Finding Books For Boys (with ease)

When I had my first child, I thought that the library was made for me.  The books featured above the shelves fit her interests.  If it was a reach or a guess, I always seemed to get it right.  Then, I had boys.  There were very few books outside of Thomas and Caillou.  Neither of them were real favorites.

I’ve staggered along; I’ve begun to ask why?  One easy reason:  Most librarian are women.  In fact, in 2011, the number was 81% of librarians were women.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a male working behind the children’s desk area in my own library.  To be fair, many of the protagonists of books are male (Curious George, Babar, Peter Rabbit).  In fact, only 31% of books have protagonists that are female.  Maybe the librarians are overcompensating?

A British study found that 59% of children’s books are written by women.  This fact was related to the reading gap between male and female primary school children.

I’ve done web searches.  I’ve asked friends with boys. 

Some of my friends implied that reading was for girls.  Boys are supposed to be outside, rough housing and hitting each other with sticks.  Though there is a fair amount of that in our family, it seems like there should be some balance.  Some literacy some reading.

So, we went through easy readers with all of the superheroes and Star Wars.  Batman, Superman, Super Friends, Flash, and Anakin Skywalker.  However, those were exhausted by spring of the twins’ fourth year of having books read to them.  Now what?

I did what I should have done to start, I asked a librarian.  She bristled at my implication that all the featured books were for girls, but she showed me how to use an advanced search.

In our home library, it looks like this:

Okay..so, I switched the category to “words or phrases.”  The librarian explained that titles, authors, and subjects are strictly enforced by the Library of Congress.  This hurts when you generally are looking for books about trucks or trains or racing cars or super heroes.

I also had to switch the item type to “juvenile books” to ensure I was getting Dale Earnhart Jr’s autobiography.

So, I hit the search button and found 50 entries.

I doubt any of these truck books ever will be featured on the top of the shelf for all to see.  I don’t care, though, I’ve figured out how to find books for my kids.  I’ve also used it to find specialized books for Chloe, now that I know how to use the system.

Seems simple enough.  It is.  I just had to learn how to do it.  Each local library may have a different approach to finding books, but it can personalize reading for all your kids!