Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives [Paperback]

Pam Allyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2011 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Get all boys reading with this extraordinary guide—chock-full of a wide range of must-read titles organized by interest, age, and development. With this resource in hand, you'll never again struggle to find the right book for even your most reluctant readers. The carefully chosen book selections are accompanied by brief explanations of each book, and a recurring feature, Talk About It, will help you extend the book through conversation, supporting and enhancing the reading experience. In addition, ready-to-use lessons align with themes and topics of special interest to boys that will motivate and inspire them to read more. Finally, Pam answers your most pressing questions about the challenges for boys as readers and shows you how you can maximize environments, routines, and structures to ensure that boys are reading widely and passionately. For use with Grades K-8.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Pam Allyn is the Executive Director of LitLife and LitWorld, nationally and internationally known literacy development organizations that provide innovative, results-driven literacy strategy support for grades pre-K-12. She is the Founding Director of Books for Boys, an award winning reading initiative. Pam is the author of two books, The Complete 4 for Literacy and the 2010 National Parenting Magazine Award Winner What to Read When. She is also the co-author of The Complete Year in Reading and Writing series, K–5.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Teaching Resources (Theory an (May 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545204550
• ISBN-13: 978-0545204552
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Education & Reference > Publishing & Books > Bibliographies & Indexes > Literature
  • #89 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Children's Literature Guides

More About the Author

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. She is the author of the acclaimed and award-winning What To Read When: The Books and Stories To Read With Your Child-And All The Best Times To Read Them (Penguin Avery). Her most recent book is Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How To Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives (Scholastic). Her forthcoming book Your Child's Writing Life (Penguin Avery) will debut in August 2011.

Pam is widely known as a motivational speaker advocating for reading and writing as human rights that belong to all people. Her personal quest to bring literacy to every child stems from a deeper desire to bring dignity to every child, and to empower children to read and write powerfully, effectively and with passion in ways that will change their worlds and the worlds of others. Her work has been featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Oprah Radio, The Huffington Post and in The New York Times.

Pam is on the English Language Arts Scope and Sequence Advisory Group for the New York City Department of Education, and the Advisory Boards of the Dream Charter School in Harlem, the Amherst College Center for Community Engagement, James Patterson's ReadKiddoRead, Penguin Publishing's We Give Books and the Millennium Cities Initiative Social Sector.

Visit pamallyn.com for more info on Pam's work.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read for teachers and parents!, June 22, 2011

By 

C Krol - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives (Paperback)

This book shares some wonderful information about how boys feel about reading and how the things that parents and teachers do can help cultivate the way they feel about reading throughout their life.

Why the focus on books for boys? The author provides wonderful statistical information that answers this question. She shares one study done by the National Endowment for the Arts that showed that by 12th grade, boy's average 13 points lower than girls on proficiency tests.

One of the main things that I took away from this book is that teachers may not be giving boys books that they WANT to read. Boys should be allowed and even encouraged to read a variety of topics as well as genres. This can include video/computer games, sports page/magazines, comic books/graphic novels, text messages, web sites, and blogs. Another wonderful resource available in this book is an annotated list of book titles and series available that might interest boys. This list is broken up into emerging, developing, and maturing levels and into several topics, such as Action and Adventure and Comic Books and Graphic Novels. I plan to spend time this summer reorganizing my classroom library and adding in some of the books listed in Best Books for Boys that I know will interest my male students!

I highly recommend this book for all teachers. The extensive list of books sorted by level and topic will be something that I pull off the shelf to refer to for years to come. It is a wonderful resource for teachers for all grade school and middle school teachers!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource & quick read!, June 20, 2011

By 

Reader (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives (Paperback)

I am ALWAYS looking for ways to grow in my literacy instruction, and Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives did not disappoint. Allyn encourages teachers to incorporate choice into reading as much as possible. She takes choice to a new level, though, encouraging teachers to help students see that newspapers, instruction manuals, sports stats, and web pages are all text that we can offer as options to our students. Allyn challenged me to rethink some of my ideas about teaching literacy, especially to boys. The philosophy in the first parts of the book will be something I read again to refresh my memory as the school year starts, but just as valuable is the second big chunk of the book: a detailed annotated bibliography of book suggestions for boys, some of which include helpful "Talk About It" questions. Gold mine! If you are a teacher or parent, definitely add Best Books for Boys to your summer reading list!

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource, June 14, 2011

By 

CB "KdgTeacher" (IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pam Allyn's Best Books for Boys: How to Engage Boys in Reading in Ways That Will Change Their Lives (Paperback)

Pam Allyn presents great insights to ways to get boys involved and excited about reading. She provides an excellent list of books for different reading levels.

A great book to have on hand when selecting books with boy readers in mind!