Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Caribbean children's fiction - What to write for the boys?

I don't suppose boys in the Caribbean are very different from boys elsewhere in their apathy to reading - fiction in particular. I have two grandsons, one now 19 years the other 9 years . Both read a lot, but are not excited by fiction. The elder now out of high school did extremely well in all subjects except English Literature, the younger one seems to be going the same way. He reads the stories I write under duress. However he likes the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. He explains at length why he dislikes 'made up' stories. When I tell him that the "Wimp" is fiction, he says that at least it is funny. He gets excited about books on sharks and cars and other 'boy' stuff.
So, the question I am pondering is - what can Caribbean writers write about to wean our boys into liking fiction as an intro to liking literature? A very important question as so many of our writers of children's books seem to be women.

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