Books for Boys

I spent my childhood immersed in books.  In fact, I probably remember stories I read better than conversations I had or people I knew.  We took weekly trips to the library to stock up on The Babysitter's Club and Encyclopedia Brown and Beverly Cleary.  I read about girl detectives and a girl's baseball team and girls growing up on the prairie and girls who were in the process of becoming little women.  I loved reading these books so much that, before I even became pregnant, I began curating a collection to give to my own child some day.

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that child would be a son.

Now I find myself, decades later, the very busy mother of three boys.  My youngest is learning to read on his own right now--it delights me to no end to listen to him sounding out words and looking through books on his own.  But a conversation I've had more than once, and one that I think will continue long after my kids are completely independent in their book choices, is this:

What do your boys like to read?

We could get all philosophical here and talk about whether books are, or should be, gendered (but tons of smarter people than me have written much more profound and eloquent articles on the subject, so I'll defer to them).  Let's skip over that, with the caveat that OF COURSE any person can read anything they please without calling into question their masculinity or femininity.  I read plenty of books that were probably written with a male audience in mind (at least, I'm assuming that's what Tom Clancy was trying to do...). so it stands to reason that if my son likes to read Junie B. Jones or Ramona or Here's to You, Rachel Robinson, I will not try to distract him with the Hardy Boys or a book about football.  I'm merely making public what has been said to me so often in private, that mothers are sometimes at a loss for what to read with their sons as they grow up.

Here, in an attempt at age appropriateness, are my suggestions...

1. MO WILLEMS [The Pigeon books, Knuffle Bunny (and Too and Free), Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, Elephant and Piggie, and so many more]

What did parents actually read to their babies and toddlers before Mo Willems' bus-obsessed, sleep-averse Pigeon came on the scene?  I guess there was Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak, but Mo Willems was the only author my oldest son would sit still for in his first five years of life.  He really deserves all the accolades and attention he gets, because his books are entertaining and colorful and a joy to read out loud.  The words and pictures complement each other perfectly and even help emerging readers learn how to say the words with expression.  (It seems like every 4 or 5 year old knows exactly how to read the phrase, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO.")  And if your children age alongside Trixie and her Knuffle Bunny, I dare you not to cry over the final pages of Knuffle Bunny Free.  What are you, a robot?!

2. POP UP BOOKS

It doesn't seem to matter much what it's about.  Thanksgiving, The Wheels on the Bus, My First Baseball Game...if the images move, or flaps open and shut, or (best of all) it makes noise, your son will go crazy for "reading."  Do not plan on archiving these or turning them into treasured family heirlooms, because after five years and three sons, half of the pages will be ripped to shreds or gnawed beyond recognition.  But hey, he held a book!  That's a win.

3. FLY GUY by Tedd Arnold

What little boy doesn't dream of someday being the proud owner of a pet fly who can say his name (because his parents hated him and named him "BUZZ")?  I know my sons were over the moon when they discovered this series of easy readers.  A trend emerged over time:  the grosser the jokes, the sillier the pictures, the more ridiculous the plot, the more likely my boys would read it over and over and over.  And thank goodness, because after the 10th booger/garbage/toilet image, I can't control my gag reflex.  Thank you, Tedd Arnold, for encouraging independent readers!

4. CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS by Dav Pilkey (or Dogman, or Oog and Gluk, or Super Diaper Baby)

It seemed like a natural transition from the revolting images of Fly Guy to the potty-humored comics of Dav Pilkey.  These books are longer and better for later elementary readers.  My sons have read Captain Underpants so many times that they double over laughing as they re-tell the various plots and jokes.  When two boys hypnotize their strict principal, he strips down to his tightie-whities and battles such villains as Professor Poopypants and the Wicked Wedgie Woman and the Turbo Toilet 2000.  I read in an interview that Dav Pilkey began writing stories and comics when he was in 2nd grade, which prompted my then 2nd grader to become an author in his own right.  And I couldn't be happier that he giggles as he reads and draws for hours at a time.  It's all positive so long as he isn't playing violent video games or building a pipe bomb, am I right?

5. BOOKS ABOUT DOGS

My oldest son is what some folks like to call a "reluctant reader."  But his interest level goes through the roof if a dog is featured prominently on a book's cover.  This includes: Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary, Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, and White Fang by Jack London.  He also really enjoyed books about talking farm animals, like Charlotte's Web and Babe.  It remains to be seen if this sets him up for an early love of Animal Farm by George Orwell.

6. BOOKS ABOUT SURVIVAL

When my 4th grader was assigned Robinson Crusoe for school, I thought for sure that he would hate it.  After all, it was originally written in 1719, meaning his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents could have read it as children.  Instead, he couldn't get enough of the man stranded on an island for years and the descriptions of his various efforts to survive the elements with rudimentary tools.  This book so captured his imagination that I picked up My Side of the Mountain for a summer reading opportunity.  Once again, he seemed to really enjoy the story.  I will definitely be keeping my ears open for more books along this vein.

7. STAR WARS/MINECRAFT/THE LEGO MOVIE

Yes, it was originally intended to be a movie or a video game (or both!), but when Mom says, "Screens off!" the fun can continue with books about Luke Skywalker or Steve in Diamond Armor or Emmett and WyldStyle.  I guess.  No matter what age your child or reading level they have mastered, there is a Star Wars book for them.  Explore a galaxy far, far away while your son flawlessly reads phrases like "Imperial stormtrooper" or "Intergalactic Senate" but stumbles over words like "probably" and "uses."  Or see their eyes light up on Christmas morning when they unwrap Mark Cheverton's GameKnight999 series, which includes such titles as The Wither Invasion and The Great Zombie Invasion and (I kid you not) Invasion of the Overworld.  I'm no expert, but I'm guessing the worst thing that can happen in Minecraft is some sort of invasion.

They may not be your cup of tea, but pat yourself on the back every time you survive a long wait at the doctor or a rainy family reunion, and your son appears angelic while he reads quietly in a chair.  Clearly your child is not going to become an axe murderer or a high school dropout, because early literacy matters!

Unqualified

It was about a year ago when I heard that Anna Faris had a relationship advice podcast.  Yes, Anna Faris the actress.  THE Anna Faris who starred in the Scary Movies, The House Bunny, the CBS show "Mom" and even played a wacky, murderous version of herself in the movie Keanu.  I will admit that when I first heard about the podcast, I had several questions.  The most prominent was WHY?  Why would a movie star, a presumably wealthy and successful actress, want to host a podcast?  And why, when surely she has areas of expertise due to her career, would it be about relationships?  After all, what do people in Hollywood know about thoughtful, successful relationships?  Even as I pondered these questions and stared at the thumbnail image on iTunes, I had to laugh that at least she called her podcast "Unqualified."  Maybe she knew what people like me would be thinking, and she was addressing the criticism right out of the gate?

I started listening because one episode featured Rhetta and Aubrey Plaza as guests.  I LOVE Parks and Rec, and the idea that maybe the people who played such beloved characters might actually be friends in real life, and might tell hilarious behind-the-scenes stories about one of my favorite shows, was enough to get me to listen.  (Side note:  This episode fulfilled all of my fan girl dreams.  Rhetta and Aubrey Plaza are amazing, they did tell stories about being on Parks and Rec, and Chris Pratt even stopped by the dining room to chime in for a few minutes.  SO GOOD!)  But what actually stuck out to me over the course of the episode was how unexpectedly knowledgeable and interesting Anna and her co-host Sim were.  I listened to another episode, and another, wondering if it was just a fluke, or if they actually had made something worth listening to.

The best part (to me) about the Unqualified podcast is how many beliefs and expectations it smashes.  I do not expect famous and successful people to be relatable.  I do not expect people roughly my age who have spent so much of their adult lives working in Hollywood to be aware of anyone besides themselves, much less be able to give good advice to callers from all over the country with relationship questions.  I do not expect celebrities, whether they be from movies or TV or sports or music or whatever Bravo is supposed to be now, to teach me something about how to live my life.  And yet, week after week, that's exactly what happens.  From Dax Shepherd (that guy?!) giving truly mature, helpful relationship advice to Arielle Kebbel delivering a timely message about sexual harassment and how we move forward in the wake of everything, to Kelly Clarkson answering "Dealbreakers" and Anna and Regina Hall reliving their on-set jokes from the Scary Movies, Unqualified is almost always a delightful listen.  I love the interviews and the stories people are willing to share, I love the questions Anna and Sim come up with, I love the callers and the way different people respond to pleas for help from total strangers.  I also love the occasional interruptions from Anna's parents or son, or the fact that sometimes people are sitting in the room watching and listening to the podcast live.  (How does one get to do that?  Is it strictly for relatives and close friends or will they one day decide to sell tickets?)  Unqualified makes me laugh, it makes me think, and it gives a window into how other people are experiencing the world.

So it should be a given that when Anna Faris announced that she was writing "Unqualified: The Book," I was stoked.  I already love to read books by celebrities, and this combines the personal memoir aspect that I enjoy with the best parts of the Unqualified podcast.  It includes chapters where Anna puts herself in the hotseat, with the help of one of the show's writers, Cassie, to answer Dealbreakers and How Would You Proceed?  The book gives background into some of the situations and relationships that Anna has mentioned on the show, as well as further advice for relationships.  And, while I was tempted to be skeptical ("She's probably using a ghost writer.  How can an actress also write a book?!"), listening to Unqualified has made me more open-minded to the possibility that most well-known performers are not one-trick ponies.  Rather, each of us, it turns out, is a whole person, a blend of knowledge and ability and quirky interests that extend beyond what we are best known for.

As I read the book, I could hear Anna's voice in my head.  It was fun to be able to predict the intended inflection and when she would drop to a lower register and how she would emphasize the profanities liberally sprinkled throughout.  Both the podcast and the book are entertaining and explicit, although only once have I been turned off by the frank words.  Most of all, I give Anna Faris a tremendous amount of credit for raising the bar in terms of what I expect of my celebrities.  It turns out that having diverse interests and experiences is not rare, it is the norm.  People are more than the persona they have developed for the world.

I recommend "Unqualified" as a fun read, whether you are familiar with Anna Faris or not.  (You won't be able to say that when you've finished it!)  And I also think you should listen to her podcast, if you aren't already.  Scroll through the many, many episodes and start with one whose guest is a favorite performer of yours.  It makes for an enjoyable entrance to the show, and I guarantee you will hear something you didn't already know.  If you're like me, you will continue to listen to older episodes and find yourself surprised at how much more people have to offer than just the roles they play on the big screen.

Reading and Snuggles