Harry Potter and children’s literature; getting toy ideas from what children like to read
It's always interesting to see what children say they like when it comes to play and entertainment. That was why I thought we could all benefit from the findings of a study I found in a blog, Writing and Illustrating, by Kathleen Temean. The study, conducted by Denise Davila and Lisa Patrick for the January 2010 issue of Language Arts, is entitled "Asking the Experts: What Children Have to Say about Their Reading Preferences."
Both genders in grades three to five like scary, funny, and action-packed stories. In general, avid readers of both sexes share many of the same reading interests although there are some differences.
Girls more frequently choose fiction and boys more frequently choose nonfiction. Girls more frequently prefer to read catalogues, song lyrics, poetry, and cookbooks. Boys more frequently read informational materials about videogames, sports, cars, and trucks. Boys also like fantasy, crime/detective stories, and war/spy stories, comics, graphic novels, and joke books.
I found several things interesting:
Tastes in reading have not really changed since we were children. Scary, funny and action packed sold then and they do now.
Boys and girls share many of the same tastes in reading. Does that mean they do in toys as well and do we have research on that?
I was surprised that children were so functional in some of their reading choices. Girls read catalogs and cookbooks. Boys read informational materials. In light of this, do toys provide enough in the way of practical applications? In other words, is there a business in providing additional materials (think books, videos, and websites) on how to be better at specific toys, board games and puzzles?
I was amazed that kids still read joke books. Some things really never do change.
I wonder if we spend too much of our assets making toys by gender and ignore the sweet spot in the middle. Scary, funny and action packed sells, just ask Harry Potter. We need more of it.
