How to Encourage Boys to Love Reading

For the record, my two older boys are naturally a bit quieter and lower energy but my two younger boys are my busy, bouncy blondies. Truly. They are the reason why I have a trampoline inside and outside my house. I like to think the trampolines are saving couches though the couches still get some decent… attention and have seen better days. /sigh “You are the reason we cant have nice things!”

I also have other people’s children over regularly, including their busy boys who they swear hate reading. Yet they come here and sit contentedly on the couch with a book. Or they never even make it to the couch and just sit on the floor in front of the bookcase. Which I’m totally fine with and in the past I even put nice little soft reading chairs in front of the bookcase for them but….boys. 2 out of 3 have had to go into the dumpster because they were used as tanks and spaceships and who knows what else and completely came apart.

My only daughter is only a month old right now so I’m not going to claim that girls are not attracted to specific types of books or topics because I just don’t know (and of course every girl is different). I do know, however, that girls are typically less reluctant readers and more parents struggle to get their boys (possibly including husbands?) to read for pleasure.

I have been asked on more than one occasion for tips on how to encourage boys to love reading. These tips and book suggestions are not a guarantee but they will definitely help point you and your son(s) in the right direction.

1.Have books available for little hands from a young age.

This is obviously a tip that applies to any child but I think people sometimes forget to get books for their boys. Take time to read to them or, if they don’t want to sit and read a story, just flip through the book at their own pace and point at pictures. Go back and forth between pages and repeat things 100 times. Let them speed through the book as fast or as slow as they like. Just don’t let them throw or purposely wreck the book. They can learn to treat books with respect right from the start (even though it may take several years for that lesson to truly sink in). Keep toddler books accessible and make them easy to clean up. A low shelf that they can be placed on (in disarray of course as properly reshelving books is hard for little hands) or a bin they can pull over to a comfy reading spot are ideal. Even if you typically use the library for your book needs, I would recommend picking up a couple dozen toddler books so they can gain familiarity and choose their favorite titles over and over again.

2.Choose books on topics they are already interested in.

He is going to be less likely to be willing to pick up a book in a topic that you’re trying to introduce. That feels much more like forced reading, which is usually seen as a chore. You want to encourage a love of reading out of pleasure, not make reading a duty. Please don’t choose something that you think they “should” read or be interested in until you have already established a firm love of reading and a level of trust with your child so he knows you’re not just trying to force something on him. Share these books with no pressure or expectation. “I saw this and know you are interested in XYZ so I thought of you.” Then leave it and let them decide what to do with it.

3. Find a variety of styles of books.

I know that all boys are different (I have 4 with the same contributing genetics and each is totally unique, then add in the billions of other boys in the world, yikes!) but there are some consistent favorites on our shelves. Some types and features of books they have been consistently attracted to:

• Real pictures instead of drawings
• Touchy feely features
• Fabric books
• Lift the flap books (when they’ve learned to be more gentle)
• Photographic historical books
• Age appropriate biographies
• Activity and How To books (i.e. science experiments, Lego ideas, wood working, outdoor survival)
• Large pictures with minimal print
• Comics or graphic novels

Some favorite topics have included:

• Anything “extreme” (weather, machines, animals, world records etc)
• Military, current and historical (including weapons, battles and wars, biographies on great leaders)
• Animals
• Human Body
• Allegorical fiction
• Video games
• Science and technology
• Machines (dump trucks, tractors, race cars)
• Lives of kids, fiction and non fiction, in history as well as currently
• Funny stuff, whether jokes or silly stories

4. Read aloud, whether they are young or old.

Find a time in your day that is specifically for reading to your kids. When they are younger this can be as simple as letting them bring a book to you and you taking the time to flip through at their pace. As they get older you can tie this to snack time or during a meal, or at bedtime. I truly believe every family should make bedtime stories a part of their daily routine. Even as kids get older, they can still benefit from read aloud time. Just be sure to let them pick the story or choose something that you truly believe they would like (and there is no rule that says you need to finish the book if it turns out to be terrible). Let it be a family bonding time. It is a simple way to go on adventures together, trek around the globe, and go back in time.

5. Be an Example worth following

Your kids need to see you reading. Not just blog posts on your phone or ebooks on your kindle, but paperback books. Digital and audio books or magazines can be beneficial but there is nothing like holding the pages in your hand. That goes for your kids too. They need the tactile feedback of turning a page, being able to flip to the cover to see the title, or to the back to reread the summary. They may need the ability to flip quickly to the end to make sure their favorite character comes out on top. They may want to flip back to the previous chapter to reread a favorite part. These things are much more difficult to do with an ebook or audio book. Plus, they need to see their parents with a book in hand so they know instantly that you aren’t just window shopping or checking email or scrolling social media again.

My husband was told his whole life that he was a hands on learner and not academic. He was told he wasn’t a great reader. He will tell you he read 1 or 2 books in high school but didn’t read a single book his whole adult life. Over the last 15 years I’ve been pointing out to him that he reads just fine and actually reads quite a bit. Some of the things he reads include equipment repair manuals (with lots of technical terms that I don’t understand), video game tutorials, research articles on everything farming, newspapers, children’s books for bedtime stories etc. It has never been about skill level, only about lack of practice of reading an actual (adult level) book. Last summer he noticed our eldest 2 boys were really interested in a couple of book series and specifically that out 8yo went from not reading to reading everything within 6 months. He figured he needed to keep up to what his boys were talking about. So he picked up the first book in the series. Then he picked up the next. Over the summer he read about a dozen books. Some youth and some adult. Some fiction and some non fiction. But he officially said I’m right: anyone who dislikes reading just hasn’t found the right book.

It may take 35 years (and continued encouragement) but patience pays off.