Boys’ Literate Lives as Portrayed in Children’s Choice Award Picture Books

Gritter and colleagues (2017) conducted a critical content analysis of 21 contemporary Children’s Choice picture books with the goal of better understanding what the texts reveal about society’s “values of literacy and gender when male protagonists read or write or engage in symbolic communication” (p.572).  The research was fueled in part by the authors’ central argument that boys struggle more so than girls to identify as readers within the confines of school.

At school, boys often come to understand literacy as something that is not immediately useful and of little use outside of school. This is not to say boys do not engage in literacy activities outside of school – Gritter and colleagues argue that quite the opposite is true. Instead, the authors maintain that boys’ literacy activities are often “social,” “have immediate uses and functions” and go largely “unrecognized” (Gritter et al., 2017, p. 571). All in all, these researchers found evidence suggesting a deficit perspective of boys’ literacy practices largely remains within children’s literature.

For example, looking specifically at the settings in which male protagonists’ literate adventures took place in their sample, Gritter and colleagues found that only six books showed males engaging in literate behaviors at school, nine books included literate activities happening at home, six books depicted boys’ literate activity occurring in the community and five books portrayed boys as engaging in literate behaviors in nature. The authors concluded from this analysis that sampled books continue to suggest to readers that out-of-school spaces are preferable to school settings when it comes to male literate behaviors.

To combat this pervasive stereotype, Gritter and colleagues offered a questioning protocol in an effort to better support elementary teachers striving to engage students in critical discussions specific to male literacy behaviors portrayed in literature. Protocol questions included:

1) “Are problems [in the text] resolved with the aid of literacy for male protagonists? If so, how?”

2) “How do male protagonists change as the text progresses? Is this change because of literacy?” (Gritter et al., 2017, p.581).

Arguably, even more powerful than the protocol for critically analyzing texts with younger students may be the authors’ advice to act out the roles of male protagonists in stories and think about whether students would behave in similar ways in the given situation and/or generate and play with alternative actions.

Here at the CLC, we are committed to helping all students view themselves as readers and writers. Therefore, we will continue to share differing ways to appraise texts as a means of promoting inclusivity and critical thinking in the classroom. If you have related questions or strategies, please share them with us.

Gritter, K., Van Duinen, D. V., Montgomery, K., Blowers, D., & Bishop, D. (2017). Boy Troubles? Male Literacy Depictions in Children's Choices Picture Books. Reading Teacher, 70(5), 571-581.