This happens in our house:
The boys spending their evening reading.
Let’s be honest, part of the reason they enjoy it is that it prolongs bedtime. But I hope that they will continue to love reading and we do our best as their parents to find books that hold their interest.
Here are a few of our favorites for the boys:
It was really hard for me to narrow these down. And I would never say these are only for boys. But these are some of our boys’ most loved stories. The entire bear series is adorable. As is the bat series and elephant & piggie. And Narnia must be on the list even though we’ve only made it through two of the seven books {we love the movies}.
Do you have favorite books for boys? Please share!
Hi Emily,
I’m picky about books, too. We love N.D. Wilson’s books – all of them – and HIGHLY recommend! My son (8) is reading Leepike Ridge right now and can’t put it down.
My kids are all older but we had some favorite read aloud books that both girls and boys in our family loved. Treasures of the Snow and The Tanglewoods’ Secret were such wonderful books by Patricia St John!
I am picky with my son who has loved reading since before he could sit up. He spends so much time reading that I have had many discussions with him that since there are SOOO many book out there he may as well pick from the best. Having said that, some of his fave series’ are and have been Magic Treehouse, books by Jon Scieszka, 39 Clues, The Great Brain, Peter & the Starcatchers and Spiderwick Chronicles.
I am a mom of 3 boys and a grandma of 1 and I have to say you need to add any David Shannon book and Piarates don’t change diappers. The McDuff series is adorable too!
the david books are great!
You Are Special- Max Lucado.
I can still hear my grandma reading this to us- made such an impact.
We gave our son the Action Bible for Christmas and he reads it every single day. It’s full of bible stories in comic book form and he can’t get enough.
A couple of fabulous read aloud chapter books for all children– not just boys– is From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. It’s about two kids who run away from home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and solve a mystery. The other one is Have You Seen Hyacinth Macaw? by Patricia Reilly Giff– another mystery. As a teacher, I personally think kids are never too old to be read aloud to, and it creates great family memories! I love all the book suggestions for all ages– what a wonderful idea!!
Ian and I just finished reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians all five books – I sometimes kept him up past his bedtime because I wanted to read another chapter. They are fun – and instigated some interesting discussions about Greek mythology. We have them all if you want to borrow them (and then all our boys can pretend they are heroes fighting monsters:)
Captain Underpants series
Big Little Brother
anything by James Marshall
anything by Richard Scary
i have been blessed with 7 nephews and only 1 niece (*sob* i just want to buy girly things!) and love gifting them with books. i love reading a visitor for bear by bonny becker. the other bear and mouse books are also very sweet (a birthday for bear and a bedtime for bear) but this one is still my favorite.
for older boys, have you heard of the gregor the overlander series? it’s by suzanne collins (same author as the hunger games) but geared a bit more towards younger kids, although i’m 26 and just devoured all 5. i recommended them to my older nephews (11 and 10) and they are getting into them also.
thanks for sharing all these wonderful books! can’t wait for the rest of the week :)
An older series, Rick Brant Science Adventures, is out of print, but can be found on Amazon. Some of the books are free. It was my favorite as a boy in the fifties.
Focus on the Family puts out a cd set of the Narnia series which is phenomenal. Perfect for road trips!!
My 7 year old loves all the Elephant and Piggie books, the Melvin Beederman Superhero books and Scaredy Squirrel.
For read alouds, we like Peter and the Starcatchers – a prequel to Peter Pan written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.
Oh, where to start? My 8 year old love the Wimpy Kid series. He’s also liked the Magic Tree House series and the Little House series. Anything by Bevery Cleary, too. And The Barefoot Book of Knights and the Barefoot Book of Pirates. He also loves those choose your own adventure/ending historical fiction books. My 4 year old likes the Froggy series (Jonathon London) and The Five Little Monkies series (Eileen Christalow.) We’ve also read the Robert McCloskey books over and over (Love Make Way for Ducklings!) Oh and my 8 year old loves a very old book that was my favorite as a child (don’t you love it when that happens?) called The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton. I was thrilled to discover when I bought it for him that there are two sequels, The Magic Faraway Tree and The Folk of the Faraway Tree.
Oh, and to the other Michele above me, didn’t Kathleen Kelly have the most wonderful job ever?
I’m enjoying book week so much! We love anything Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss is classic and so many others. I can’t wait to add some of your suggestions to my amazon cart. I started buying children’s books long before I had children (probably my obsession with You’ve Got Mail and Kathleen Kelly in the late 90s).
Any and all Roald Dahl book. Charlie and theChocolate Factory of course but all were loved by our 7 and 6 year old. (The Twits, Matilda, Esio Trot. )
Henry Huggins is another favourite. We are just startin Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon. I love good children’s literature!
“The Beast in Ms. Rooney’s Room” and the rest of ‘The Kids of the Polk Street School’ Books. The 1980’s cover are way cuter than the newer covers though, so get them used on ebay of amazon. :)
For the 2-3 year old set, Good Night, Good Night Constructions Site is a great bedtime story!
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare Your older boys would love this. The setting is right around the time of Jesus and it’s about the Romans over taking Jerusalem. Soooo good. You really should read to them or them read it themselves. I am really loving this book week. Such great info from you and all the comments.
My son is four and he loves the Elephant and Piggie books. They make him laugh out loud every time. We also have “Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear”, which is a favorite of his at Christmastime. The “Little Engine that Could” is also one of our favorites. It is a classic and such a great story, with a great lesson.
THANK YOU for posting this! I’m enjoying your readers comments/book suggestions as well. I have been wanting to ask this very question. I have two boys, ages 9 and 12. They do school at home all day so are anxious to play video games when finished. I work to keep reading as part of their “activities” a few times a week but I know that a good series/book will draw them in. My 12 year old fell asleep every night reading The Hunger Game series…he couldn’t put it down. That’s what I love to see!
Walking into the library is overwhelming…I have no idea where to begin. (Coming from a mom who practically lived at the library and checked out the max number of books every two weeks — I LOVE to read!!)
Compiling my list now…based on all these suggestions. Thanks again to all!
Thanks everybody for all the great book selections. I’m sure my two boys will love getting into a new series or two or three :-)
My twins, who are 3 1/2 (boy and girl) love the Llama, Llama books (and I love reading them out loud!) and, of course, Curious George.
I love Book Week at JDC!!! “Tree Ring Circus” by Adam Rex is a super fun one!
I just recently bought my 9 year old Sprirt Fighter by Jerel Law. He loves it! I’ve often ‘caught’ him reading long after his required reading minutes have passed.
The comedy books from James Patterson are a hit with my 11 year old right now. They include Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life, Middle School: Get Me out of Here! and I Funny: A Middle School Story. I have monitored our reading for a while and still do but am able to now give my oldest a little freedom in choosing and he has read these twice now. He and his 10 year old brother love the Wimpy Kid series as well. My 10 year old is enjoying the Nicholas series by René Goscinny. We still do a lot of read alouds and we are currently on the last book in the Crispin series by Avi. I could go on and on but I’ll be here all day. I also forgot to include in yesterdays comments the book, Whoever You Are by Mem Fox and Leslie Staub.
Many of my students (and myself!) enjoyed Hatchett by Gary Paulson. Also the Skeleton Creek series with interactive on-line videos. I taught 3rd grade and these were favs ; o )
I am loving everyone’s suggestions. We are a big Mike Mulligan family and anything by Loren Long (Otis, The Little Engine that could). We have also gotten into some of the vintage readers (Alice and Jerry, Friendly Village, etc.) – they are really fantastic. My almost 4 year old Legomaniac will sit through chapters of these books. I was hugely into Little House on the Praire and started reading these to my guys, too.
Our boys really enjoy the Jeff Stoddard books (Pete and Pillar:The Big Rain and Skid and the Too Tiny Tunnel). Great stories about trucks and other big machines that are centered on a Scripture verse. Neat illustrations too!!
My boys are 9, 7, and 5. They love the Box Car Children books, Little Pilgrims Progress, Magic Tree House series, A to Z Mysteries, Rick Riordan’s books, The Invention of Huge Cabret (my oldest cannot put down), The Harry Potter series, Chronicles of Narnia, Holes by Louis Sachar, a non-fiction series called “I Survived..”
There is also a great blog called GuysRead.com. It is actually geared for boys – you can click on the reading lists and they’ll tell you what age levels the books are appropriate for!
My kids LOVE Charlie’s Superhero Underpants. It is seriously the cutest book I have ever read. I also love reading it to them…and I can’t honestly say that about a lot of the books they have. :) You should definitely check it out.
The Magic Tree house books are also excellent and they have tutorial books to go along with the story.
Favorite poetry book – The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders by Jack Prelutsky – very silly and fun pictures! ( I would say ages 4 – 8)
Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel – is it weird that this story makes me cry?
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl – my husband has read this with all three of our boys and now they are reading it on their own (age 7 – 12)
My Side of the Mountain and anything by Beverly Cleary – don’t you just wish your boys could live life like Henry Huggins?
The all time favorite at our house is Calvin and Hobbes (we are on our second and third copies of several of these books!) I do often feel like I am the mom in this comic :)
“Where the Wild Things Are” was a book my boys loved. For boys a little older, I recommend “Willy Wonks & the Chocolate Factory” and “James and the Giant Peach,” both by Roald Dahl.
My oldest boy read his way through The Magic Tree House series at 6 and 7. He is 8 and loves the classics kids’ section at Barnes and Noble–Journey to the Center of the Earth, Swiss Family Robinson, and Treasure Island to name a few. His fave book is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. So happy to have an avid reader too!
I ‘m reading my two year old “Leonardo The Terrible Monster” By: Mo Willems. I’m a huge Mo Willems fan.
As a mom of one boy (and soon to be 2 – due in April)…it’s all about the boy at our house. We LOVE the bear snores on and the entire bear series. “The Truck Book” and “Roadwork” are also favorites…as is Blueberries for Sal (my fav from when I was little) and the little engine that could. :)
Blueberries for sal was my favorite growing up too!
My youngest, who just turned 10 loves to read. A few of his recommendations are Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Vordak series, Captain Underpants series, Yoda, Tales of a Sixth Grade Muppet, Big Nate, Clueless McGee, Pickle, and Wonkenstein. His latest re-reads are from some of my favorite children’s authors, Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. Who doesn’t love the Mouse and the Motorcycle and Freckle Juice? Shel Silverstein is also another household fav.
My 3rd grader cruises through the diary of the wimpy kid and big nate books. He loves those. He just read dear mr. hinshaw and loved that.
My boys love the Little Blue Truck books — http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547248288/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=197YBV1XQ86ZC265XME2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846
Thanks for the link, it’s a cute book! Emily, love the idea of these posts. Always looking for good books for the littles.
Love “The Lightning Thief” series by Rick Riordan!!!
I just stumbled upon your blog! I love it! Thank you for the reads for boys! I will come and visit daily!
Thanks for stopping by!
My youngest is the reader out of my 2 boys. He LOVES LOVES LOVES the Percy Jackson series and Mark of Athenia/Son of Neptune, which was the continuation of Percy Jackson. He also like The Hunger Games, Shiloh, The Trumpet of the Swan, anything Star Wars, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Calvin and Hobbes. Sorry the list is long, but the kid loves to read!
My oldest, who doesn’t like to read much really loved the Trumpet of the Swan and Call of the Wild when he had to read for school!
Loving your recommended books!!
Also, had to ask because I am thinking about ordering the same striped rug but wondering how it does on top of carpeting, is that the one from Crate & Barrel?
Yes – the rug is crate & barrel. It works great over carpet. We have actually moved it into our bedroom now :)
I LOVE IT!!! The Forever moving rug!!!
Anything by Shel Silverstein. Yesterday’s mentioned, Pumpernickle, Tickle and Ice Cream Cone Coot. And, as he got older, Neil Gaiman books. Also “Choose Your Own Ending” books and “How to Draw Superheros” books. Almost anything about drawing, actually. The boy graduated from SCAD with a decree in Sequential Art…is now 37 and still reads and draws all the time.
The Bear series is our favorite!! I think I love it even more than my kids. Might have to look in to Narnia, my 7 year old would love it. Thanks!!
The Percy Jackson and The Olympians series!
What are the ages of your boys that enjoy these books? Thanks!
My 8 year old loves hardy boys, 7 year old loves elephant & piggie, 5 year old loves the picture books {bear, bats, circus}.
The 7 silly eaters is fabulous for boys. Love it. Silly yet with a great message.
Just bought our son the Left Behind series for kids for Christmas. He also loves the Bible! (Thank You, Lord!!) ;)
I am an art teacher grades K-8. Sometimes I am at a loss for “boy” books. Thank you for a refreshing list!