'The Ambassador' on boys and books
Children's author had everyone laughing at the National Book Festival on Friday night when he told his audience that, as he was a child, he became intrigued by "strange books at school about an 'alien' family."
"There was a boy, two girls, a mom and a dad and they talked in the weirdest way," Scieszka said. "Instead of saying `Hey, look at that dog,' they would say `Look. Look. See the dog. That is a dog."
Most of us who grew up anywhere from 1950 to 1980 will have no trouble recognizing the Dick, Jane, and Sally books as the source of Scieszka's "alien family."
But Scieszka, who, in addition to being the author of such mega-hit kid's books as "" and "," has also been named by the Librarian of Congress, also had some serious words about how to get boys to read.
In the , Scieszka is quoted as saying that our definition of reading must be expanded beyond fiction. Boys would rather read "nonfiction or humor, graphic novels, science fiction, action adventure, audio books, or online reading and magazines," Scieszka says.
He goes on to recommend for older kids and for younger ones. Other winners in his book: , , Eoin Colfer's ; Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's , Neil Gaiman's and Corey Doctorow's .
For more Scieszka recommendations, check out his Guys Read website at .
