Harry Potter Beat Up By Girl
TORONTO, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ — Woolies and Worms’ plucky Sarah Tufts outsold the boy wizard this weekend, in at least one bookstore. “Sarah caused a wonderful traffic jam around our cash register,” said Josh Davis, of Coles Books where author Stephen MacNeil signed copies. “Selling almost two hundred books in two hours was amazing. Sarah Tufts might very well inherit the Harry Potter crown.”
As December approaches, booksellers would be thrilled to see any book fill the gift-giving gap. “I love seeing books under the Christmas tree,” said retired English teacher Susan Dignan, one of many customers in line. “Books can be a nice antidote for those mindless video games.”
Woolies and Worms is a ripping good yarn that may have the right ingredients for continued success as the series grows. Lead character, Sarah Tufts, captivates girls but also reaches those elusive boy readers. Perhaps boys can admire a girl who, after being swept overboard during a storm, is spunky enough to use a dead pirate as a life preserver.
It also appears that Woolies and Worms, like Harry Potter, reveals a strange world appealing to both children and adults. “I met a ton of grown-ups today,” said MacNeil, a special needs teacher at a Canadian high school. “Some said they were buying it for nephews or nieces, but who knows!” If the secret of blockbuster success is connecting with more than one generation, adults can enjoy Woolies and Worms’ emotional stakes and witty wordplay, while younger readers can enjoy its full-tilt plot.
Boy readers who tend to seek out edgier books should be excited by Woolie and Worms’ dastardly villains. Girl readers who gravitate towards character development won’t be disappointed either. When Sarah chomps into her kidnapper’s hand, readers learn more about her spirit than any meandering internal monologue could reveal.
————————————————————————- Boys typically read text messages and Happy Meal bags, so how can you encourage them to read language-rich books such as Woolies and Worms? HOW TO RAISE A BOY READER Monkey See, Monkey Do Boys identify with the men in their lives, and research shows moms are ten times more likely to pick up a novel than dads. However, dads are far more likely to flip through the newspaper. While boys reading newspapers is a great start, if the goal is more sustained reading then show him how it’s done. Crank Up the Danger Anyone who has seen a young boy tapping his foot as he struggles with a math problem knows boys are wired differently. Research shows that boys’ brains lapse quicker into neutral if not stimulated. To avoid squirming, boys need adventure stories with an extra jolt of suspense. Gross Me Out As well as edgier stories, boys love books with gross humor. While girl readers might wrinkle their noses at a windy backside, boys are more inclined to hum along. A gassy pirate with poor hygiene may be just the character to get your son turning pages. Move Your Lips Youngsters love their parents reading to them, so why stop? Children of all ages will enjoy story time again, but this time let them read to you too. Let your son hear your best impersonation of a salty sea captain. http://www.wooliesandworms.com/ ————————————————————————- For information about Cricket books, visit http://www.cricketmag.com/.
Stephen MacNeil
CONTACT: Stephen MacNeil, Phone (519) 732-5257, E-mail:stephen@wooliesandworms.com, Website: wooliesandworms.com