Guys Read
While trolling through the internet, I came across a reading initiative website called Guys Read at www.guysread.com. Jon Scieszka created the website to promote reading amongst males by helping them find titles of guy-recommended books. On the site, you can access reading lists of books for "younger guys", "middle guys", and "older guys". Scieszka even has materials you can download to create your own Guys Read library at your school by printing off Guys Read stickers and labeling the titles so they are easily accessible in the library.
Scieszka finds that “boys
like books that are about stuff – science books about pyramids and grasshoppers” Books that boys enjoy will obviously differ in subject matter from that of girls, and that they tend to like books “that are just facts, random facts, like the Guinness Book of World Records.” Boys and books should go more readily together if you can find, according to Scieszka, that “have plenty of action. Books that are about men acting courageously in the face of danger” and topics that involve “irreverent humor or books that mention bodily functions. Especially farting!” Again, books that girls don’t reach for on the library shelf!
At my school we took Scieszka's idea a step further and created a Guys Read recommendation sheet, that the boys would fill out and post on our Guys Read wall of book reviews. Our middle school news channel also has a weekly segment called Guys Read that interviews boys and has them discussing the great books that they are reading. We have seen
amazing responses to this initiative and boys are actually talking about books they enjoy. As a Reading teacher, I may be partial to the importance of reading great literature, but I am thrilled to see boys embracing reading. Girls should not be the only sector of students who enjoy becoming lost in a fantastic book.