Books for boys

august06mom · March 2013

Anyone have book recommendations for grade school boys that are not Magic Treehouse? It seems like all the books have smart mouthed boys who hate school and their teachers. I don't mind some potty humor, but I'm not a fan of Nate the Great or Wimpy Kid.

Littlejen22 · March 2013

How old?

Flat Stanley? The great thing about Flat Stanley is they have the first four books and then a bunch of adventure books that are a higher reading level.

My friend's 7yo who usually would not read anything he thought was for girls because of his older sister likes Freckle Juice and I know Fudge can appeal to boys.

What about Fly Guy? My son is not into comics so he would not touch it.

https://childrensbooks.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJzTi=1sdn=childrensbookscdn=parentingtm=160f=10tt=2bt=1bts=1zu=http3A//classic.slcpl.org/good_reads.jsp3Fparent_id3D29126page_id3D306

*sparky* · March 2013

How old? Last year DS loved Calendar Mysteries and A to Z Mysteries. He also liked Encyclopedia Brown. Cam Jensen is also a pretty good series if your DS is into mysteries. This year he is reading mostly Harry Potter, Hardy Boys, and Wimpy Kid books.

august06mom · March 2013

Thank you for the links and suggestions! Both are extremely helpful. Littlejen, he is 6 and reads at about a 4th grade level. The problem I have is that it seems like so many boy books are geared toward "reluctant readers," which he isn't at all. I don't mind some poop talk and burp jokes, but we're currently trying to avoid books that talk about how stupid all the teachers are because we're finding (surprise, surprise) that he's parroting back a lot of what he reads in the books.

august06mom · March 2013

*sparky*:
How old? Last year DS loved Calendar Mysteries and A to Z Mysteries. He also liked Encyclopedia Brown. Cam Jensen is also a pretty good series if your DS is into mysteries. This year he is reading mostly Harry Potter, Hardy Boys, and Wimpy Kid books.

I've never read Harry Potter, but some have cautioned me that it's pretty dark. What do you think? He's usually not too bothered by stuff like that, but then he read half-way through "The Call of the Wild" and then told me it was too scary. He loved "The BFG" but thought "James and the Giant Peach" was too scary because of the aunts.

*sparky* · March 2013

august06mom:

*sparky*:
How old? Last year DS loved Calendar Mysteries and A to Z Mysteries. He also liked Encyclopedia Brown. Cam Jensen is also a pretty good series if your DS is into mysteries. This year he is reading mostly Harry Potter, Hardy Boys, and Wimpy Kid books.

I've never read Harry Potter, but some have cautioned me that it's pretty dark. What do you think? He's usually not too bothered by stuff like that, but then he read half-way through "The Call of the Wild" and then told me it was too scary. He loved "The BFG" but thought "James and the Giant Peach" was too scary because of the aunts.

He is only 6? There are parts of it that are pretty dark. The first couple of books are less scary than the others, so they may be okay but you may want to take a look at them first. Last year, when DS first got into Harry Potter, DH mostly read it to him, and I think he left certain things out or paraphrased certain parts. Now that DS is older, he gets that they are fantasy and reads them on his own without getting scared.

Hardy Boys may be better if he is a young advanced reader. Their adventures are exciting, so the stories keep my DS drawn in. He did struggle with some of the vocabulary but he is not as advanced a reader as your DS. If I think of any other series he likes I will post another response later.

neverblushed · March 2013

My son is 8, and he's a pretty good reader. He really likes Magic Treehouse, but he also likes longer chapter books for independent readers. Here are some that he's enjoyed:

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series

The Warrior Cats series

Geronimo Stilton/Thea Stilton

Gooseberry Park, by Cynthia Rylant

Beverly Cleary books: Socks, Ralph the Motorcycle Mouse, Beezus & Ramona, etc.

Various Star Wars:Clone Wars chapter books for kids

The adventures of Ordinary Boy (just got these for Christmas and he LOVES them! Very positive "hero" story.)

Percy Jackson series (these are a little intense; know your kid)

How To Train Your Dragon (book series much better/better values than movie.)

My son also likes graphic novels. He's read 3 graphic novel series so far: Warrior Cats Manga, The Olympians, Bone. (Warrior Cats is harmless and intended for kids; the other two are for an older audience but nothing R rated -- again, know your kid.)

neverblushed · March 2013

august06mom:
*sparky*:
How old? Last year DS loved Calendar Mysteries and A to Z Mysteries. He also liked Encyclopedia Brown. Cam Jensen is also a pretty good series if your DS is into mysteries. This year he is reading mostly Harry Potter, Hardy Boys, and Wimpy Kid books.
I've never read Harry Potter, but some have cautioned me that it's pretty dark. What do you think? He's usually not too bothered by stuff like that, but then he read half-way through "The Call of the Wild" and then told me it was too scary. He loved "The BFG" but thought "James and the Giant Peach" was too scary because of the aunts.

HP books 1 through 3 are okay for younger kids. From fourth book on, things get darker. My son read the first 3 when he was 6. We made him wait until 8 to read the 4th book, and I read it out loud to him. We're not in a big rush to read the next one. Maybe when he's 10?

Littlejen22 · March 2013

august06mom:
Thank you for the links and suggestions! Both are extremely helpful. Littlejen, he is 6 and reads at about a 4th grade level. The problem I have is that it seems like so many boy books are geared toward "reluctant readers," which he isn't at all. I don't mind some poop talk and burp jokes, but we're currently trying to avoid books that talk about how stupid all the teachers are because we're finding surprise, surprise that he's parroting back a lot of what he reads in the books. nbsp;

I hear you, I have the same exact same situation of a 6yo that is reading advanced, the biggest issue I am having is that his reading comprehension is good for his age but he cannot fully comprehend books that are way advanced for his age because of the topics. Even though Flat Stanley is on lists for reluctant readers it is still great enjoyable reading so if you have not looked at it already I would really recommend it, our library has most of them too. What are his interests and is he willing to read books that are not really boy books? My son is definitely outside the norm there but right now he is LOVING reading an American Girl book, Meet Molly. He is loving the story and loves history so it is very cool for him especially his his Grandmother was so close in age to the main character. But it also takes me some time to explain what rations were and even what war is. I also had to explain that some families have more means than others.

Littlejen22 · March 2013

august06mom:
*sparky*:
How old?  Last year DS loved Calendar Mysteries and A to Z Mysteries.  He also liked Encyclopedia Brown.  Cam Jensen is also a pretty good series if your DS is into mysteries.  This year he is reading mostly Harry Potter, Hardy Boys, and Wimpy Kid books.
I've never read Harry Potter, but some have cautioned me that it's pretty dark. What do you think? He's usually not too bothered by stuff like that, but then he read half-way through "The Call of the Wild" and then told me it was too scary. He loved "The BFG" but thought "James and the Giant Peach" was too scary because of the aunts.  

What about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? I read that to DS before he was starting chapter books on his own. Then again DS is still almost exclusively reading out loud to me so if he had questions I am right there, he is not ready to read big books on his own yet.

mill1020 · March 2013

Some of my boys' faves:

The Indian In The Cupboard

Sideways Stories From Wayside School

Runaway Ralph

Seaglass Summer

The BFG/ James and the Giant Peach/ Matilda

Martie McGuire Digs Worms

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

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