Girls will sit still with a book, but boys prefer to run around. It’s a bit of a cliché, but research has found that there’s an element of truth to it. Research by the National Literacy Trust found that over 61% of girls said they enjoy reading, compared with less than 48% of boys. In their research into early years literacy, the University of Dundee found that boys are choosing books below their reading ability. One reason boys are less likely to read is that their peers think it’s not cool – and they are more likely to think that when they don’t have a male reading role model.
All is not lost, though. Children are more likely to enjoy reading when they are recommended a book by an adult who knows kids’ books, and who can make that recommendation based on their knowledge of the individual child. Children are most influenced when they’re very young, and the people who influence them the most are the adults in their lives. Kids who see parents and grandparents reading for pleasure, and whose older relatives read to and with them, are more likely to want to read too. That’s where PJ Library comes in.
At PJ Library, we are keen for all children to find a book they can make a connection with, so we try hard to ensure we have a mixture of themes, topics and male and female protagonists across our 400+ titles. By working with over 45 publishers round the world, and encouraging new authors to submit their manuscripts, we aim to create a Jewish library to reflect the diverse backgrounds and interests of our families throughout the world.
When a parent or grandparent reads a PJ Library book with a child, they are sharing a Jewish story, but they are also giving them a powerful message about the place of reading in the family. When the person reading the story is Dad or Grandpa, the further message is that boys and men do like reading. Those early male role models mean that by the time our toddler boy subscriber is 10, he’s learned that reading is cool. As an added bonus, plenty of research shows that reading for pleasure fosters emotional intelligence and leads to higher academic achievement. So at PJ Library we’re building Jewish identity, and at the same time we’re building a community of readers – both girls and boys.
Visit our book page to discover picture books sorted by age of child, Jewish values and festivals. Let us know if there’s a subject you think we should be writing about too!
If you’d like to read more about the research referenced above, visit here and here.
January 12, 2017