Customer Reviews

Great Books for Boys

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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."

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.

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...

A children's librarian whose previous work addressed reading selection for girls, the author does an excellent job of explaining her organization and the criteria for book choice -- while protagonists may be male or female, the genre or topic should be inherently interesting to boys, and characters should be well-rounded. Books are organized into book types -- picture books, folk tales, beginning readers, middle readers, and older readers; the latter three categories are further subdivided into genres such as Fiction (Adventure, Historical, Humorous, Sports, etc.), Biographies (Leaders, Artists, Scientists, Sports, etc.) and Nonfiction (History, Nature and Science, etc.), and within each category books are listed alphabetically by author with a paragraph of description, including suggested appropriate age level.

Twenty-five pages of introductory text as well as a concluding chapter on Resources for Parents lend further value to this tool, advising parents on where to find books, encouraging your son to read, magazines, and book-related activities.

Finally, with this kind of a book the indexes can be particularly valuable. Included here are an author index, a title index, and a category index.

If you are choosing books for boys ages 2-14, this resource would be a wonderful help.

It's so tough choosing books for boys to read. Thanks to Great Books for Boys it becomes fun to pick out books to give as gifts, and books to go back and reread. With books for all reading levels and ages in a good selection of categories this book becomes an aunt's best frien as she shops for books for her nephews! For anyone who was tired of the same old selection of resding lists Great Books for Boys solves the problem by offering fun lists that promote reading and help develop readers. Thanks Kathleen Odean for making book selection so much easier and fun!!!

As a parent and school librarian, I consider this a great guide for boys (and girls). It has the books my son knew and loves--Hatchet, Redwall, Frindle, Matt Christopher--but, best of all, ones he didn't know--Weasel, Dog Friday, Dealing with Dragons, Confess-o-rama. I have to disagree with the review below. You can tell the author of Great Books for Boys is a librarian; her age ranges are right on target, and she gives useful, fairly long descriptions. There's nothing else like this available, so I'm glad this is so good, although I hope she'll bring out a new edition soon like Great Books for Girls has.

This book is not a book to get if you are trying to find books for your son to read. While the female counterpart has strong female characters that appeal to girls, this book does not feature strong male role models. Book after book had strong female characters, dealt with males having feelings more than adventures. I am not saying that is wrong for females to be strong or males to have feelings, but that is not the kind of book that my son gravitates toward. He wants action, adventure, fantasy -not "girls are great" and "it's okay to cry" mantras. The biography selection leans heavily on minority and female, often obscure, figures. This book is great if you are looking for books for both girls and boys that teach diversity and want to raise a sensitive male but it is lacking on "boy" appeal if you are looking for books for reluctant male readers.

According to essay writer Bruce Brooks, he believes that society makes it hard for boys who like to read, especially as they get older. His interpretation is that if boys are reading, they are questioned as to why? and coaxed to engage in other things instead of reading. He doesn't see society treating girls this way when they are reading.

He also states that boys see athletic excellence as widely admired while the love of reading is not. The message to boys is that "real boys don't read."

The boys' manhood!
Along with her companion book "Great Books for Girls", author Kathleen Odean has compiled an impressive list of suggested reading for boys ages 2 to 14. Odean also feels that as young boys get older they lose their ability to express a wide range of emotions.

Take Heed Here
She says that "just the way girls are expanding into realms reserved for males, boys need to become competent in long undervalued realms such as creating a warm home, nurturing children and taking responsibility for relationships." Now, I like that statement!

I like the quote she uses from popular writer, educator and author Zinssner. "No other writing lodges itself so deeply in our memory echoing there for the rest of our lives as the books we met in our childhood." . ...Rizzo.

Great Books for Boys
This is a great resource for all books for boys. When boys are allowed to pick books to read for school it really helps to have this resource to look to and find great ideas for good books that will hold their interest.

I have a 2 year old son and want to get him on the road to reading as quickly as possible...with the result of loving it. Studies show that by the age of 8, if boys are not shown how important reading is, they will just simply quit doing it, unless they have to. THis book will help you get good books in their hands and get them loving reading.