Parents who want to encourage the reading habit can sometimes feel that they are fighting a losing battle when their kids eschew books for all the other distractions of the modern boy’s existence.

Video games, play station, TV, computer games, football, playing with friends, judo, swimming club, chatting on the mobile, surfing the net…. there are so many more activities to occupy boys attention nowadays than in the heyday of Arthur Ransome.

Yet the more the modern child is bombarded by multi-media, the more children appear to be affected by attention deficit disorders, finding it hard to concentrate on a paragraph, let alone a whole novel.

So what do parents need to look out for when choosing a book for boys.

1. Exciting stories.
2. Well defined, colourful characters.
3. A male protagonist.
4. Fast pace.
5. A central character with whom boys can identify.
6. Cliff hanger chapter endings.

Today’s children can often feel isolated by the seeming chaos of modern life. In my first novel, “The Boy From The Hills,” Jamie is a lonely boy who wanders the hills near his home when he meets a strange boy near a standing stone. In “The Guardian and the Goddess,” my main character is even more isolated. In “The Boy From The Hills,” Jamie and Kai become friends and learn from each other, easing the loneliness of both their existences. Books specifically for boys have always had an important place. In the early decades of the 20th century, Biggles, Jennings and William captured the imagination of countless boys. Today a browse through the bookstore will uncover up-to-date races through time, space and life relevant to the modern child. Harry Potter’s appeal lies in his normalness. Hermione is a far clever magician than Harry but Harry is the Hero; the boy who could so easily live down your child’s street, or be your child.

Read the many excellent children’s literature blogs. Take a look in the children’s library at Books for Keeps and the Times Eductional Supplement which review the new releases. Take a look at the websites of those of us who have books specifically written with boys in mind, with boys at centre stage, taking the lead in adventures.

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