Connecting Boys

Pre-adolescent boys are nearly invisible in libraries. With ever-increasing electronic amusements, how can books and the library compete for their attention?In Connecting Boys with Books, librarian and educator Michael Sullivan provides the tools tha... Read more

Pre-adolescent boys are nearly invisible in libraries. With ever-increasing electronic amusements, how can books and the library compete for their attention?In Connecting Boys with Books, librarian and educator Michael Sullivan provides the tools that librarians, school library media specialists, and educators need to overcome cultural and developmental challenges, stereotyping, and lack of role models that essentially program boys out of the library. Attracting boys to library programs in the tween years will go a long way in maintaining their interest in books and reading over a lifetime, creating good habits from a young age.Sullivan's practical and proven programming builds on the unique developmental needs and interests of boys in this middle stage, including:Finding and promoting male readers as role modelsUsing the power of chess, games, and other challenging (and competitive) activitiesEncouraging physical responses to books in a way that spells fun to boysTalking about books so boys will be enticed to listenReaching out with stories that resonate with boys at this stageEnhancing boys' ongoing journeys by encouraging independent readingFrom playing chess to swathing the walls in butcher paper to give boys a physical space to respond to books, Sullivan's practical ideas and developmentally astute insights show librarian and teacher colleagues how to make vitally needed connections with this underserved population. Less