Boy Readers. Response to WSJ.com

This post is in response to today's article How to Raise Boys that Read on the Wall Street Journal.

If you are a person in the position of connecting boys with books, I would think you have a response to Mr. Thomas Spence. My perspective comes as a second grade teacher who constantly tries to connect boys with a good book, and scrounges yard sales, book orders, and offers for a book I think will hit the spot for a child. I often will seek out a book for the sole purpose of trying to connect it with one kid, which is but a snapshot in their education (the most brief click if they don't get past page two).

Mr. Spence makes the assumption that boys are only connecting with the rude humor books. They seek out a wide variety of books that span across a range of genres. And though most of them can connect with Mike Thaler's Lagoon books, and the Dav Pilkey Captain Underpants Series, I have witnessed these books as a simple bridge to book immersion. The use of comic book style graphics, and two page chapters is a stepping stone to boys. A full jump into a regular chapter book is wasted without a developed imagination or honed comprehension. The quick success boys can have in reading the "gross-outs" is laying a foundation for a group of new readers that are growing up in a fast-paced, graphic decorated culture. You cannot compare this new generation with old school Hardy Boy hammering boys of the past.

Mr. Spence also that these books are, "suited to producing a generation of barbarians and morons than to raising the sort of men who make good husbands, fathers and professionals." Are fart books really a cause of the dead-beat dad epidemic in our country? Would this not be the place to talk about the addictions, divorce, poverty, etc.? You are far from connecting with the true issues. The real issue behind your statement is the lack of modeling. There is no dad around to read to our kids. They lack the skill of being readers because they have not been taught or exposed to it at an early age.

If you are looking for a place that is speaking and addressing the real issues, spend sometime here. These guys know what they are talking about. Sorry Mr. Spence.