Overview: Discover 6 fun and creative ways to introduce boys to classic literature. From adventure-filled stories to hands-on activities, these tips will make classic books engaging and enjoyable for young readers.
When I was in 9th grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Rensch, attempted to have our class read Romeo and Juliet out loud. She assigned parts to some of the stronger readers in the class and we gave it a go.
It didn’t take long for her to realize that we weren’t getting anything out of it. We didn’t have any idea how to read Shakespeare properly and we were turning it into a very dry, agonizing experience.
Her attempt to enlighten us about the humor in the literature was completely lost on us.
After a few days, she had us close our books and put our heads down on our desks. Mrs. Rensch’s voice grew sharp and her brows furrowed as she explained that Shakespeare’s works were never meant to be reduced to mere words on a page, but to be passionately performed with thunderous voices and electrifying energy.
She put on a record (yes, a record – I know that dates me) of Romeo and Juliet and had us listen to the play as experienced Shakespearean actors performed it.
Suddenly, the words made sense. The words weren’t merely read – they jumped off the page. And lo and behold, there actually were funny parts!
After we finished listening to the play, she brought in a TV and we watched a performance as well. We got so much more out of it by her teaching methods than if we had merely read the play as a class – or even worse, tried reading it silently to ourselves.
If you’ve been trying to get your sons to read classic literature and it isn’t going very well, there are different methods that you can try.
Here are 6 Fun Ways to Introduce Boys to Classic Literature:
1. Choose Wisely
Some classics are just plain boring.
Seriously.
I LOVE to read – but some books are so thick that I feel like I need to plow through them with a shovel versus being able to enjoy them and get something out of them.
I remember having to read a novel by Henry James and really struggling with it. The sentences were as long as normal paragraphs and the paragraphs went on for pages!
The only way I made it through that book was to read it out loud to myself. Hearing the words helped me to follow along better than just merely reading them in my head.
But even then, I don’t even remember the title of that book to this day, not to mention learning anything from reading it.
On the other hand, I fondly remember reading exciting classic books such as Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo, and 1984. Boys (and many girls) are going to have a much easier time reading a book with plenty of action versus a book where the author goes on for page after page describing a tea towel or talking about feelings.
2. Read them Aloud
Often, classic books are ones I will choose to read aloud. This helps me to be able to discuss them more fully with my boys while we are reading them and to gauge whether or not they are getting anything out of the book.
3. Audiobooks
Sometimes the wording and/or phrasing in classic books can be difficult to comprehend. If we hear them read by a trained voice actor, however, they are quite delightful.
Try having your son listen to an audiobook while following along in his own copy. This will help him to get much more out of the experience than merely reading the book.
You can find lots of audiobooks at your local library. Also, there are many FREE audiobooks, especially of classic works, which you can download from openculture.com.
4. Dramatized versions
There are also times when hearing a dramatized version of the book will teach your son what you want him to learn much more vividly. There are some amazing dramatized books out there.
We recently purchased a couple of dramatized G.A. Henty books that are fantastic – In Freedom’s Cause and Under Drake’s Flag.
5. Abridged versions
Depending on the age of your child and the purpose behind your wanting him to read a classic work, your son may get just as much, if not more, out of reading an abridged version of a book.
When my boys were younger, we enjoyed reading classics in the Classic Starts Series.
6. Movies
There are some amazing movies based on classic works. Sometimes, if your son is struggling to get through a book, knowing that he can watch the movie when he’s done will help him continue plodding through.
Sometimes, there is just as much value from merely watching the movie rather than reading the book at all. Whenever possible, I try to have my boys read the book BEFORE they watch the movie.
When choosing which movies to watch, be sure to do your research. Some movies veer very far away from the book on which they’re based. Unless we have a trusted recommendation to go by, I usually search for the oldest movie I can find and view that one.
The older movies tend to follow the books more closely and include direct quotes from the books.
BONUS – Graphic Novels
Another great way to get our boys excited about reading the classics is to present the material to them through a graphic novel. Usborne makes these incredible graphic novels for Robin Hood, Dracula, King Arthur, The Odyssey, and the Hound of the Baskervilles which will help the action of the stories leap to life for your son.
Consider allowing your son to read the story this way and once he’s familiar with the plot, he’ll be more likely to read through the full-length classic afterward.
The way we approach classic works will determine whether our sons will enjoy them or whether they will avoid them like the plague. Whether or not your son is an avid reader, there are ways to help him enjoy classic works as much as he enjoys reading The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.
(BTW – Those are great classics to start your son on if he hasn’t read them, yet!)
Question – How do you approach the classics with your son? Do you prefer to hand him a book or have you found other methods which help your son to digest them more readily? Please leave a comment below.
This is a great post! I have struggled with the “right” way to read the classics. I admit to being a unabridged “snob”, but over the past couple of years, I have started to give that up.
What do I want my son to get out of these books? I want him to be able to give me an outline of the story, including the setting, characters, main conflict. I want him to see if he can identify some key themes. Does that mean he needs to read unabridged versions? No. Usually not.
In the past couple of years, we have done:
Gilgamesh – we did this as a read aloud
The Odyssey – we used an audio book – it is part of the oral tradition, after all
Julius Caesar – we first read a children’s version by Adam McKeown and then listened to a full-cast audio theater dramatization by Arkangel (highly recommend) – we followed along in our own book.
Beowulf – audio book (this was abridged, but read by the author/translator Seamus Heaney)
Grendel – we read this one to ourselves – unfortunately neither of us liked it
Romeo & Juliet – we first read a children’s version by Adam McKeown and then listened to a full-cast audio theater dramatization by Arkangel – we followed along in our own book
Hamlet – we first read a children’s version by Adam McKeown and then watched the movie version with Kenneth Branagh
A Tale of Two Cities – audio book
One advantage of audio books is that you can do other things while you are listening – draw, build with Legos, etc.
My 9th grade English teacher did the same thing as yours. We listened to an audio version of Romeo & Juliet (maybe on cassette). The only mistake he made was that he was so moved by the story that he cried. NOT something you want to do in front of a room full of 9th graders. Poor man.
We have always loved the Henty books and I recently saw the full-cast recordings you mentioned. I previewed and they sound fatastic! I hadn’t realized there was more than In Freedom’s Cause. Are there any others? We have enjoyed the ones by Jim Weiss and we have a few by Jim Hodges, as well.
Great post!
Sarah
I hear you, Sarah. I was an unabridged snob as well. I enjoyed pushing myself to read as many classic books as I could… and I thought for sure my boys would also have that same desire. Ha! At least they don’t at 14 and 12. Truth be told, I didn’t have that desire, either, until I was in my 20s. Maybe there’s hope for them later?!?!? 🙂
Jim Weiss is wonderful!!! For the dramatized Henty books, there are two so far: In Freedom’s Cause and Under Drake’s Flag (see above.) They’re wonderful and hopefully they will continue to produce more! We bought them for the boys this past Christmas and are listening to them now.
Oh, your poor English teacher. Ouch! That’s another advantage of being a homeschool teacher, though. I cry in front of my “class” all of the time and they just roll their eyes at each other. They’re used to Mom crying when we get to the sad parts. I cry when I watch diaper commercials so there’s no hope in getting me to stay emotionless while reading a great book. LOL
Different boys, different books, different methods. My oldest, who will graduate college this May as an English major, would read anything and everything and LOVE it. My other 5 sons have had varying degrees of a love/hate relationship with literature. And I’ve done all of the things you suggest over the years! One will like a book and another will hate it. Its been interesting and challenging finding ways to encourage them all to read and somewhat appreciate classics. I’ve definitely had to change my expectations for each son! But I feel like they each get what they need to out of the books – even if it isn’t always the points I focused on. Be flexible!
Excellent point, Cindy! Flexibility is something I keep hearing over and over from God, lately… Definitely something I’m trying to work on.
We’re all different and the beauty of homeschooling is that we’re able to tailor our boys’ education to best fit their needs – and to prepare them for whatever it is God has for them in this life. Thanks for the great comment! 🙂
We’ve tried very hard to instill a love of reading in our son. In today’s digital world, some people are forgetting what a true book is. Teaching them to love the classics and want to read the new books is a great thing to do!
Yep. So true!
I have to say that I’ve enjoyed my boys having kindles because they’re able to download all sorts of classic books for free – and I also love ebooks from the library because then there aren’t library fines if we don’t get them back right on time. But yeah, I get your point. Pros and cons of our digital age!
Good points to keep in mind for the classics! I checked out The Magicians Nephew from the library in audio form and my 6-yr-old listened to it so many times I thought he would memorize it. The only problem in someone is hording the other library audio books of the series, and I think I’ll need to borrow a friend’s or buy the rest.
I’m new to homeschooling and have never made a “reading list for the year” like I’ve seen some bloggers mention. How could I go about planning my list if I wanted to? It seems like I could take the list in many different directions?
Yes, we’ve had that problem with library books as well. You can usually find them on Amazon or Ebay fairly cheaply… so there are times when we need to bite the bullet and buy our own copies. 🙂
As for making a list, you can do that many different ways. There are no right or wrong books to have your child read. Pick some things that you know they will enjoy because of their interests. Pick some things that with compliment the rest of your studies. I wrote a blog post about choosing good books for your children that might be helpful: https://www.homeschool-your-boys.com/choosingbooks.html
Have fun! 🙂
My boys would read the books, but I did find I needed to be careful to choose the books carefully. An ill-chosen book would take forever to read while one like Frankenstein (high school teens) would be devoured. 🙂
Makes a huge difference, doesn’t it?!? 🙂
All of these are great points. Some days I forget that there are other ways to incorporate the classics. Thanks for sharing and reminding me that we all learn, read and enjoy things differently. 🙂
You’re welcome. Yes, it’s easy to forget about the freedom that we have as homeschoolers to customize the educational experience for each of our children, isn’t it?!?