Dads who spend more time reading may encourage their sons to do the same.
That’s according to new parenting advice due to be presented to experts in Australia this week, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Looking at families in the UK, Killian Mullan – a research associate at the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales – found that boys most eager to read were those whose fathers enjoy reading themselves.
A minimum of 50 minutes of daily reading was required to have an identifiable influence on the child, and the father needed to be visible to the child while thumbing through his favorite book or newspaper.
The research confirms a long line of evidence suggesting boys have more difficulty engaging with written material than girls.
Jon Scieszka, children’s author and the U.S. Library of Congress’ national ambassador for children’s books, recently told the Washington Post that boys needed to be enticed with more than simply fiction.
"They’d rather read nonfiction or humor, graphic novels, science fiction, action adventure, audio books, or online reading and magazines," Scieszka was quoted as saying. 
It’s very important to get men reading with boys. I’m the founder of a new, innovative literacy program called Boys Read. Boys Read’s mission is to transform boys into lifelong readers. We’re an organization of parents, educators, librarians, mentors, authors, and booksellers. A core objective of Boys Read is to establish Reading Tribes. Tribes are informal reading circles for pleasure and non-deterministic learning. They’re very similar to book clubs. Tribes are a great opportunity to bond with boys. A Tribe Leader acts as a mentor and facilitator for the Tribe. Parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, coaches, and other community outreach programs and services organize Tribes. Our website features many extraordinary authors who have published numerous compelling and gripping novels that boys love. For more information about Boys Read, visit our website at boysread.org.