving the white surrender flag.

Any way you imagine it, it seems impossible.

Well, first, let me say, you’re not alone. It’s outside of the scope of this type of format to give you personalized recommendations for something that must be tailored to an individual, based on age, preferences and much more, since I’ve given hour long presentations on the subject and barely scratched the surface.

So here’s what I HOPE to do in this post and probably a follow-up: to explain that there ARE differences between male and female reading preferences. So yes, while this may help you with your non-reading son, it’s also something you may recognize in the men and women you know.

Also, as a caveat, these are generalities. I’ve seen boys who love and excel at reading; I’ve seen girls not enjoy it and struggle with it. But for the sake of this post, we’ll just acknowledge that there’s a difference in boys’ desire to and natural skill toward reading. If you want to come in and ask me for the research to prove it, feel free! But I’ll warn you straight out, this is something I’ve spent five years researching and I could talk longer than you care to listen! :)

Since some of you may find the brain development stuff interesting like I do and some of you won’t, I’m linking to more information on our website: click on the link for the Brain Development and Literacy 101.

Don’t worry, I’m a librarian, not a brain expert, so I only know enough to make me dangerous and I’ve tried to explain it as simply as possible. The information page on our website explains a few main differences in brain development, and then some general implications. For those of you who aren’t as curious about the brain and trust me at my word, let’s move on to how it affects reading.

Format:

One thing you’ll notice with boys is the format or way they read differs. Again, these are generalizations, not to say a boy won’t read traditional formats or girls won’t like non-traditional.

• Guys like newspapers, magazines, (reference) journals/manuals, and in today’s technology age, this includes online content. All perfectly normal! They may not pick up the latest Newbery winner (or in the case of older “boys”, an Oprah Book Club relationship-heavy tome), but they’ll read the paper, read the news online… or the newsfeed on Facebook. They’ll look up information they need online in order to satisfy their curiosity or figure out how to do something. Boys tend to read for information (not for escape or emotion).
• Guys may prefer audio books. Listening to a book will allow him to keep physically occupied while he listens. One of the harshest reading-transitions comes for boys when they lose the socially-driven “storytime format” of sitting around with a group of friends, hearing someone animatedly reading a story, switching to silent and sustained reading. Reading books by themselves? Boring! Studies show that boys pick up just as much vocabulary and context through listening to audio as girls do reading a book. 
• Guys also prefer reading in non-linear formats. Non-linear formats include the use of pictures, graphics… even graphs or charts. Something that gives a break from a straight block of text. But this means older boys will still gravitate towards picture books, or once past that, they’ll enjoy comics, graphic novels, manga, hybrids (part text, part illustration), as well as non-fiction with graphics.
• Guys may also find reading on “gadgets” more interesting as well. This refers to online content, but also e-Books. I have a friend who never read for pleasure much until he got a Nook (which he then turned into a full Android tablet) and now he reads much more. I’m not saying go out and buy your child an expensive e-Reader, but there are apps and software that can turn iPod touches into mini eReaders.

Genres:

Okay, so we talked about the method or format of reading that appeals more to guys. Now what about the focus/content of what they read? Male-friendly genres of books include action, adventure, fantasy, history, humor, mystery, non-fiction/information, science fiction, sports, and scary/horror.

Not every boy is going to like every one of these genres, but these are the ones they’re more inclined to go towards. Forget relationship tear-jerkers or romance. Seems  obvious, right? But boys’ reading choices are often put down as not “real," and it seriously affects their interest in even picking up reading material.

Now yes, ideally, boys will not get stuck reading Goosebumps or Captain  Underpants as a grown man, but you definitely need to boost the interest and  confidence in the reading skill of a beginner reader. This is true whether they’re a boy OR girl. So I work with kids and their parents to find them something they’ll  like to read, but at the same time, also develop a confidence and skill level so that I can then convince them to step it up to a higher reading level.

Now that I gave you the more technical information, I’ll follow up with Part 2  another time on some practical suggestions of ways you can encourage boys to  read… things you can do at home as well as what the library offers.