Boys, books and football
Here's a depressing fact. Boys, as a species, aren't as into reading as girls.
This has been the case for a long time, but apparently the gender divide among young readers is widening. Only last summer the All Party Parliamentary Literacy Group revealed that an estimated 60,000 boys failed to reach the expected level of reading by age 11, and that three out of four schools are worried specifically about boys' underachievement in books.
This is sad, and obviously the route towards getting more boys into books is a long and winding one that involves homes, schools, libraries, bookshops, authors, publishers and culture at large.
However, a very dark cloud passes across my soul when I hear that footballer Frank Lampard has been commissioned to write five - five! - kids books. Why does it bother me? Because it is patronising, that's why. Just as it is patronising when Theo Walcott or any other footballer or B-list celeb is commissioned to write a book.
Why is it patronising?
Okay, here goes:
It is patronising to boys to think they'll be interested in something just because it has something to do with football/celeb world. They like footballers playing football. They might buy a pair of trainers because a footballer tells them to, but are they going to sit through 50,000 words of drivel? Doubtful.
It is patronising to writers because yet again it confirms the myth that anyone can be a writer, and that the creation of brilliant stories is far simpler than playing football. I am waiting for the call from Manchester United, but apparently this football-to-writer thing operates on a one-way system.
Most of all though it is patronising to books and literature as a whole, to say that they need added value from the world of celebrity. If you are a publisher or bookseller who seriously believes that a good story isn't what is important then I have to wonder why you are in the business of books, and why you aren't working for Heat magazine or for Match of the Day or something.
The way to get anyone to read anything is to write and publish and sell good books that appeal to actual and potential readers. As a twelve year old I discovered the power of books via the brilliance of S E Hinton, a woman who understood the teen boy mind better than anyone ever. Would I have been made to love books more if I had been reading stories written by Gary Linekar instead? I seriously doubt it.
People don't love footballers randomly. They love them because they are good at playing football. Likewise people don't like a book because of the author's brand identity. I can think of hundreds of examples of people turning away from authors they once loved when they start to write stinkers.
It may sound like a novel concept, but the route to readers is through writing. Good writing - just like good football or good TV - will always be valued on its own terms. So let's not be insecure. Let's not wish books were more brash and shiny. Let's be proud to love books, and let's not try and turn them into yet more throwaway artefacts of celebrity culture. It may be a sure-fire way to short-term book sales to put a celeb on the cover, but in the long term books will suffer if stories are being commissioned for the wrong reasons.
Ultimately, the most sure-fire way to stop people reading is to stop making books that people enjoy reading.
And if boys end up loving books they will do so because there are books worth loving. Let's make more of them.
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Comments
It's ironic that you talk about being patronisingly, yet go on to dismiss the books as 'drivel' without having read them.
Matt, it's a bit premature to dismiss the content of the books, isn't it? Perhaps it isn't drivel.
Will Frank Lampard inspire boys to read more? Maybe a few, but overall I'd be surprised if he made a big impact. My 9yo daughter often needs encouraging to read more. She'll give up on book after book after just one chapter until she discovers an author she likes. At the moment she's on her fifth David Walliams novel in quick succession (and she didn't know who he was). If Katy Perry or some other girlie role model wrote a book, would she be interested in it? Possibly. Would she get past chapter one? 50/50. Would she want to read the next book in the series? Highly unlikely.
A couple of years ago actress Martine McCutcheon wrote a novel. I read an interview with her editor who defended criticisms that she only got a deal because she was famous. I haven't read her novel, so I can't pass judgement on it, but check out the reviews on Amazon. As far as I know, there's been no mention of book no2.
One last thing. Is Frank Lampard writing the books himself? I sure hope so. Because if they're ghostwritten, that's just selling kids a lie.
I have two sons and although they are only small, they love books. I will encourage them to be widely read as they grow older. Another great post Matt.
I agree but at the same time, I have seen the faces of those not very confident readers lit up when offered a book to read with a football cover. Somehow it has made the whole thing less scary, and an open door to reading is an open door to reading, regardless of how it looks. Same can be said about comics.
I work in a library. We have the David Beckham, Theo Walcott books & they're not very popular. They've been borrowed a couple of times and there's very little interest in them. If boys want to read about football, they generally go for the non-fiction books about football. There's very little interest in reading fictional accounts of football and other sports.
All week I have been mulling over this five book deal handed on a golden plate/boot to Frank Lampard and I am in despair.
Where does it end? What happened to good old fashioned writing and hard work. I too was brought up on SE Hinton and I used The Outsiders for my Higher English. I have struggled to find anything even remotely similar to echo the angst that takes over you during those embarrassing years of growing up. I felt she addressed both genders really well and it's a book I still go back to. First YA book that really covered everything. She played the nurse who looked after Johnny in the film - bit of useless information but there you go. I'm thankful to Francis Ford Coppola for at least getting her involved.
Maybe I am just cynical and to be honest, slightly jealous and 'dummy out the pram' about it. But it seems to me that if you have a celeb status and the financial clout that goes with that - an idea comes along and bingo, there you go, write us some books and we'll do the rest for you Frank.
There are so many celebs out there now that write - did they pour through the writers and artists yearbook year after year? Get weekly 'no thanks' letters. Stay up to the wee hours most nights editing and writing? No - they are being wooed by publishing companies who are feeling the hit of e-publishing and are looking to make some royalties out of unsuspecting people who have their heart in the right place. My son is obsessed with football but the books he reads aren't by celebs - he's more of a Beast Quest kinda guy. Hats of to anyone who can become the next Adam Blade.
Anyway, I'm off to my desk to continue writing my book. I am one of the lucky ones as I have been published but maybe the next time I might change my name and raid some piggy banks and the five book deal might come after all :-)
Here's to writing and the frustration that comes with it. Have a great weekend.
Why does everyone assume boy's like football? Mine doesn't. However he is also not that into cats, dogs, babies, grandmas, or so-called stories that are actually just words with the same phonic sounds randomly flung together. Books used to teach boys to read are dire. Getting a footballer to 'write' them will not help. My boy loves space, Star Wars and superheroes. So I gave him books about these and he learnt to read. Now he loves all sorts of books, especially funny ones like Mr Gum. Still no football though. Not one of the books he has ever read was written by a celebrity. A couple were written by me about him and he liked those! This has turned into a random rant.
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