More on Boys and (Not) Reading...

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran an article this past Wednesday on the topic of boys' lack of interest in reading for which they interviewed Walter Dean Myers who stressed that education does not end at school. Said Myers: "Too many parents have walked away from this idea ... that education is a family concept, is a community concept, is not simply something that schools do." Parents, he said, need to talk to their sons about reading.

The article, mentions, as others have, that the children's publishing industry does not make enough of an effort to publish and market books to young male readers. Myers even seems to suggest that more male editors are needed, saying, "I've never had a male editor."

(For more on this topic, see page 37 of the 2008 CWIM for Delacorte editor Krista Marino's article "Writing for Boys: An Editor's Advice on Reaching These Often Reluctant Readers.")

As the parent of a boy, reading on this topic always concerns me a bit. I can't imagine having a son who grows up without loving (or at least liking) books. I talk to Murray about books and we read books often and we make evenings of trips to the bookstore. There's no chance that he won't hear about books at home. Plus there's pretty much no direction one can look in any room in my house and not see books.

But what if he ends up friends with a bunch of video-game-
playing hooligans with no interest in literature? These are the kinds of thoughts that bonk around in my brain at two in the morning on weeknights after the cat wakes me up: How do I get him to eat more vegetables? Does he already like TV too much? Will his binky make him need braces? What if his tween-age friends are video-game-playing hooligans? It's a wonder I ever sleep.