As an educator, I’ve seen the disturbing evidence firsthand. As a friend to young boys, I’ve felt the pain of frustrated parents of boys. And as a father of first-year medical student, I’ve realized how important it is to demonstrate its importance to the next generation of men.
I am, of course, talking about the smorgasbord of documentation bearing evidence that boys are falling behind in reading skills at virtually every age level. In many cases, boys are semi-literate at best, and many never develop adequate reading skills. They never know the pleasures of a book.
In a recent article in the The Wall Street Journal, Thomas Spence offers helpful advice and insight in “How to Raise Boys Who Read.” After expressing appreciation for the fact that many authorities and parents now recognize the problem, Spence asserts: “The bad news is that many of them have perfectly awful ideas for solving it.”
He writes:
Mark Steyn hit the nail on the head when he accused a Canadian appeals court of allowing for a “fourth-trimester abortion” — that’s right, the killing of a baby that is already born.
My daughter, Sarah, was surfing the web and came across a list of the “30 Books Everyone Should Read.” Intrigued, I asked her to send me the list. But before I open that list I wanted to ask YOU — my online friends and family, which book or books you would suggest for a list of must-reads?
