Tuesday, December 14, 2010
December 14th: Guys Read
I can't really remember when I first heard about Jon Scieszka's project Guys Read but I think it was in 2003. The project itself got started in 2001 and over the last near-decade, Scieszka, his friends and colleagues have done considerable work towards lessening the early literacy gap for boys and teens. Command centre for Guys Read is the website, but there's also 2 anthologies (with 4 more in the works) and a (not-often-updated) Twitter feed. On the website, you will find all manner of great titles for guys recommended by guys. There are also reading lists provided by author guys as well as a guys news blog. Guys, guys, guys. You get the point.
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The male reluctant-reader in my household loved the Fly Guy books. Tedd Arnold is my hero! Until I discovered Fly Guy *I* was writing stories for my son to read, since nothing else would interest him.
ReplyDeleteHow can I have been blogging for five years and STILL sometimes screw up a comment?
ReplyDeleteOkay, let me try to recreate this:
I LOVE Guys Read. Someone gave me the "Guys Write for Guys Read" book years ago. I loved reading it. I TRIED to get my then 12 year old son to read it. No go. However, he did let me read parts of it to him. He really enjoyed the antics of those authors/illustrators as children. He was jealous, though, of the freedom they had to jump off rooves, etc. (Does anybody still use rooves?)
Anyway, finding out about Guys Read challenged me to reconsider my definition of reading. As much as I STILL don't understand how people can NOT be fiction readers, I no longer judge them for that!
Interestingly, I find the challenge of finding reading material, whether it is instructions, magazines, or more "traditional" kid fare just as strenuous for my daughter.
Thank you for highlighting the anthologies - I'll definitely be seeking them out for my older son, who, despite being an avid reader in the past, is becoming harder and harder to find fiction for...
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