Riveting Reads: Boys into Books 11-14

Which activities work?

• Involve children in book selection – a good opportunity to include boys, who respond to responsibility.
• Showcase books for boys in displays. Try to be ahead of the game in matching displays to latest trends, and pay particular attention to highlighting books appearing on film or TV.
• As well as making fast-paced action heroes easy to find, remember to show different kinds of masculinity in fiction. There are some great examples in this present list – try Tom Kelly’s The Thing with Finn, or Alex Shearer’s Tins.
  
• Make connections between fiction and non-fiction. Not just curricular connections (the holocaust and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, for example), but fun connections, and ones that link curricular subjects to leisure reading – the science behind science fiction, for example.
• Read aloud: taster extracts from books that might appeal to boys, such as a dramatic opening, or an exciting episode. ‘Personal interaction, book waving and raving, is more important than any number of written reviews or computer listings’ (from Young People’s Reading at the end of the Century).³
  
• Remember storytelling, either by guests or school staff. Traditional tales often address powerful issues that contemporary fiction would shy away from, and there are some great ghost stories that will appeal to the horror fans!
• Use book boxes for tutor time. This may be one area where you can do something different just for boys – how about a boys only box sometimes?
• Try a boys only lunchtime in the library occasionally.
• Do work on ‘how we choose books’ (title, author’s name, cover design, blurb, first paragraph, etc.). Boys often comment that they don’t know what to choose, and this will strengthen their confidence. Carel Press’s The Reading Game (http://www.carelpress.co.uk/libraryskills.htm#reading) may help here, and there can be much useful discussion about ’What makes a boy book/girl book?’
  
• Feature boys’ reading choices (presented by boys, if possible) at assemblies or tutor times.
• Discuss fiction, to draw out current and relevant meaning, and help boys ‘see the point’.
• Identify peer leaders and opinion formers among boys. Any connections made here will be very powerful in reaching others, and you could find candidates for Reading Champions (http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/campaign/Champions/index.html).
• Identify any enthusiastic boy readers and use them as book promoters. ‘Students are four times more likely to read something recommended to them by a peer than by a teacher’ (MORI poll, 2003).
• Use committed older boys as reading buddies for younger ones, or pair readers of a similar age.
• Use short-term reading challenges, with prizes and lots of feedback. Boys like to know how they’re doing, and have achievable goals.
• Organise schemes like Readathon (http://www.readathon.org/). They will often appeal to boys’ sense of challenge – the badges and stickers help too, as does the money-raising dimension.
• Target boys to recruit as pupil librarians. Boys respond well to being given responsibilities, and it can help their self-esteem.
• Involve boys as 'Book Consultants' in the scheme run by publisher Barrington Stoke (http://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/), which uses students to test new manuscripts, and offers books and incentives.
• Encourage boys who like to show off their speaking skills. If you have a debating group, what about a book-related debate? What about using boys to read funny poems aloud? They could do this on to CD, complete with different voices and sound effects, or make a podcast reading their favourite extracts from books for the school website, for other pupils to listen to or download. A great opportunity to work with your drama department!
• Organise inter-class (or inter-house) book events – quizzes, for example – can help boys gain prestige by representing their team.
• Use the library as an event venue – Games Workshops (Lord of the Rings-based ‘Warhammer’ gaming clubs), chess tournaments, talks, quizzes.
• Enter the Kids’ Lit Quiz (http://www.kidslitquiz.com/), which can motivate boys particularly, appealing to their competitive instincts.
• Get boys involved in book awards – either shadowing national ones, like Carnegie and Kate Greenaway, or judging for one of the growing number of lively local ones. Regional book awards give an opportunity to meet up with reading boys from nearby schools, and other reading groups.
• Organise reading groups, which can be mixed gender (useful for boys to share their reading tastes with girls, and vice versa), or ‘boy only’. They could be themed (Harry Potter Fan Club, Graphic Novel or Manga Group), or they could feature a boy-friendly genre like sports stories or science fiction.
• Include reading plays together, introducing non-fiction books about a hobby or interest and researching author details on websites as Reading Group activities. These can particularly attract boys, and they’ll tell you of others.