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The importance of parental involvement in the development of literacy in children has been a topic of substantial research. Ample evidence has been established to demonstrate the crucial role parents play in cultivating reading proficiency.[2] Even a perfunctory look at the educational research literature shows that the role of child educator more often than not falls to the mother. Numerous studies over the years have focused on the critical role the mother plays in the cultivation of her children’s literacy.[3] There seem to be a number of explanations for the low participation rate of males in this process: the perception that a child’s education is the responsibility of the mother (as the primary caregiver), the tendency for schools to communicate primarily with mothers, a failure of fathers to recognize the need for involvement, as well as actual male literacy barriers.[4]
The trend is finally starting to head in the other direction. The call for male literacy role models, once limited primarily to the academic literature, is starting to get some mainstream attention. A cartoon featured in The New Yorker this year depicts a son in bed looking dissatisfied with the story that his father is reading him. The caption reads: "It's not about the story. It's about Daddy taking time out of his busy day to read you the story."[5] Even satire is better than no attention at all.
Much of this new attention can be attributed to efforts to minimize the perceived literacy gap between boys and girls.[6] Prominent children's author Jon Scieszka has turned his attention to the promotion of male literacy role models for young boys.[7] His objective is to bridge the current literacy gap between girls and boys through the increased involvement of male mentors. Although Scieszka's focus in on increasing young male literacy, there is a call for greater male involvement with children of both genders.[8]
As with all forms of art, children’s literature is a reflection of the trends and values of the time. With the rising emphasis on male literacy role models, it is relevant to find examples of these models in the literature. What evidence are we providing for children that fathers (Note: this term will serve for grandfathers, brothers, uncles, etc.) can be actively involved in the development of their children’s love for reading? Do any books written for children promote the involvement of males in the literacy process? For the purpose of focus, this inquiry will concentrate on picture books, designed for an age when children are beginning to form ideas of the roles their parents play.
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An issue that immediately arises in searching for representative examples of the male literacy role model in picture books is identifying how such a concept might be classified. A logical place to explore the possibilities is Bowker's Children's Books in Print, particularly when searching for recent titles.[10] However, the subject heading "Fathers" proved to be far too broad to aid in selecting useful sources. A to Zoo offers the somewhat more informative "Family life - fathers."[11] Nonetheless, this tells little about the role of the father in the story and his relationship to his children. Both of these sources revealed a need to consider how one might efficiently sift through hundreds of titles with only vague subject headings to go on.
One approach to solving this dilemma is to introduce availability as a limiting factor. It seemed reasonable to limit the scope of this project to books that were readily available for viewing. This meant using sources available through one of two systems: ILLINET Online or the Lincoln Trail Library System Catalog. An advantage of searching catalogs versus print guides is that catalog entries have one or two sentence descriptions of the content of the titles. In addition, perhaps more importantly, the entries contain multiple subject headings which provide powerful cross-referencing. Suddenly, we discover headings such as "Fathers and Sons/Daughters - Juvenile Fiction" or "Books and Reading - Juvenile Fiction" or even "Literacy - Juvenile Fiction." Of course, the ideal candidates combine these index terms, but unfortunately the researcher is not so lucky. Instead, examining titles that fit either the father/son/daughter concept or the reading/literacy concept were examined individually to assess relevance. This was a time-consuming process, but it did reveal a few solid options.
Having done some bibliographic footwork, it was time to let some experts chime in on the topic. Librarians at Carmel Clay Public Library (Carmel, IN) as well as the Center for Children Books (Champaign, IL) were solicited for advice as to potential titles or other research options. A suggestion to examine the Sears List of Subject Headings led to the Library and Information Science Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the guidance of librarian Sandra Wolf. Her discovery of a book entitled Connecting Fathers, Children, and Reading marked the turning point of the research for this project.[12] Beyond being an outstanding exposition of the importance of the role of fathers in developing literacy, the book also contains an astounding bibliography of interesting books for fathers to share with their children. The list is arranged topically and amongst its headings is one entitled "Reading Together." The contents of this list, which included a number of titles that had already been discovered for this project, form the core of the annotated bibliography below. Selected titles are given more in-depth coverage to consider the impact of the depiction of the literacy relationship on potential readers.
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A winged lion cub prince named Leo learns there is more to flying than just having wings. Unable to turn around, he finds himself far from home. Taken in by a polar bear king, Leo is well taken care of. King Otto entertains the cub from his astounding library. Leo's voracious appetite for the King's stories turns him into a voracious reader. Upon return to his home, where he is the only literate creature, he shares the importance of books with his kingdom, filling his land with the treasures of literacy.
This is primarily a story about father and son sharing a day of quality time. And of course they are doodlebugs, which means they doodle. They do other things that try to rhyme with doodle as well (think "canoedlebug"). Their day together culminates in story time, when they share a few Fairytoodles. Dad's place amongst literacy role models is secured when the son reveals that "Daddy is a storyoodlebug, And I'm a storyoodlebug too."
We know Jazper is a reader from the title page, where he sits on a rock with one book in his lap and another beside him. And on the first page, we learn that Jazper and his dad have the opposite of the usual literacy model: "Every evening, before bed, he would read his Dad a story." Jazper's father is injured and has to leave home to find work. To fill the void of his father's absence, he reads voraciously, mostly books of magic. Jazper's new skill leads to mayhem and chaos; when all settles down, Father and son return to their simple lifestyle, reflected only in a wordless image of Father reading to son in bed, surrounded by books.
Dad’s inventive storytelling masks his illiteracy. Take a closer look.
Father entertains the children with a story gone wrong. At first, son and daughter read calmly along with him. As he lets them select different directions for the story to go, their imaginations get wilder and they begin to act out the possibilities. Together they visualize the full spectrum of fairy tales, in the end living "happily ever after." Father is shown reading the story throughout, but is clearly displaying his own inventiveness.
Quality time for dad and his two sons comes at the end of the evening when it's time to shut the farm down and head to bed. Father sings a lullaby, plays the fiddle and reads them both a bedtime story.
This is the story of Else-Marie's unique parental situation. As the daughter of seven daddies, there is a high degree of male role model potential. Else-Marie learns that having seven daddies, although complicated, also means seven times the love and care. Daddies are depicted reading newspaper, then reading Else-Marie a bedtime story, while she holds the book.
Four different vignettes serve to demonstrate the diverse activities that father and son share. In one story, Piggy draws pictures and his father writes words that go with the pictures. In another, they take turns reading to each other at bedtime.
This is a photo-book composed of a series of photos depicting interaction between Arthur Ashe and his daughter. The images show the strength of their relationship and their mutual affection. Two panels are devoted to reading together. In one, the father reads. The roles are reversed in the other.
The child protagonist of this board book has a lot of energy both at night and the following morning. But story-time with Dad is enough to put the child to sleep. Two images are relevant. First, an image of the excited young child running to bring book to father. Then an image of father reading to child, who appears to already be asleep. This image is also replicated on the cover.
Tom loves books, but Tom’s favorite activity is looking at books with Daddy. Daddy plays along until he can no longer keep his eyes open. Tom then takes over the role of literacy role model, reading to his monkey Pippo, in the hopes that Pippo will one day read for himself.
Marvin learns to read with help from his slow-to-learn father. Take a closer look.
Mary Ellen learns about the sweetness of books after an adventure with her Grampa. Take a closer look.
Story, told with photographs, revolves around a bedtime story that waits for Misty (a young girl with Down Syndrome) to find her toy monkey. The story continues to be put on hold as Misty goes through her nightly bedtime rituals. First image shows Misty and her father reading together in her bed.
Father reads to child before putting her to bed. In the morning, after a night’s work, the roles are reversed. Take a closer look.
Little Bean really wants her daddy to read her a story before he goes away on his business trip, but she falls asleep before he can. While waiting for her busy father, she tries to prove how busy she can be. In the end, the father returns with books to share and Dad and Little Bean are busy reading together.
Michael, a second-grader describes his experience when his father comes across the country to visit him. In their short time together, Dad takes an interest in Michael's homework and his reading skill, as he has brought many titles to read with his son. This story is bittersweet, as the depth of their relationship is strong but fleeting, persistently overshadowed by Dad's inevitable departure.
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Male literacy role models come in many manifestations. There are illiterate fathers, divorced fathers and erudite grandfathers. There are farmers, janitors and even Storyoodlebugs. A diverse array of role model types is precisely what this inquiry hoped to uncover. One does not have to be a voracious reader to be a positive influence to children. Sensitivity and a desire to spend quality time together goes a long way to cultivating a role model relationship.
Given the recent coverage in the media of the need for more male role models, one might have expected the bibliography to be filled with recent titles. However, the list is comprised of books primarily published in the late 1980's and early 1990's. This may be attributed to the availability of books to the researcher, but the result falls in line with the compiled works of Connecting Fathers, Children, and Reading.
The initial inquiry was not considerate of the gender of the child in choosing relevant examples, but what can we say about that in retrospect? Of the seventeen books comprising the annotated bibliography, eight fathers are reading to their boys, seven are reading to their girls, one is reading to both, and in one case, the baby is difficult to sex. This balance may be surprising, but when one considers that most of the books with boy protagonists are the newer titles, it would seem reflective of the trends described in the Introduction. Literature tends to be a reflection of the times and so it can be hoped that new examples are on the way. These books paint a diverse picture of what it means to be a male literacy role model, inviting everyone to take part in their children's present and future.
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