Kids will read if what they are reading is interesting to them. Most of the stuff in elementary is feminized, to the point of being boring.
I did a study on kids who didn’t like to read for a class I took several years ago. I discovered that most of these kids simply didn’t like to read fiction. Most of them enjoyed non-fiction. While getting kids to read the classics is important, non-fiction should be a part of the curriculum as well.
So true! Our older son was five when I started trying to get his younger brother to stay in his bed to sleep. To do this I would lay down with him, and we'd read together. That son began reading, on his own, a couple of years later. Meanwhile, his older brother lagged in reading. He COULD read, he just didn't find anything interesting to read.
The summer after the 5th grade, we enrolled him in a program offering different fun subjects for six weeks. One of the ones he chose was Role Playing Games, and that got him really interested. We started buying him Dungeons and Dragons books, and he and his younger brother started playing, and got their friends to join them. We monitored everyone with whom they played, so it was safe for them, but it got them reading, and not just piddly kids books!
That son went on to be an English major, and is now a lawyer, a terrific researcher and writer, and still plays role playing games!
Our only daughter has always been a good reader, and enjoys books on lots of subjects. Our youngest son, two years younger than his sister, wasn't much interested, however, until I found the "Redwall" novels, by Brian Jacques. There is enough soft-heartedness in the stories for girls, but they're also blood-thirsty enough for boys! They were also loads of fun for Mom to read aloud to them almost every night during their elementary school years.