What boys DO like - a brave appraisal
* Boys tend to like books which match their image of themselves. They want to be able to identify themselves and what they would like to be and do. This is why books about characters engaged in sport have always held at least an initial attraction for boys.
* Boys love to have fun so they want books that are fun, that make them laugh and appeal to their sense of madcap mayhem. This is all tied up with their image of the quintessential boy and as much as boyishness can be defined and distilled, they love to find it in the books they read. Few writers are able to capture that "boyishness" in print.
* A significant part of the mayhem that boys love is poking fun at others, especially adults. Boys continually find themselves told to behave, to be tidier and less boisterous so books where the characters triumphantly break out of these restrictions are greatly prized.
* Boys have an image of themselves as anarchic beings bringing chaos to stultifying order, even when they are the gentlest and most amenable lambs you would hope to have in the house. Used cynically, this can serve to re-enforce the most destructive and dehumanising aspects of masculine stereotypes. Yet such cynicism badly misreads what boys are about. Yes, they love tales of subversion but this subversion is oddly true to a sense of justice and right. Boys will grin and cheer when the villain comes to a sticky or humiliating end but only when it is clear that such a fate is richly deserved.
Two Kinds of Book
books for reading TO reluctant boys, and
books for reading BY reluctant boys
All of these books have achieved legendary status, especially amongst boys. They are all quite well written as well, yet managed to avoid "sanitization." Libraries and bookshops stock them with relish.
| Lurie, Morris Winton, Tim Griffiths, Andy Sobol, A White, Osmar Blume, Judy Coville, Bruce Rockwell, Thomas Robinson, Barbara Flynn, Rachel Rowling, J Rowling, J Rowling, J Rowling, J Crew, Gary Gleitzman, Morris Sachar, Louis Pratchett, Terry Winton, Tim Paulsen, Gary McRobbie, David Marsden, John Rubinstein, Gillian Moloney, James Townsend, Sue | The Twenty-Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race The Bugalugs Bum Thief Just Tricking, Just Annoying Encyclopedia Brown (series) The Superoo of Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge My Teacher Flunked the Planet How to Eat Fried The Worst Kids in the World I Hate Fridays Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire The Watertower Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Blabbermouth, Toad Rage Holes Truckers, Johnny and the Dead, The Disc World series. Lockie Leonard Human Torpedo Hatchet The Wayne Dynasty Tomorrow When the War Began Space Demons Crossfire, A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove, Touch Me The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole |
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