Boy books and girl books - your opinion

[Alison in KY]

I know HOD seperates their books into the 3 categories, and I totally appreciate that. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on having your boys reading only "boy" books and vice versa for the girls. My husband has several times mildly griped because he thought my son was reading a "girl" book. This could be the most awesome book, but it might have a girl picture on it...sothen it's a girl book I have always just wanted my kids to read great books...My son read and enjoyed In Grandma's Attic...but by the outside my husband would have deemed it a "girl" book. Probably the same with Keep the Lights Burning Abbie.

Is there an age where you have kids pick their own reading material...say give them choices within the more boyish and girlish stories? Should I just give this one up...I tried to point out to my husband that we all enjoy Little House on the Prairie but if we looked at the girl on the front then we'd discount it and never read it (I really don't know if this one is a good book or not though, never read it, yet).

FWIW I have one boy and two girls. My view at this moment is that they read good books period...help anyone?

Alison in KY

[Jen in Va]

My oldest is a boy, almost 20 and in college, and a voracious reader. Even at school he has a fiction book going most of the time to give him a break from his engineering course work. As a kid for him I used a list put out by a defunct classical Christian email group. The list was called The 1000 Good Books http://www.classical-homeschooling.org/celoop/1000.html and was divided by reading level. I went through that list and would read books to both my kids at the time (boy and girl), and by the time they could navigate a library on their own, I'd mark books I wanted them to read, and they'd choose from the list. During our read aloud times I'd alternate a 'girlish' book with a 'boyish' book. Together we read Charlotte's Web, The Hobbit (and all three LOTR novels), The Secret Garden, Railway Children, Understood Betsey, Boxcar Children (original set), Happy Hollisters, Henty books, you name it. But he did tend to pick boy books on his own. Now his genres of choice lean to science fiction, adventure, spy stuff--very masculine type books. But my daughter is not a great reader. She is now doing more of it, but isn't into girly type books, although her most favorite is Pride and Prejudice. But she has picked up so much from our reading of good literature as a family. She likes to write stories, and definitely can turn a phrase in her writing, as a friend who has done some writing classes with her, says. My point, if I have one, is to just concentrate on good books. If your dh balks at him reading 'girlish' looking books on his own, save them for family reading time. A good book is a good book. What's important is that they are hearing/reading a well written book, not what the cover looks like, or whether the main character is a boy or girl.

Now that I see the booklist is still available online, I think I'll pull it out for #3.

[inHistiming]

Does your husband like to read? I ask this because my husband, while very able to read and do it well, has never developed a love of reading the way I did. I'm not sure why. But I find that when we talk about books in general his opinion is very different from mine...to him it's a chore to read, he does not enjoy it unless it's a magazine or newspaper or an internet article of some sort. So, my point being that if he is not into reading he may be 'put off' by the pictures. Maybe you could ask him to sit in on some of your family read alouds (if he doesn't already) so he can actually hear what the story is about and realize it's not necessarily 'girlie'. To me great literature is great literature and it doesn't matter if it's about a boy, girl, man, woman, or animal. But everyone is different.

Have you talked to him to try to figure out why he thinks it matters so much? I know my husband has balked at things that I thought were silly and didn't understand, but after talking to him realized it was more an insecurity thing. For example: he has never liked the fact that our two boys are left-handed. I didn't have a problem with it...kids need to use whatever hand comes naturally to them. But for my husband it turns out he was worried he wouldn't be able to teach them things...because he's right-handed! It turns out some things are more difficult to teach...but he has still managed to work with them. Another thing was (is) baseball. Hubby never played it, so kind of avoids playing it much now with the kids because he feels he doesn't know anything about it and never developed the skills...insecurity. We all have those feelings sometimes...maybe this is the driving force behind your hubby's comments. Anyway, I hope this was somewhat helpful. I don't know if it really answers your questions but it was what crossed my mind when I read your post.

[my3sons]

Does your husband like to read? I ask this because my husband, while very able to read and do it well, has never developed a love of reading the way I did. I'm not sure why. But I find that when we talk about books in general his opinion is very different from mine...to him it's a chore to read, he does not enjoy it unless it's a magazine or newspaper or an internet article of some sort...

You aren't secretly married to my dh, are you? You are describing my dh exactly. He just does not have a love for books - but does enjoy reading magazines, Internet, newspaper. I think reading was kind of viewed as a waste of time in his home growing up - there was always farm work to be done, or something "more important". I certainly don't want that for our dc.

I think that all of the HOD book choices are superb. But, God did wire men and women differently. I think you have a better shot at dc LOVING books, at first, if you pick them with their gender in mind. I want our dc to be passionate about reading - and they are. I also think that you can start to recognize personal interests they have, which makes a huge difference in book preference as well. I have decided to "cover" all of the HOD books in one way or another - which includes DITHOR, Storytime, independent reading, and books on tape/CD. I don't think your dh is necessarily so off-base with his thinking there, Allison, we need Christian men self-assured in their masculinity to lead families. However, even King David loved poetry, and King Solomon wrote romantic prose - so even strong masculine men might enjoy literature we may not expect - hence the importance of reading from every type of genre - balance, balance, balance - is always a good thing!

In Christ,
Julie

[deltagal]

Hi there,

My 3 oldest are boys and we read across the board. To my immediate knowledge I've never had them lament that something was a "girl" book. They, of course, are aware when the storyline features a girl, but that has never been a deterrent for their own interest. Off the top of my head one of their all time favorites was Anne of Green Gables. And they love the Little House Books as well. I am intentional about trying to locate books with classic boy themes, but I'm also not blinded by that desire. Frankly, a really well written book can reach across alot of lines.

[Alison in KY]

No, my husband doesn't really like to read, although he is fully capable. He does and will read aloud to the kids, and has since they were little. Although I must admit, neither of us have consistently done that since we just had a 3 yr old in the house.

I can't explain why he feels the way he does, except that he has this average 9 year old boy that has a tendency to complain (constantly working on that) and when he sees him complaining about a book with a girl on the cover...then he just doesn't understand why I'm having him read it. He thinks I should stick with the more boyish stories so my son will be more interested in reading. My son isn't a bookworm, I have to pick a book out and hand it to him for him to read it. But, he does read willingly once he gets started, he just doesn't like it enough to sit for over 30 minutes reading a book.

So do you make your boys read Little House on the Rocky Ridge with the sweet girl on the cover, or do you just take a pass on it? I mean I wouldn't make him read an American Girl book unless he wanted to, although we do watch and enjoy the AG movies with him. Do you think the Little House books are girl books?

Thanks for the replies

[deltagal]

So do you make your boys read Little House on the Rocky Ridge with the sweet girl on the cover, or do you just take a pass on it? I

Oh, that's so funny! We're reading that very book right now. And what's really interesting is , I didn't pick it. They did! It was on our shelf and they found it. I told them I had other books I wanted us to be reading at present, but they insisted that we enjoy it as a read aloud....so we are!

[my3sons]

I think Little House on the Prairie appeals to both boys and girls. My very "all-boy" oldest ds actually struggled reading anything BUT Little House on the Prairie books for awhile. They were - and still are - some of his favorites. My middle ds is listening to them on audio now and loving them as well. I think your ds would enjoy those - and my dh approves of those as well. He likes the "work ethic" portrayed in them, and I like the Christian influence running throughout. Be careful though - your son may be like mine - and may want to camp out in Little House on the Prairie world for awhile, because they are just so good!
In Christ,
Julie

[jensmom]

IMHO, you should choose books that interest you and your children - regardless of the classification. While we tend to choose from the Girl Interest group, we also choose from the Classics and, in some cases, the Boy Interest group. The main idea is to read a good book that is enjoyable. Though sometimes, as I can attest, reading something that is not so enjoyable can be a time of learning as well. We are going to finish The Railway Children tomorrow and, though it was hard to read at first, we are eager to see how it ends and, if I might say, a bit sad to see it come to a close. Ok, maybe just a small bit sad.

While I appreciate the different groupings offered by Carrie, it should in no way limit which grouping you choose from. There are some fabulous books out there that are of interest to all children and parents.

Just enjoy whatever you choose! And you might invest in a book cover....

Judy

[Jessi]

inhistiming and my3sons- This is spooky...how is it we all married the exact same man? Twilight Zone music fades in. I just had to giggle when I read this.

I have loved a large variety of literature growing up. I love adventure thriller books geared more for boys and I loved the girly books too. I think an eclectic mix is great. The excellent thing is that there are a LOT of good books to choose from!