Scoring at the Library (and Reading to Boys)

Yesterday at the library, the kids (two boys and a girl, for the record) and I scooped up this:

and this:

The ride home was mayhem as the four of us debated the order in which to read these long-awaited titles. Luckily, we are not in a rush to decide, because at the moment we are loving this:

On the subject of reading together as a family, I was intrigued (to use a euphemism) by this recent School Library Journal article. The author contends that boys don’t read because men don’t read, that women can read to their children forever and a day and boys will get nothing from it but a firmer conviction that those who can (men) do and those who can’t (women) read.

Give me a break.

The idea that the (alleged) non-reading habits of a world full of boys can be blamed on the (alleged) non-reading habits of a world full of fathers is ludicrous. The idea that the reading habits of a world full of mothers can be labeled futile is asinine. There is so much more at play in the life of each boy, each father, and each mother.

Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

Click the link above to read the article for yourself, and check out this response over at Guys Lit Wire, including the comments, to ponder a little more.