1. "Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words!" — A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 1943 November 3, 2014 Dates to note: Title I reading intervention Night November12 th 6:30 p.m. Bissell elementary School Reading Specialist swozniak@twinsburg.oh.us.k12 (330) 486-2046 Boys and books…now there is a complex subject. I grew up with only brothers; one read a lot of Tarzan books (still has at least 50 paperbacks) and the other read Popular Science and Mechanics (He has his PhD in Analytical Chemistry…makes sense.). I also remember both of them struggling to find books of interest. I know myself that the grants I wrote were specifically for “boy books”. What did I purchase? Danny books by Mia Coulton and lots of non-fiction. The great thing is my girls like them too, and my boys want to read them! A great site to locate “boy books” is: http://www.guysread.com/ One of my biggest questions from parents is about book titles. With every child being so different that is a hard question to answer. I have favorite authors for my own personal reading and take recommendations from friends as well & sometimes I go by the title or blurb. How did I get to that point? Just a lot of reading in a myriad of genres and authors. I have finally given myself permission to not finish a book if I really don’t like it but at 6 & 7 years old that is probably not a good idea. I will say that even if I despise the book I tend to skim to the end, just to make sure I really didn’t like it. I call it guilt reading as I was brought up that you must finish the book. Talk about old habits dying hard. So where does that leave you? Have your child try an amazing array of books and think of it as a taste testing. If they really like the book but it seems a bit hard, read it with them or to them so they can enjoy the adventure and not feel sad or frustrated because it isn’t at their level. Download books on tape from the library to listen to in the car. Ask your local librarian. Go to a bookstore and ask for recommendations. READ!!!

2. “Research shows that boys are having trouble reading, and that boys are getting worse at reading. No one is quite sure why. Some of the reasons are biological. Some of the reasons are sociological. But the good news is that research also shows that boys will read — if they are given reading that interests them. So the biggest part of this site is the collection of book titles below. These are books that guys have told us they like. Our idea is to help guys become readers by helping them find texts they want to read. Get in there and start looking around. There is a little something for everyone.” Jon Scieszka This is taken from the website “Guys Read” which I noted above. Here are some questions you can ask your child after s/he reads to you or after you read to them. This gets them thinking about more than basic story components. 1.Tell me in your own words what happened in the book. 2.Talk about your favorite parts. 3.This book reminds me of… 4.Add something new to the book.