How to get boys to read? Try a book on farts

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38332810/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/

by LEANNE ITALIE
updated 7/21/2010 7:04:58 AM ET

Can fart jokes save the reading souls of boys?

You better hope so.

Boys have lagged behind girls in reading achievement for more than 20 years, but the gender gap now exists in nearly every state and has widened to mammoth proportions — as much as 10 percentage points in some, according to the Center on Education Policy.

"It certainly should set off alarm bells," said the center's director, Jack Jennings. "It's a significant separation."

Parents of reluctant readers complain that boys are forced to stick to stuffy required school lists that exclude nonfiction or silly subjects, or have teachers who cater to higher achievers and girls. They're hoping books that exploit boys' love of bodily functions and gross-out humor can close the gap.

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Best-selling author James Patterson knows from personal experience how hard it can be. Son Jack is a great reader now, at age 12, but that wasn't true when he was younger. "He wouldn't sit down with a book, beyond what he had to do in school."

Patterson hunted down quality reads for a user-friendly website, Readkiddoread.com, and began writing for young people, including the "Daniel X" alien hunter series that has a new installment out this month.

"I think it can turn around for a lot of kids. Parents have to take the responsibility seriously. Schools need to be more practical, meaning they need to understand that reading lists are tremendously important but you have to put books on it that the kids are going to respond to," he said. "Reading is such a necessary thing to take you through life."

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