How Do You Get Boys to Read (about the World)?

Since authors know girls like to read, one of the ways they lure boys to a book is by making their protagonists look just like them. Jeff Kinney's wimpy kid is Greg Heffley, and J.K.Rowling's young wizard is Harry Potter.

     Karen Katz uses the same approach in her new book, Roar, Roar Baby, for babies up to two year's old. She has a little boy looking for a tiger behind flaps that open to find  animals hiding all over the world. In Temple Run: Race Through Time to Unlock the Secrets of Ancient Worlds, Tracey West has a boy protagonist who finds clues that help him navigate safely through ancient civilizations. 

     Jon Scieszka, Stephanie Roth Sisson, and Brad Meltzer use a somewhat different approach to attract young male readers. In his series, Guys Read, Scieszka collects the true stories of adventure, sports, and male comedians that he knows little dudes would like.

     By presenting the true life stories of Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein, Sisson and Meltzer provide models of what boys can do with their lives. Sisson's book, Star Stuff, takes young men to the wonders of the 1939 World's Fair to illustrate what inspired Sagan to explore the mysteries of the universe. I Am Albert Einstein, by the historian Brad Meltzer, shows boys how ordinary people can change the world, even if they like to do things their own way, or maybe because they like their own ways of doing things. (Meltzer also has written a book about Amelia Earhart to inspire young girls.)

     Daniel Willingham, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, in his book, Raising Kids Who Read, urges families to let their children know, we are a family who likes to read because we like to learn (and share) new things. Kids who see adults and older siblings reading will want to imitate them.