Stories for boys, and Stories for girls

Stories for boys. Random House, 2013. ISBN 9780857980885. Ebook ISBN 9780857980861.
Stories for Girls by various authors
Random House, 2013. ISBN 9780857980861. Ebook ISBN 9780857980878.
(Age: Yr 2-4) Much as some dislike to tag a story according to its appeal to one gender or another, we still have to acknowledge that children, especially those just beginning their independent reading journeys and learning what they like do have significant differences based on their gender. So these two collections are wonderful vehicles for helping those students start to map their voyage. Each comprises short discrete stories just perfect for a one-session read - or those reading-in-the-gaps times that we need to encourage so that reading becomes an all-day event, not just an in-school one. The read-aloud hat (the subject of a new blog post for 500 Hats) is a critical one so teachers and teacher librarians will savour these selections for those in-between times when a short read-aloud is just what is required.
With each story being written by one of Australia's leading authors for this age group such as Jacqueline Harvey, Claire Saxby, Tristan Bancks, Bill Condon and a host of others there is an opportunity to lead the reader from the favourite short story to the novels and series by that author. The variety of stories - some adventure, come funny, some serious - could also be a starting point for exploring particular topics or genres. The boys' collection has stories about ghosts, pirates, superheroes and monsters, while the girls can enjoy stories fairies, ponies and a giraffe who tries to learn ballet and finds she is all gangles and little grace.
Both of these titles would be great additions to that display of perfect books to curl up and read and shut out the world.
Barbara Braxton