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Re: Boys and Books
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From: Maia Cheli-Colando <maia_at_littlefolktales.org>
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:06:25 -0700
Speaking not as an educator, but as a parent who educates (I homeschool), my following thoughts are specific to my own children...
When my daughter was six, she hit that awful/magic space that some kids encounter, when they suddenly can read anything, but when few things that stretch your reading edge are things you want to read. In my daughter's case, the scary factors tripped her up -- she was ready for, and reading, adult books, but we ended up picking many from earlier eras, sans violence or creepy topics. She largely skipped the chapter book stage; she did enjoy Winnie the Pooh and Paddington and Oz, but then she went from hearing and reading those (alongside of fairly sophisticated picture and nonfiction books) to reading Shannon Hale, Louisa May Alcott, etc. Now at eleven, she reads YA & adult sff, fiction for older children and teens, and whatever nonfiction she finds interesting (a lot). This week she's been reading Mitali Perkins, David Levithan, E. Rose Sabin, Jacqueline Kelley, Eva Ibbotson and the Beacon Street Girls, plus Mary Oliver, the National Geographic, local newspapers, and nonfic (on jewelry, writing careers, etc.)
She has her book-mind and it continues to grow every week.
It is slightly different with my son. For one, he started to read on his own later than his sister, which did alleviate some problematic choices. He is passionate to read about how things work -- so he can literally stare at a cookbook for hours, or read about sex and pregnancy, or how to build your own musical instruments or a car. But he has also recently discovered the fun of storybooks he can sink within. He loves Beverly Cleary - though we all cringe at the constant sexism. Paddington Bear was one of his first independent reads of a more complex nature. He wants books he can chew into, beyond the ever-presence of nonfiction.
But, my son is even more sensitive to violence and scariness than his sister was, and his ability to abstract and separate from an idea is less developed. Okay, so I look at the bookstore or the library for non-scary books. They mostly have fairies. And all girl protagonists. And are pink or glittery. He does like fairies, dresses, and glitter... but the reverse sexism is difficult. He knows he is not a girl. I know he feels out of sorts if all of the characters are girls, over and again. He loves reading Beezus and Ramona, but B&R don't exist in an all-girl world. As far as I can discern, he doesn't mind a bit watching movies or reading books with girl protagonists... but many of the chapter books I see shout GIRL-LAND, GIRL-LAND so loudly it is impossible to miss. (Not that I would have given these to my girl either, mind. )
I guess what I am saying is that for my own child, a lot of the books that are out there now would make him choose between his gender and his sensibilities. As a parent, that makes me crazy.
I asked him at lunch today what books he would like to exist. He was perplexed, and then intrigued by the question... feeling I think a sense of agency, not just in choosing books, but in the possibility of /making/ them exist. :) What he thought he would like most: science fiction (though he thinks that genre title is odd) for kids, more animal stories like Ralph S. Mouse, and more cultural stories about other kids. He wants reality, and he desperately wants to identify with the characters -- which doesn't seem to be gender bound, but needs to not be gender exclusive. He wants to imagine himself in a variety of settings by seeing other people in those settings. It seems not so different from his nonfiction tastes. He wants books about how things actually work. They can be fantasy (like Ralph the mouse) if they are instructive, but he wants the element of realism that teaches him how to do or be something. He wants to identify with the protagonists, whether they are real or imaginary. He likes whimsy okay, b ut wants it balanced with salt. He wants to know something new when he gets done.
On finishing a book, my daughter is happy to have acquired an emotional experience. My son, at this age, seems to require something a little more tactile - a clearer lesson, if you will. But neither of them have found being six-seven and highly literate a particularly easy time... it was/is exciting, but it was/is frustrating too. Considering the lit-world resources that we have available compared to many parents and their children, I wonder how hard other parents struggle to find something that is not just good enough, but "tastes" incredible to their young minds, and satisfies the gut too.
Cheers, Maia
-- Maia Cheli-Colando Arcata, Humboldt Bay, California -- blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- -- or drop in on Facebook! --
Received on Tue 20 Apr 2010 02:06:25 PM CDT
Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:06:25 -0700
Speaking not as an educator, but as a parent who educates (I homeschool), my following thoughts are specific to my own children...
When my daughter was six, she hit that awful/magic space that some kids encounter, when they suddenly can read anything, but when few things that stretch your reading edge are things you want to read. In my daughter's case, the scary factors tripped her up -- she was ready for, and reading, adult books, but we ended up picking many from earlier eras, sans violence or creepy topics. She largely skipped the chapter book stage; she did enjoy Winnie the Pooh and Paddington and Oz, but then she went from hearing and reading those (alongside of fairly sophisticated picture and nonfiction books) to reading Shannon Hale, Louisa May Alcott, etc. Now at eleven, she reads YA & adult sff, fiction for older children and teens, and whatever nonfiction she finds interesting (a lot). This week she's been reading Mitali Perkins, David Levithan, E. Rose Sabin, Jacqueline Kelley, Eva Ibbotson and the Beacon Street Girls, plus Mary Oliver, the National Geographic, local newspapers, and nonfic (on jewelry, writing careers, etc.)
She has her book-mind and it continues to grow every week.
It is slightly different with my son. For one, he started to read on his own later than his sister, which did alleviate some problematic choices. He is passionate to read about how things work -- so he can literally stare at a cookbook for hours, or read about sex and pregnancy, or how to build your own musical instruments or a car. But he has also recently discovered the fun of storybooks he can sink within. He loves Beverly Cleary - though we all cringe at the constant sexism. Paddington Bear was one of his first independent reads of a more complex nature. He wants books he can chew into, beyond the ever-presence of nonfiction.
But, my son is even more sensitive to violence and scariness than his sister was, and his ability to abstract and separate from an idea is less developed. Okay, so I look at the bookstore or the library for non-scary books. They mostly have fairies. And all girl protagonists. And are pink or glittery. He does like fairies, dresses, and glitter... but the reverse sexism is difficult. He knows he is not a girl. I know he feels out of sorts if all of the characters are girls, over and again. He loves reading Beezus and Ramona, but B&R don't exist in an all-girl world. As far as I can discern, he doesn't mind a bit watching movies or reading books with girl protagonists... but many of the chapter books I see shout GIRL-LAND, GIRL-LAND so loudly it is impossible to miss. (Not that I would have given these to my girl either, mind. )
I guess what I am saying is that for my own child, a lot of the books that are out there now would make him choose between his gender and his sensibilities. As a parent, that makes me crazy.
I asked him at lunch today what books he would like to exist. He was perplexed, and then intrigued by the question... feeling I think a sense of agency, not just in choosing books, but in the possibility of /making/ them exist. :) What he thought he would like most: science fiction (though he thinks that genre title is odd) for kids, more animal stories like Ralph S. Mouse, and more cultural stories about other kids. He wants reality, and he desperately wants to identify with the characters -- which doesn't seem to be gender bound, but needs to not be gender exclusive. He wants to imagine himself in a variety of settings by seeing other people in those settings. It seems not so different from his nonfiction tastes. He wants books about how things actually work. They can be fantasy (like Ralph the mouse) if they are instructive, but he wants the element of realism that teaches him how to do or be something. He wants to identify with the protagonists, whether they are real or imaginary. He likes whimsy okay, b ut wants it balanced with salt. He wants to know something new when he gets done.
On finishing a book, my daughter is happy to have acquired an emotional experience. My son, at this age, seems to require something a little more tactile - a clearer lesson, if you will. But neither of them have found being six-seven and highly literate a particularly easy time... it was/is exciting, but it was/is frustrating too. Considering the lit-world resources that we have available compared to many parents and their children, I wonder how hard other parents struggle to find something that is not just good enough, but "tastes" incredible to their young minds, and satisfies the gut too.
Cheers, Maia
-- Maia Cheli-Colando Arcata, Humboldt Bay, California -- blogging at http://www.littlefolktales.org/wordpress -- -- or drop in on Facebook! --
Received on Tue 20 Apr 2010 02:06:25 PM CDT
