When boys won't read

How low will you stoop to get your boys to read?

New York Times family blogger Lisa Belkin and mommy blogger Jen Singer, who recently guest-posted on Belkin's blog about boys falling behind in school, agree:

"If fidgeting and foul humor are going to help our boys in school, then bring them on."

This is in response to what many are saying is the way to get boys to read: Give them adventures, explosions, graphic (as in comic), and potty-humor books.

I'm all for fidgeting, adventure, and explosions. I can accept the occasional comic. But for the same reason I eschew Disney, the Babysitter Club, and Junie B. Jones books, I downright refuse the barf/poop/belch genre: They're all junk-food books; trans-fat-laden, corn syrup-saturated Hostess cherry pies on the literary highway.

I, being a literary purist/snob, prefer to promote meat-and-potato books like ones by Homer, the Greek myths, hard cover Rosemary Sutcliffe renditions of The Iliad and The Odyssey, Geraldine McCaughrean's wonderful Gilgamesh, and the Narnia series. Because they aren't filled to the gills with junk, my kids consume these pretty hungrily.

Except for one of my kids. This boy owns stacks of "boy-centered" books like Brian Jacques' Redwall series, the Hardy Boys, and G.A. Henty's historical fiction, all of which sit untouched on his dresser. Don't get me wrong: He can read. He's actually a good reader. He just loathes every single moment he's doing it.

For such a boy, are gross-out books really the solution? Is the sheer deciphering of words divorced from the quality of the story a real accomplishment? Should I be jumping up and down, thrilled to pieces that he finally read Captain Underpants and the Big, Bad Battle of the Bionic Booger Boy?

Me thinks not.

I hate what feels like the dumbing down of my expectations but have to admit that for some children there might be some truth in what experts are saying. My reluctant reader read the whole Bible in comic form---three times. He loves The Guinness Book of World Records. He just checked out a computer animation book on C++ programming from the library and is devouring it. The other day I found him taking notes on the movie-making books we bought him for Christmas. He can't get enough of Tintin.

All this to say, while I never, ever plan on buying, owning, borrowing, or even casually rifling through a Captain Underpants book, I can see how certain kids may need an alternate to Homer or L'Engle or even (sigh!) Lewis. If you have boys, you may want to check out Guys Read for recommendations in boyish categories like Action/Adventure, Realistic Kids in Realistic Situations, Mysterious Occurrences, Boxers, Wrestlers, Ultimate Fighters, At Least One Explosion, Classics That Actually Hold Up, Funny, and People Being Transformed Into Animals. (Of course, neither I nor my WORLD editors can read and vouch for each and every title suggested on this site.)

Oh, and if anyone is in the market for some Henty books in pristine condition, have I got a deal for you. . . .