Book Nook - Great Battles for Boys

 Video games, smart phones, TV – there are a lot of challenges to getting boys to read. And yet it’s more important than ever that boys become strong readers. Boys who cannot read well by grade 5 will struggle more in middle school. Statistically those boys are also more likely to drop out of high school. Forget about college.

Unfortunately, that’s happening across America. Standardized tests show boys lagging behind girls in reading skills – at every grade level, K through 12 – and in every state. Simply put: there’s a reading crisis among boys. However, studies show that boys who are “reluctant readers” are much more likely to pick up a book if it seems “just for them,” or about “stuff that really happened.”

I had a chance to review a book from the GreatBattlesforBoys series.  - a series that aims to make reading engaging and interesting for boys.

Written by a teacher-parent whose own son hated to read, author Joe Giorllo and his spouse Sibella created the series after noticing their book-avoidant son had a deep interest in military history and battles. With Sibella’s background in publishing and Joe’s teaching experience, they launched their first book in 2016: Great Battles for Boys: WW2 Europe. There are nine books in the series – each one a #1 bestseller on Amazon – with more than 7,000 five-star reviews from boys, parents, and grandparents.

Although I don't have sons, I got the one about Ancient Greece, since that's a time period my younger kid is interested in. She found it a very quick read, easy to get into - and loved that it was fact-based and that she learned something from reading it too.

I also had a chance to do an author interview.

What makes the Great Battles series a great option for reluctant readers?

Ironically, my goal is to help boys "forget" they're reading. I want them to feel so carried away by the book that they don't realize they're sitting still and reading. That magical experience will spark a love for reading that will lasts for a lifetime. 

That's why I keep my chapters action-packed and use an engaging, conversational style. It's similar to what I did while teaching history to middle schoolers — hold their attention and make learning fun. My books also include powerful historical images that spark their imagination. 

All of those elements help change the way boys feel about reading. Suddenly, reading is not boring, it's not like a textbook. Reading is FUN!

How can families encourage their kids to try out new books, especially if they haven't had good experiences with reading before?

It's a lot like encouraging your kids to try new foods: Don't give up, keep trying.

With reluctant readers, it's also crucial for parents to find the right subject. For some boys, it's sports. For my son and the boys in my classroom, it was military history. Once they started reading about epic battles and heroic historical figures, the door to reading flew open. Suddenly they were begging to visit the library.

What are some unique challenges that may be faced by boys when they are looking for reading material?

Many boys, like my son, gravitate toward non-fiction books -- or "The stuff that really happened."

Meanwhile, most kids books tend to be fiction or fantasy. Terrific books, but the boys are simply not interested in reading them.

That's a serious problem because the only way to become a strong reader is to read -- and read a lot of books. You can really see the depth of the problem in middle school. The boys who can't read well by 5th grade really struggle in middle school. Those boys are also statistically much more likely to drop out of high school.  

It's a tragedy, frankly.