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I need some ideas for "boy books"...


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My son, who is seven, is an accelerated reader. He read The Hobbit with me at five... reading level was fine, but the print was small and we were working on building stamina. But now I am having a hard time finding books that he truly LOVES.

 

I'll give you some examples:

 

He loved (and read alone):

Dangerous Journey

Grettir the Strong by Allen French

Harry Potter (I had to cut him off after the first four though because of nightmares.)

Robin Hood; Green

Chronicles of Narnia

(He likes his books violent. Out of this list Grettir is probably his favorite.) ETA: I just went up to turn out their light and he was reading The Story of Peter Rabbit. I forgot to mention that he is a huge Beatrix Potter fan

 

 

He has HATED and refused to finish:

The Door in the Wall

Any fairy tale involving heroes that fall in love and do dumb things like Lancelot and Guinevere.

Pretty much any modern fiction.

 

He will not pick up a chapter book on his own at this point, though he was reading Magic Tree House type stuff at 5 years old. Since then, he will read for school, but I'm having a hard time getting him really "into" reading, except for comic books: Tin Tin, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, etc... Now I remember my oldest going through this at a point, but then he got into the Hank the Cowdog books and has not looked back. I think that on some level, the seven-year-old doesn't like it that his older brother has already read all the books at our house and he feels like he can never accomplish anything first, you know? He is EXTREMELY competitive.

 

So... any suggestions? Books or otherwise?

Edited by Old Dominion Heather
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My son, also 7, is a history buff. I found a Davy Crocket book from the library and he really liked it. It is the childhood of famous american series by Aladdin Paperbacks. My son is on to one about Daniel Boone and he's chosen his next one about Abe Lincoln. They are large print and just shy of 200 pages. They have chapters but are not numbered. It could be worth a try.

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If he likes Peter Rabbit, what about Burgess? -- Burgess Animal Book and Bird Book both feature Peter. Burgess also wrote the Mother West Wind books.

 

If he likes Robin Hood and Chronicles, what about The Wonder Clock or Otto of the Silver Hand by Howard Pyle?

 

James Herriot's Treasury for Children -- Short animal stories/beautiful illustrations.

 

Take care,

Suzanne.

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Both my boys devoured the entire series.

 

Swallows and Amazons (and sequels) are also good - not violent but adventurous.

 

You might like to look at more Roger Lancelyn Green - there are retellings of the siege of Troy, another Troy-based one called The Luck of Troy, King Arthur.....

 

If he likes Beatrix Potter, have you tried him on the original AA Milne Winnie the Pooh stories? He might also like Dick King-Smith.

 

ETA: maybe not King Arthur after what you said about Lancelot.....

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

Edited by Laura Corin
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Thank you all.

 

 

These suggestions are great... I had forgotten that he loves Milne. We do have some more Roger Lanceln Green. I'll head him on to those. We've not looked at Swallows and Amazons. I'll check on that. He's not been a huge fan of biography, but we'll give it a try.

 

I think he would love King-Smith, but his brother is a big fan so he is reluctant to read them since he can't read them first. The Redwall books have the same problem. DS10 has read them all. Ds7 doesn't like to read anything that he can't read first. I'm hoping to get him past that at some point. Ds10 wants his brother to read Redwall, but if he even acts like he is going to pick up the book, he hounds him to hurry up and read it.

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My ds, 7, recommends:

 

The Hardy Boys (original series)

 

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

 

books by H. Irving Hancock: The Grammar School Boys series, The High School Boys series, The High School Boys Vacation series, The West Point series, The Annapolis series, Uncle Sam's Boys series, and The Dave Darrin series

 

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series by Betty MacDonald

 

Little Pilgrim's Progress by Helen Taylor

 

Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary

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My son, who is seven, is an accelerated reader. He read The Hobbit with me at five... reading level was fine, but the print was small and we were working on building stamina. But now I am having a hard time finding books that he truly LOVES.

 

I'll give you some examples:

 

He loved (and read alone):

Dangerous Journey

Grettir the Strong by Allen French

Harry Potter (I had to cut him off after the first four though because of nightmares.)

Robin Hood; Green

Chronicles of Narnia

(He likes his books violent. Out of this list Grettir is probably his favorite.) ETA: I just went up to turn out their light and he was reading The Story of Peter Rabbit. I forgot to mention that he is a huge Beatrix Potter fan

 

 

He has HATED and refused to finish:

The Door in the Wall

Any fairy tale involving heroes that fall in love and do dumb things like Lancelot and Guinevere.

Pretty much any modern fiction.

 

He will not pick up a chapter book on his own at this point, though he was reading Magic Tree House type stuff at 5 years old. Since then, he will read for school, but I'm having a hard time getting him really "into" reading, except for comic books: Tin Tin, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, etc... Now I remember my oldest going through this at a point, but then he got into the Hank the Cowdog books and has not looked back. I think that on some level, the seven-year-old doesn't like it that his older brother has already read all the books at our house and he feels like he can never accomplish anything first, you know? He is EXTREMELY competitive.

 

So... any suggestions? Books or otherwise?

 

Oh. My. Goodness. This describes my second born to a T. From reading The Hobbit at 6, liking his books violent, to being competitive (mine refuses to read Narnia because his older brother is reading them).

 

He enjoyed this Beowulf quite a bit, and he devoured the Percy Jackson series. He's now reading Lord of the Rings. Once he's done I think I'm going to have him try Journey to the Center of the Earth. Your son might enjoy Redwall (mine has a stubborn bent against them, but if he didn't I think he would enjoy them).

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Thank you all.

 

 

 

 

I think he would love King-Smith, but his brother is a big fan so he is reluctant to read them since he can't read them first.

 

:D We have a bit of that now with Hardy Boys books between my ds & one of my dds. That's the perfect type of violent type books for ds because they're "safe" violence and no one dies.

 

What about classics like Treasure Island? Or has your other ds already read them? My eldest liked Mrs. Pickerell Goes to Mars and other books from that series.

 

How about Farley Mowatt's Owls in the Family and The Viking Grave? Those are both written for dc. The first is very boy-oriented and humourous; I don't remember the other one, although I think I read it as a child. Hard to say.

 

Most of the best books I can think of might be better for when he's a bit older; things like Rabbit Hill, Watership Down, My Friend Flicka. That last one we listened to on CD and he uses the word b--ch for a horse. One of mine, not realizing it is a swear word when used out of context, cursed with it once, but only once.

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Percy Jackson series

Redwall series

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snickett)

Hugo Cabret (graphic novel)

Mysterious Benedict Society

 

:iagree:

DS devoured the Percy Jackson series. They are the only books he's ever gotten so totally into that he would curl up in a chair and read for hours. He also really enjoyed Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, and is starting the 2nd book in the series, Hat Full of Sky.

 

Jackie

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I was going to suggest all the same books!

 

What about the books by Lynn Reid Banks? The Indian in the Cupboard series, I Houdini, and I'm blanking on the other titles.

E. Nesbit titles such as Five Children and It

Mrs. Frisby and Rats of NIMH

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet

 

Threre is a lovely graphic novel called Mouse Guard which has terrific art and a clever story. It looks like Redwall but the author/artist created it before he'd ever heard of those books.

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:iagree:

DS devoured the Percy Jackson series. They are the only books he's ever gotten so totally into that he would curl up in a chair and read for hours. He also really enjoyed Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men, and is starting the 2nd book in the series, Hat Full of Sky.

 

Jackie

 

Laura

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All these wonderful titles!! Such great memories. We LOVED Mouse and the Motorcycle and my ds is just now saying the Hermux Tantamoq books (Time Stops for No Mouse and another by Michael Hoeye) are epic.

 

There was a video version of Mouse the the Motorcycle which we rented a few times because it was really cute and captured the books perfectly. I think it had been an ABC After School special.

 

What is it about small rodents and literature?? Maybe it IS as explained in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- the mice are in charge!

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How about the Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" series. My son is a very fast reader and the second book took him a whole month to finish. Since there's 10 in the series, it will be awhile before he's done.

 

He also loves Wally McDoogle books. They're pretty funny...

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My ds8 has enjoyed Kidnapped and Captains Courageous in Jr. Classics form. Also Mary Poppins in the original. I also recommend Percy Jackson series and the Ranger's Apprentice series.

 

My oldest gets his sister to read ones he likes by telling her he wished she could read them, too bad she's too young. So she reads them to show him who's too young. :)

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Do you have the Padraic Column books at your house:

King of Ireland's Son

Children of Odin

Stone of Victory

Island of the Mighty

Golden Fleece

other myth collections

Some of these are OOP but your library may have them

 

Rosemary Sutcliffe's historical fiction? Eagle of the Ninth etc

 

Peter and the Starcatcher prequels to Peter Pan

 

Susan

ds(8)

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Wanted to add that the Ramayama is quite violent. My son has:

Ramayama for Children by Bulbul Sharma

http://www.amazon.com/Ramayana-Children-Bulbul-Sharma/dp/0670049646/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262757264&sr=1-1-spell

but your son might prefer an adult version. It is amazing to me that real mythology/ancient sagas are incredibly violent (the Iliad is all about killing) but much less disturbing than modern fiction books that combine real life and fantasy violence (like Harry Potter).

 

Susan

ds(8)

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All these wonderful titles!! Such great memories. We LOVED Mouse and the Motorcycle and my ds is just now saying the Hermux Tantamoq books (Time Stops for No Mouse and another by Michael Hoeye) are epic.

 

There was a video version of Mouse the the Motorcycle which we rented a few times because it was really cute and captured the books perfectly. I think it had been an ABC After School special.

 

What is it about small rodents and literature?? Maybe it IS as explained in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- the mice are in charge!

 

 

Yes, ds loved The Mouse & the Motorcycle, but I read it to him before he could read.

 

A Cricket in Times Square is another great one, and if he likes it, there is a whole series that comes after it.

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I would try 'The Hardy Boys'. I got the first 25 in the series for $1 a piece at a consigment sale (hardback, too). Right now, DS loves for DH to read them to him using different voices - the same thing that DH's father did for him at the same age :001_smile:.

 

 

My dh is reading them to my ds, but my ds has my dh read them without doing different voices. Only Mommy & his sisters are allowed to do different voices ;). But he loves this time with dh so much that I haven't been reading aloud to ds at all. Ds reads his history to me now.

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  • 3 months later...

What about G. A. Henty? You can print them off project gutenberg if you can't find them at the library. They are hisorically accurate and usually center around some historic event (like a battle). Or the Rover Boys or Tom Swift books. They are all quite boyish, well written but not overly mature.

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My sons are big Dahl fans. Danny, The Champion of the World, and The Witches, in particular.

 

I also wonder if he might not like Eva Ibbotson books? The Secret of Platform 13 has a good 'boy' element.

 

There is always the Artemis Fowl series, which my children liked better than Lemony Snickett. What about Spidwerwick Chronicles? They are less complex than some of the other books I mentioned, but a good story, I think.

 

A really good and violent book is Sea of Trolls. Wow. It's big and fat and also makes a great read aloud.

 

Ender's Game? He might still be young for that.

Edited by LibraryLover
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My son loves the Percy Jackson series as well. Another of his favs is the 39 clues series - not a high reading level and the books are short, but he reads these over and over. The first book is by Rick Riordan, which is why we picked them up, and the others are by different authors, which has gotten ds to try other books by those authors.

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He also read Otto of the Silver Hand by Pyle and liked it, and I'm planning to check out more of these, much higher reading level but still appropriate.

 

ETA: I forgot about Artemis Fowl, we loved those as well. I've thought of giving him Ender's Game, he saw it at the store one time and wanted to read it, but may wait for that one.

 

How about Peter and the Starcatchers? These have been recommended but we haven't gotten to it yet.

Edited by allearia
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