On April the 23rd, it will be World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO International Day of the Book, a day assigned to celebrate the written word. Although it seems the female gender celebrates the written word much more than their male counterparts, according to a recent study carried out on behalf of the Reading Agency.
But should we be surprised by this? I personally don't think so, after all it is a well known fact that boys don't read as much as girls. Therefore it's unlikely when the boy becomes a man, he's going to start reaching for a book.
According to the survey, men would rather watch a film adaptation of a book, or turn on the computer when he has some free time. Why? The answer to this point of debate is as elusive as to how we can calculate book sales from Amazon's sales rank and I can only voice my own opinion.
Having been brought up in a household full of boys, I know that boys love nothing better than to be running around, playing games and sports, leading very active lives indeed. For that reason the material that they're given to read has to reflect their interests, if they're going to keep reading through into adulthood.
Whether it's football, tennis, cars, spaceships or warriors; if it grabs their attention for even five, or ten minutes at a time, boys will realise that reading can take them to any world they want to be part of. No ticket necessary.
That's my opinion. What do you think?
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