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Matching boys with books
The Christian Science Monitor ^ | May 24, 2005 | Mary Beth McCauley

Posted on 05/26/2005 1:41:14 AM PDT by bd476

Edited on 05/26/2005 1:48:46 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]

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1 posted on 05/26/2005 1:41:14 AM PDT by bd476
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To: Admin Moderator

I am having some problems with the format of this article. If there is any way to fix the photo at the top of the article, I'd sure appreciate it.

Thank you.


2 posted on 05/26/2005 1:44:18 AM PDT by bd476
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To: bd476
You have to give them what they're interested in. Little boys like books about giant trucks, karate, magic tricks, motorcycles, rockets, etc.

I've been an avid reader all my life, but I didn't start out with Edgar Allen Poe.
3 posted on 05/26/2005 1:48:30 AM PDT by Jaysun (No matter how hot she is, some man, somewhere, is tired of her sh*t)
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To: bd476

4 posted on 05/26/2005 1:49:13 AM PDT by Jaysun (No matter how hot she is, some man, somewhere, is tired of her sh*t)
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To: Admin Moderator

It looks much better. Thank you so much for fixing it.


5 posted on 05/26/2005 1:50:50 AM PDT by bd476
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To: Jaysun
Jaysun wrote: "You have to give them what they're interested in. Little boys like books about giant trucks, karate, magic tricks, motorcycles, rockets, etc."

That's so true, Jaysun. Even comic books are good to some extent. A friend of mine was accepted into medical school after being an avid comic book reader his whole life.

The point is that he loved to read which meant an easy transition for him from reading fun stuff into reading and comprehending more difficult material.

6 posted on 05/26/2005 1:56:09 AM PDT by bd476
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To: bd476

My 17 year old is a prolific reader.

But when he was younger, around 10, he wasn't too interested.

I found if I would read the first chapter to him, he'd be hooked and finish it on his own. He also rereads books, which I thought only girls did, LOL. When he was younger he must have read "Where the Red Fern Growns" 6 times.

I had a great punishment too, if he wouldn't do his chores I'd threaten him with, "Do such and such, or I'll take your book away." (always had to laugh to myself when I said it, but it worked)

He reads everything, from Tolkein to Cussler, but his all time favorite book is Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea." (must be a man thing because IMHO that's one depressing book, yet hubby and son both love it.)


7 posted on 05/26/2005 1:57:52 AM PDT by dawn53
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To: dawn53
Dawn53 wrote: "I found if I would read the first chapter to him, he'd be hooked and finish it on his own."

Dawn, that is one of the best methods I've heard.

"I had a great punishment too, if he wouldn't do his chores I'd threaten him with, "Do such and such, or I'll take your book away." (always had to laugh to myself when I said it, but it worked) "

LOL! That's also pretty ironic. Some parents today might have to do the opposite: "Read now or you'll lose electronic game privileges!"

Congratulations on raising a reader! He's bound to be a very productive member of our society.

By the way, I agree with you about "Old Man and the Sea."

8 posted on 05/26/2005 2:10:45 AM PDT by bd476
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To: bd476
When left to their own devices, he says, girls tend to draw "nouns" (people and faces), while boys are drawn to "verbs" (action shots and bombs going off).

I drew fantasy landscapes. I was especially drawn to acropoli. =)

9 posted on 05/26/2005 2:43:44 AM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: AntiGuv

Sounds like you are a history, art and architecture buff.


10 posted on 05/26/2005 2:57:25 AM PDT by bd476
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To: bd476
If you want to get boys to read, assign F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby."

Huh? No way. Start them on C.S. Forrester's "Horatio Hornblower" series. Or how about Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But, "The Great Gatsby"? Yuck!

I took up reading in my sophomore year in HS on the above mentioned books and have never looked back.

11 posted on 05/26/2005 3:03:34 AM PDT by raybbr
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To: bd476

Yup! And science too.

My typical drawing began with a steep bluff. I would draw a city on top, usually with Greco-Roman architecture, but later it began to vary (e.g., medieval cathedrals or eastern pagodas, etc.) On the ground below the bluff I would usually draw a tropical jungle teeming with wildlife. I was big on tropical jungles too (my next most common landscape was a birds-eye view of a tropical island). If I didn't draw a tropical jungle, then I would draw a futuristic Jetson's style city, usually at war with the magical city on the acropolis. In the air around the city I would typically draw fantasy critters - dragons attacking the city were a common theme - or spacecraft. Then, on the bluff I would often draw cliff dwellings. Saturn was almost always visible in the sky. =)


12 posted on 05/26/2005 3:09:30 AM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: bd476

And dinosaurs! My tropical jungles always had dinos in them.


13 posted on 05/26/2005 3:13:10 AM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: bd476

PS. That's why the city was on the acropolis, to get away from the dinos. ;)


14 posted on 05/26/2005 3:14:07 AM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: AntiGuv
That is a great and healthy imagination AntiGuv. Did you ever think about turning your imaginative drawings into story and book form?
15 posted on 05/26/2005 3:26:48 AM PDT by bd476
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To: bd476

It crossed my mind. I've had this epic fantasy plotted out in my mind since high school and I used to think that I'd write it someday, but I doubt it now. Then again, drawings like I used to make would go well in a children's book. I never thought of that! Hmm..


16 posted on 05/26/2005 3:45:24 AM PDT by AntiGuv (™)
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To: AntiGuv

I would draw war scenes with fortresses on mountains on opposite sides of the page trading shots, airplanes flying overhead strafing everything, and men and tanks fighting at close quarters in the valley between.


17 posted on 05/26/2005 3:47:05 AM PDT by Junior (“Even if you are one-in-a-million, there are still 6,000 others just like you.”)
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To: AntiGuv

20% and my P.O. Box address is...


18 posted on 05/26/2005 3:49:00 AM PDT by bd476
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To: AntiGuv

And it is not too late.


19 posted on 05/26/2005 3:49:33 AM PDT by bd476
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To: bd476

guysread.com


20 posted on 05/26/2005 3:55:18 AM PDT by chalkfarmer
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