Boys often struggle
with reading.

Loquacious McCarbre

Stumps

I’ve created the magical world of Edra to inspire boys to read and in turn, build resilience, develop empathy, foster emotional intelligence, and find strength. According to Linda C. Mayes M.D., the mental health benefits of literacy are closely intertwined.

She states:

“Bringing children and families together around shared stories and narrative has a lifetime benefit as narrative brings people together and builds community.”
Linda C. Mayes M.D.

With our Indiegogo campaign we’re here to raise the capital to launch our Edra Tales brand and release our first novel, Of Magic & Monkeys. We’re so grateful to partner with all the parents, grandparents, librarians, teachers, and advocates for tween boysas we embark on our very first Kickstarter quest!

As a founder, author, and the father of one boy, I’m excited to champion the Boys To Read movement through the Edra Tales universe, filling it to the brim with inspiring characters and stories that boys want to read about. By joining us on our quest please consider backing this project and share us with your friends.

Like all great quests, we can’t do this alone, we need your help to get this rich vein of engaging, adventurous, humorous and sophisticated stories into the imaginations of boys missing out on the wonders and benefits of reading.

According to Paula J. Schwanenflugel, Ph.D., and Nancy Flanagan Knapp, Ph.D, boys consistently read less, and less well, than girls.

In 2016, Scholasticsurveyed over 2000 American children aged between 6 to 17 and found only 52% of boys said they liked reading books over the summer holidays. Compared that to 72% of girls, a massive discrepancy. When reading for fun at least 5 days a week, 37% of girls said they do this, whereas only 27% of boys did the same and also claimed they often have trouble finding books they like.

The psychologistsalso claim that motivation to read within boys can be less motivated than girls. A strong factorfor this, is boys are “often asked to read books with protagonists and themes that do not resonate with their gender.”

“Reading increases a child’s capacity for critical thinking, develops empathy skills, gives them the support they need during challenging times.”
Linda C. Mayes M.D.

This may be surprising as male protagonists outnumber females in children’s books by a 1.6 to 1. They continue thatprimary school and later English teachers are mostly woman and tend not to study non-fiction or action-related books that appeal more to boys. In the UK 2,367 men were recruited (16% of recruited primary teachers) compared with 12,054 women (83% of recruited primary teachers. (www.tinyurl.com/yucunsba)

According to Jon Scieszka, author and former primary school teacher, “Boys often have to read books they don't really like. They don't get to choose what they want to read. And what they do like to read, people often tell them is not really reading.”

After researching the Junior Fiction (Middle Grade) and Young Adult categories of fiction, I noticed a distinct trend in the most popular titles: actioned-packed fantasy, talking animals, thrilling imaginary worlds, and characters to inspire were top of the book lists.

Best-Selling Young Adult Books of All Time 5 out of the time 6 are fantasy novels:
1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling - fantasy
2: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - fantasy
3: Oh, the Places You’ll Go!By Dr. Seus - fantasy
4: The Outsidersby S.E. Hinton – Realistic Fiction
5: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling - fantasy
6:Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - fantasy
www.bookauthority.org

Psychology Today: The Mental Health Benefits of Literacy:
www.tinyurl.com/5x726mf9

Psychology Today: Boys consistently read less, and less well, than girls:
www.tinyurl.com/m3763tds