CCBC-Net Archives
Robots, sports, etc
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: K.T. Horning <horning_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:16:07 -0500
This question has been asked at least since the 1920s and the whole discussion about the reading habits of boys hasn't changed much since then. Certainly authors, both men and women, write about what interests and inspires them. But if it's true that many boys are only interested in reading about robots, WWII aircraft, sports, etc. (and I have no reason to doubt this is true, based on my own library experience), why aren't male authors out there writing engaging nonfiction about these topics? I'm sure children's editors and librarians, most of whom are indeed female, would love to see more books on these topics. I freely admit that I'm not particularly interested in robots myself, but a good nonfiction book could pique my interest. I never thought I was interested in Yellow Fever, ice harvesting, or how baseball bats are manufactured until I read nonfiction on those topics.
One area where we have seen a welcome change in the past decade or so is with comics. There is an ongoing renaissance with comics and graphic novels for children and teens, and they are capturing the interests of all kinds of readers. Would that we'd see the same sort of thing happen with books about robots, sports, etc., perhaps in innovative new boy-friendly formats that are yet to be developed.
--KT
On 6/5/2014 4:30 AM, Lee Sullivan wrote:
> Do they subconsciously write, publish and select books that are slanted to women's taste?
Date: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 09:16:07 -0500
This question has been asked at least since the 1920s and the whole discussion about the reading habits of boys hasn't changed much since then. Certainly authors, both men and women, write about what interests and inspires them. But if it's true that many boys are only interested in reading about robots, WWII aircraft, sports, etc. (and I have no reason to doubt this is true, based on my own library experience), why aren't male authors out there writing engaging nonfiction about these topics? I'm sure children's editors and librarians, most of whom are indeed female, would love to see more books on these topics. I freely admit that I'm not particularly interested in robots myself, but a good nonfiction book could pique my interest. I never thought I was interested in Yellow Fever, ice harvesting, or how baseball bats are manufactured until I read nonfiction on those topics.
One area where we have seen a welcome change in the past decade or so is with comics. There is an ongoing renaissance with comics and graphic novels for children and teens, and they are capturing the interests of all kinds of readers. Would that we'd see the same sort of thing happen with books about robots, sports, etc., perhaps in innovative new boy-friendly formats that are yet to be developed.
--KT
On 6/5/2014 4:30 AM, Lee Sullivan wrote:
> Do they subconsciously write, publish and select books that are slanted to women's taste?
-- Kathleen T. Horning Director Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) 4290 Helen C. White Hall 600 N. Park St Madison, WI 53706 http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc horning_at_education.wisc.edu 608-263-3721 (phone) 608-262-4933 (fax) ==== CCBC-Net Use ==== You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu. To post to the list, send message to... ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To receive messages in digest format, send a blank message to... digest-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To unsubscribe, send a blank message to... leave-ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu ==== CCBC-Net Archives ==== The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at... http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to... http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net ...and enter the following when prompted... username: ccbc-net password: Look4PostsReceived on Thu 05 Jun 2014 09:16:27 AM CDT
