Espionage, ghosts and aliens all feature heavily in a new list of over 200 popular books being given to schools on loan as part of a new drive to get boys reading sooner and trying new books. ‘The Famous Five’, ‘Just William’ and even Roald Dahl books are not featured.
This Fathers’ Day dads are encouraged to take a look too, with authors like Anthony Horowitz, Stephen Hawking and film maker Luc Besson all making an appearance. The books provide a great opportunity for fathers and sons to read together, and while dads are getting stuck into the new Bond novel their sons are reading Charlie Higson’s best selling young James Bond books.
The £5 million scheme, Primary Boys into Books, expands the program launched by Ministers last year for boys aged 11-14. Public libraries select free books from the list drawn up by the School Library Association, and deliver book boxes to schools in their local area. This is the first time DCSF has funded public libraries and school libraries to work together to improve services for children.
Statistics show that boys are ten percentage points behind girls in English at Key Stage 2. Ministers hope that better reading habits among boys will help close the gender gap. A recent evaluation of Every Child a Reader (ECaR), a program of intensive literacy support for children who are struggling, shows that it is possible to close the reading gap between young boys and girls.
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) published earlier this year found that reading outside school has decreased and that 38% of ten year olds play computer games for 3 hours or more a day.
In a survey carried out for the National Year of Reading just half of parents (49 per cent) say their children are read to every day. Watching TV or a DVD has edged in front of a bedtime story as the more common pre-sleep habit amongst children. The findings come despite recent research that children as old as 12 wish they got read to much more often, and the evidence that children who get read to, learn to read more quickly, and more confidently, and get more pleasure from reading through life as a result1.
Schools Minister, Jim Knight, said:
“Our program of free books for secondary schools has been a huge success with over 50,000 free books being sent to more than 2,500 secondary schools. That’s why we have decided to extend the offer to primary aged boys. It’s vital that we get children, especially boys, into reading and the earlier the better.
“Over a third of ten year olds are playing computer games for over 3 hours a day. I am in no doubt that this choice of gaming over reading has a knock-on effect on how well they do at school.
“To celebrate the National Year of Reading, dads should set themselves a summer challenge, to read at least one book from the list with their sons during the school holidays. Books from our book lists also make great ideas for presents for relatives not sure what to buy children for birthdays.
“There is clear evidence that early exposure to books has a crucial effect on early learning. The number of words a child hears by the age of four correlates closely with later attainment at school.
“Bright children from deprived homes start to fall behind less able children from more prosperous backgrounds at the age of just twenty two months. The gap in achievement opens up at a startlingly young age.
“A child from a deprived home has heard on average just 13 million words by the age of four, compared to 45 million in a more affluent home. What starts as a problem with vocabulary rapidly turns into a problem with reading, writing and comprehension, leading to poor exam results.”
Culture Minister, Margaret Hodge, said:
“Libraries are brilliant at fostering a love of reading, and the ability to read is probably the most important tool that all of us can gain. But too often boys and young men see reading as ‘not for them’. So this initiative is splendid. When teachers and librarians work together they can make all the difference in helping children discover the joy of reading – something that will support them throughout their lives.”
Chris Brown, Author of Boys into Books, said:
“The titles in the list have been chosen as books published within the last couple of years which are good reads and which have particular elements of appeal for boys in the 5 to 11 age range.
“Generally, boys tend to choose books with action that seldom flags, humor in large dollops and with characters slightly larger than life. Currently extremely popular are fantasy tales of every shade, fast paced stories of youngsters embroiled in spying scenarios and all sorts of buccaneering piracy. High profile TV and cinema features have a great influence but like all readers boys’ individual preferences can also be wide and varied and so the list offers a broad and balanced selection too, including information books, poetry, graphic styles and long and involving stories.”
Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families
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