Saturday 28 May 2011

Boys and Books

After doing some storytelling with Teddy (find out more here) and having picked up on the imagination of one boy in particular I began thinking about why so many older boys seem uninterested in books and reading.  These are purely my own thoughts and not based on any research but I began to wonder if the imagination of boys could be fuelled in the early years to get them hooked on reading later in life.

Children who read and are read to tend to do better in school generally.  They are better able to interpret texts of all kinds.  Their spelling and writing is better too.  I'm not against television and computers, in fact there is much children can learn from them, but I do feel that some children are being robbed of discovering books because they spend so much of their time in front of a screen.

Boy is four years old and he enjoys books.  I have been thinking about the kinds of books he and the other boys at pre school go for and have come up with some general (very general!) themes I have noticed.
Books about any of the following seem popular; dinosaurs, pirates, animals, monsters, space/aliens, TV and film characters.  Books which rhyme are also really good as they seem to engage boys and keep them listening.  I recently read an excellent article about rhyme, find it here.  Humour is also hugely popular with boys, and in particular I have noticed, anything to do with underpants or bottoms!
Boy is now so familiar with 'Pants' by Giles Andrae and Nick Sharratt that he can 'read' it out loud to himself and his sister.  It is a rhyming book and this has really helped him to learn it.

Of course, many boys and girls will enjoy books about various other things too.  Everyone is different.  Whether you have boys or girls or both, fostering a love of books at an early age is a really positive thing.  Find out more about reading daily from The Imagination Tree 5-a-day-books.  It promotes early literacy, encourages children to become learners, and reading to your child is a lovely thing to do!  Go for it!

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