GUYS READ

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GUYS READ

• ALSC 2002 National Institute
• October 18, 2002

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THAT'S THE FACTS, JACK

• How much do you know about boys and reading?
• Answer true and false to each question

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Booktalks and Booktalkers

• Serge Danielson-Francois is a first-generation
  Haitian Canadian childrens librarian, currently
  working at the Trails West Branch of the Kansas
  City Public Library. He helps facilitate a book
  club for young men adjudicated by the Johnson
  County Family Court, which has recently discussed
  Kafkas Metamorphosis and Shelleys Frankenstein.
  
• Patrick Jones, Manager of the Outreach Department
  of the Hennepin County (Minn.) Library, is author
  of Connecting Young Adults and Libraries
  (Neal-Schuman), and What's So Scary About R. L.
  Stine? (Neal-Schuman).
• Ritchie Momon received his MLS from Park
  University in Missouri. He has been with the
  Kansas City Public Library for over 20 years, and
  currently works as Young Adult Specialist there.
• Kathy McLellan, Youth Outreach Librarian for
  Johnson County Library, provides programs and
  services to young people unable to visit the
  library including children in child care and
  teens in detention. McLellan is co-creator of the
  Read to Succeed program, which serves teens in
  the Johnson County Juvenile Detention Center, and
  co-facilitator of the program Changing Lives
  through Literature for teen males on probation.

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Welcome

• AGENDA
• OBJECTIVES
• HANDOUTS
• PRESENTORS
• ETC.

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OBJECTIVES

• Learn why dont guys like to read, why is it
  important, and what librarians can do to help.
• Learn how to encourage boys to explore a wider
  emotional range in their responses to literature
• Learn how to reach boys directly through books
  recommended by other guys
• Learn strategies for getting boys to read.
• Learn how to encourage reading among boys in
  unique and underserved populations including boys
  in child care programs and boys in juvenile
  detention programs.

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GUYS READ I Jon speaks!

• Author Jon Scieszka will need no introduction to
  librarians familiar with his award-winning books
  The Math Curse and The Stinky Cheese Man.
  Scieszka is also the founder of Guys Read
  (www.guysread.com), a program which advocates for
  attention to boys literacy issues

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GUYS READ'S MISSION

• Make plenty of noise on a national level to call
  attention to the question of boys literacy.
• Motivate adults to examine the role gender plays
  in the book choices we give to boys.
• Reach boys directly with books recommended by
  other guys.
• Challenge men to step up and be role models of
  literacy.
• Try to help boys explore the possibilities of a
  wider emotional range and connection to feelings
  through reading.
• Through the website, offer leadership, practical
  solutions, a forum, and support to get guys
  reading.

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WHAT'S WITH GUYS?

• Biologically, boys are slower to develop than
  girls and often struggle with reading and writing
  skills early on.
• The action-oriented, competitive learning style
  of many boys works against them learning to read
  and write.

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WHAT'S WITH GUYS?

• As a society, we teach boys to suppress
  feelings. Boys arent practiced and often dont
  feel comfortable exploring the emotions and
  feelings found in fiction.
• Boys dont have enough male role models for
  literacy. Because the majority of adults involved
  in kids reading are women, boys dont see
  reading as a masculine activity.

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WHAT'S WITH GUYS?

• Many books boys are asked to read dont appeal to
  them. They arent motivated to want to read.
• SO what does appeal to them?

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What do guys read?

• Formats
• Genres
• Subjects

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FOR YOUNGER GUYS

• The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss. Illustrated by
  Crockett Johnson.
• Go, Dog. Go!, by Philip D. Eastman.
• The Stupids Die, by Harry Allard. Illustrated by
  James Marshall.
• Grimms Fairy Tales

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FOR EARLY READERS

• Be A Perfect Person in Just Three Days, by
  Stephen Manes. Illustrated by Tom Huffman.
• Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown
• The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, by Daniel
  Pinkwater. Illustrated by Jill Pinkwater

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FOR EARLY READERS

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Alvin
  Schwartz, editor. Illustrated by Stephen Gammell.
• Sideways Stories from Wayside School, by Louis
  Sachar. Illustrated by Julie Brinckloe.
• The Twits, by Roald Dahl. Illustrated by Quentin
  Blake.

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FOR OLDER GUYS

• Oddballs, by William Sleator.
• Tangerine, by Edward Bloor.
• Watchmen, a graphic novel by Alan Moore.

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POETRY

• Kids are the best judge of the poetry they like.
  I like the funny poetry of Douglas Florian, Colin
  McNaughton, Jack Prelutsky, and Shel Silverstein.
  .

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NON-FICTION

• Choose books based on the subjects they care
  about. Look at books by Russell Freedman, David
  Macaulay, Jim Murphy, and Seymour Simon.

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READING LISTS

• Top titles from Guys Read
• Top titles from Quick Picks
• Magazines and comic books
• Picture books

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READING RESEARCH

• Reading Dont Fix No Chevy
• Moving in Stereo
• Responding with respect and rasslin

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Dewey or dont we know ?

• What are the nonfiction areas, by Dewey number,
  which are popular with boys?

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Brain Development Key Findings

• Brain development is contingent on complex
  interplay between genes and environment
• Early experiences contribute to brain structure
  and capacities
• Early interactions affect brain wiring
• Brain development is linear
• There are windows of opportunity for learning
  that refer to when connections are developing
  most rapidly
• A childs brain is 2 ½ times as active as an
  adult. They are biologically prepared to learn.
• (from Start Smart! by Pam Schiller)

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What Can We Do?

• Interactive story times
• Active hands-on programs
• Advisory groups
• Encourage imagination
• Promote creative problem-solving
• Have a Guys Read Marathon

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Read to Succeed

• Sessions 45 minutes
• Short Story Selection
• Booktalks
• Residents Choose Books

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Changing Lives Through Literature

• Up to 12 teens
• Judge
• Probation Officer
• Facilitator

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Discussion circles best practices in collection
development for boys

• Fiction
• Nonfiction
• Picture Books

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Discussion circles best practices in programming

• pre-school boys
• school age boys
• teenage boys

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GUYS READ II this time it is personal

• A FEW GOOD BOOKS ABOUT GUYS
• Gurian, Michael. The Good Son Shaping the Moral
  Development of Our Boys and Young Men
• Gurian, Michael. The Wonder of Boys What
  Parents, Mentors, and Educators Can Do to Shape
  Boys into Exceptional Men
• Kindlon, Daniel J. Thompson, Michael et al.
  Raising Cain Protecting the Emotional Life of
  Boys
• Pollack, William S. Real Boys Rescuing Our Sons
  from the Myths of Boyhood