What Stories Does My Son Need?

A Guide to Books and Movies that Build Character in Boys

Michael Gurian

Michael Gurian is a family therapist, educator and author.  His motivation for writing the book was his sadness and anger when observing young children being taken to see violent or horror films aimed at an older audience, and his concern for the need for guidance relating to the often violent, sexualised images boys see in the media.

The book is specifically relating to boys, who are often more attracted to media such as video arcades, gameboy, and  ‘sex-and-aggression- based’ media, and often imitate what they see/hear.

The first 13 pages of the book cover Gurians' reasons for writing, how boys are ‘wired’ and how parents can use media positively to be a role model to boys.  The rest of the book gives suggestions and descriptions of Movies and books (separate sections) relevant to each age group.

The descriptions Gurian provides are brief (a paragraph) and cover both the gist of the story and what the key values are in the story.  Following each description are a few discussion starter questions.  The Recommended movies/books are split into the following age groups: Preschool/Kindergarten; Elementary School Lower Grades 1 – 3; Elementary School Upper Grades 4 – 6; Middle school; High School.  Resources recommended include old favourites and modern work; there are at least 11 suggestions (i.e. 11 movies) for each age group, up to 30 for some age groups.

This book would be a great guide for parents wanting to use media in a positive way and wanting to insure they invest in good quality media.  It would also be useful for staff / volunteers running children / youth programmes, to ensure movie choices are age appropriate and a positive influence and ‘life lesson’ for the audience it is intended for.

i-care parenting has one copy of this book in its library available for borrowing.

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