Great Books for Boys [Paperback]

Kathleen Odean (Author)

Book Description

BOOKS THAT WILL MAKE BOYS WANT TO READ!

Parents, grandparents, teachers, and librarians--we need a tool that guides us to the books that will inspire boys to read and keep them coming back for more. Now Kathleen Odean, a former member of the Caldecott and Newbery Award committees and author of the groundbreaking bestseller Great Books for Girls has compiled and annotated a unique collection of more than six hundred books--picture books, novels, mysteries, biographies, sports books, and more--that will fascinate and educate boys. Here are classic characters such as Frog and Toad, Bilbo Baggins, and Encyclopedia Brown; new favorites such as Bingo Brown, Martin the Warrior, and Harry the Dirty Dog; and real-life inspirations such as the Wright brothers, Jackie Robinson, and Jacques Cousteau.

The boys who discover reading from the books in this invaluable volume will witness a wide range of role models--and embark upon an adventure that will fuel their dreams for the rest of their lives.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

One of the things that many boys give up on their way to manhood is a love of reading," states Odean in her introduction. This thoughtfully compiled annotated bibliography gives parents, teachers, and librarians strategies to help prevent this loss. Titles are organized by reader age and genre. Each entry provides a bibliographic citation, suggested age range, and brief annotation. Readers of Odean's Great Books for Girls (Ballantine, 1997) will note that a different sociological agenda underlies Great Books for Boys. While the former focused exclusively on titles with assertive, active female characters, this one includes those with strong protagonists of both sexes, as well as nonfiction. Odean urges adults to provide boys with literature that reflects the widest possible range of emotions and experiences, from swashbuckling adventure to peaceful daydreaming. A list of magazines for young readers acknowledges the importance of nonbook reading material. Graphic novels and comic books are not included. An excellent resource.AConstance Vidor, The Cathedral School of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Children's books are frequently used to proselytize. Luckily, resources like these help sort out the good from the dogmatic, the mediocre, and the bad. As former Caldecott and Newbery Award committee member Odean reminds us in her introduction to Great Books for Boys, boys have different challenges growing up than girls do. In this companion to her Great Books for Girls (LJ 1/97), she summarizes over 600 books, from picture books to novels, arranging them by reader age from two to 14 and providing short, descriptive synopses. She chooses stories with characters of both sexes that reflect the complexity of boys' lives?a family's flight from domestic abuse, a sixth grader's struggle to understand a beloved but bigoted father?as well as stories about children who use creativity to solve problems. She also lists tips for reading aloud, magazines that review children's books, and a special section for books on sexuality and growing up. Cooper-Mullin and Coye, who have six daughters between them, have gathered books whose heroines are smart and strong-willed. Nontraditional roles, interesting plots, meaningful character development, and rich language were some of their criteria for inclusion. Organized from "early readers" to "young adults," their book includes a resource list for finding the books mentioned. It also features quotes from women like Ruby Bridges and Janet Reno. As with Great Books for Boys, all children can enjoy these selections. A single drawback of both these titles is the absence of author and title indexes. Both books are recommended for all school and public libraries. Introduced by Marian Wright Edelman, Strong Souls Singing focuses on African American literature for girls and women and is the companion to Spirited Minds: African American Books for Our Sons and Our Brothers (LJ 9/1/97). Covering 110 books, it is the narrowest of the three titles reviewed here. Each chapter covers a particular genre (i.e., poetry, drama, fiction, biography, and history) and contains page-long entries with suggested reading levels. These mini-book reviews are nicely illustrated and accompanied by book excerpts, but many of the recommended books, such as Alice Walker's The Color Purple, are already well known and are certainly found in other bibliographies. Recommended for large public libraries and African American collections.?Glynys Thomas, Suffolk Univ. Lib., Boston
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (February 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345420837
• ISBN-13: 978-0345420831
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Misleading, May 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Books for Boys (Paperback)

First, I found the book to be valuable and it lists books that boys would benefit from by reading.

But the title "Great Books for Boys" is misleading. Even the introduction, which states that the criteria for selecting books was the books cover "topics that particularly appeal to boys" or they "capture the complexity of boys' lives," is misleading

I was expecting a book analogous to the author's "Great Books for Girls" which included a good number of books where the main character was a female role model. Unfortunately the present book includes relatively few books where the main character was a male role model.

Instead it lists books that would be appropriate for teaching both boys and girls about diversity. (There is also a heavy dose of books covering boys' feeling.) A more accurate title would be "Great Books for Boys and Girls to Learn about Diversity in our World."

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring answers for sharing love of reading with boys, April 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Books for Boys (Paperback)

After Rhode Island school librarian Kathleen Odean published the children's book guide, "Great Books for Girls," parents likely wondered, "but what about our sons?" Fortunately she has returned with this new and welcomed resource for boy readers. Along with the categories featured in her first book, this new "Great Books for Boys" includes non-fiction subjects meeting the specific interests of many boys: history, nature and science, technology, and hobbies and sports. There is even a list of magazines for kids.

Real and fictional role models in literature increasingly come in both genders, and whereas "Great Books for Girls" features only girls as lead characters, "Great Books for Boys" includes recommended books with lead characters of both genders. Among the "Great Books for Boys" selection of stories, priority is made for tales - real and imagined - introducing characters that face the kinds of problems boys experience. "Convincing characters feel sadness and pain, just as real boys do, and suffer all the more when they are expected not to show it. They want families who love them and express that love. They want friends to talk to about their concerns as well as to share adventures," Odean explains in an introductory chapter. Whether hilarious or serious in tone, the stories among these selections show or point to successful answers that build positive attitudes and personal strengths.

This guide also meets very specific practical needs. For example, Odean offers multiple indexes, but also carefully organized sections divided by age ranges. She has also carefully considered the appropriate reading range for each recommended book. For advanced readers looking for more challenge, she had assessed the emotional accessibility of the subject and its handling. Likewise, for the reluctant reader, she has determined the selection's sufficient richness of material to hold an older reader's attention.

Finally, Great Books for Boys offers sound advice on many aspects of passing on the love of reading to boys, including where to select books, how to help a child choose successfully, and how to make reading a steady, happy, and hopefully life long habit.

51 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Some good suggstions, but not boy-centered, March 9, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Books for Boys (Paperback)

Some good recommendations, but I was hoping for more books that would provide great role models for my son. Instead I found many books that seemed to be aimed at teaching diversity - a worthy goal, but surely not the only goal for our sons. I was also disappointed by the number of books about boys with absent or downright rotten fathers.

It's easy today to find poor male role models - they seem to get media coverage at every turn. Ms Odean is right that boys face special challenges; one is being allowed to feel good about being boys and eventually being men. Our sons deserve better...