Thoughts on Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys

I’m not sure where I first heard about the recently published Pam Allyn’s Best Books for Boys but the title grabbed my attention immediately. I am always interested in book recommendations for kids. At the same time, I tend to be a little wary of lists made specifically for boys, since they are often heavily weighted toward stories about boys with female protagonists nowhere to be found.

Still, I approached this book with an open mind, given the credentials of the writer. Pam Allyn is the Executive Director and founder of LitWorld, a global organization advocating for children’s rights as readers, writers, and learners. She is also the Executive Director and founder of LitLife, a national organization dedicated to school improvement.

In Part One of her book, Ms. Allyn outlines why she chose to focus on boys. The fact that boys are falling behind girls in literacy and school achievement is not news, but Ms. Allyn offers a brief and relevant discussion on why this is happening. She uses a few key statistics without overwhelming the reader with numbers. She also talks about the shift in today’s schools toward “assessment and standardization in educational policy,” which leaves little room for creativity in delivering the curriculum and may be causing some kids to tune out at school.

The numbers about boys’ achievement in literacy do not lie, and there are many people pointing the finger at the education system. Some even go so far as stating that the school environment has been feminized, including Harvard psychologist William Pollack whom Ms. Allyn quotes as saying, “More boys than girls are in special education classes.  More boys than girls are prescribed more mood-managing drugs. This suggests that today’s schools are built for girls, and boys are becoming misfits.”

I am no expert on the education system, but the inclusion of this kind of statement about schools concerns me because it disregards the role of socialization on boys’ attitudes. Yes, boys are misjudged and considered problems more often than girls, but the failure to acknowledge socialization in a discussion about boys and school seems to me to be an incredible oversight. The Toronto Star published a letter I wrote about this in 2009, in which I said:

“Virtually from birth, we impose on boys a very narrow definition of masculinity – one that teaches them to value noise and action over quiet and focused attention. The boisterous, sometimes aggressive behaviour that some boys exhibit is not reined in when it is inappropriate; rather, it is excused with that hoary old phrase “boys will be boys”.  Boys are encouraged to play with noisy machines and superhero toys more often than they are asked to sit down to a quiet activity. Pop culture feeds them a steady diet of male characters that are action-oriented and hyper-masculine.

We allow these influences to permeate their consciousness. We often reinforce them through the language we use and the activities we choose for them. And then we expect them to sit quietly in a classroom and listen.”

Socialization into traditional masculine roles teaches many boys that it is “uncool” to follow rules or ask for help. I think Ms. Allyn’s arguments about the reasons boys are falling behind would have been stronger had she addressed socialization as a contributing factor to boys’ sometimes negative attitudes toward school. (The Globe & Mail covered this subject in an article last year.)

Still, she does offer some excellent tips on getting boys interested in books. She also states clearly that these strategies work for children of both sexes, an important point when one sees the statistics she cites about kids and literacy: 61% of boys do not like reading, but 38% of girls also dislike it.

Her R-E-A-D model is excellent, and provides a framework for getting kids comfortable with reading. Briefly, the acronym stands for Ritual, Environment, Access, and Dialogue. Throughout her introductory chapters she emphasizes that “access” means surrounding boys with all kinds of texts, at various levels. She also notes that parents should not disregard materials like comics, graphic novels, instruction manuals, and websites. All are legitimate reading materials that help develop literacy.

Book Recommendations

Before I talk about Ms. Allyn's book recommendations, I must acknowledge that she and I have different perspectives. She is interested in getting boys reading, period, while I am concerned that the materials they read (or at least a good portion of them) include positive gender portrayals and a mix of male and female protagonists. Since