A Crazy-long list of great books for boys
Of course I can. :)
The following is a list of books appropriate for boys over 6 and under 13 (that is, I’m not including anything truly YA, though older readers will still enjoy many of these), encompassing a variety of genres and reading levels within that range. For your convenience, I’ve noted genres after each title, but I’ll have to leave it to your judgment to determine reading level, since every reader is different. I’ve known eight-year-olds who loved The Hobbit, for example, and adults who found it too difficult.
There are probably some glaring omissions, but I’m only including books I’ve read and enjoyed (and remembered!). If there are other boy books you’ve loved, I’d be grateful if you’d share the titles in the comments!
In no particular order, then:
Tintin, by Herge (series; adventure; graphic novel)
Calamity Jack, by Shannon and Dean Hale, illustrated by Nathan Hale (graphic novel; adventure; fantasy)
Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie (fantasy; adventure; literary)
Missing on Superstition Mountain, by Elise Broach (series; adventure; family)
Masterpiece, by Elise Broach (animal fantasy; art; contemporary)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, by Ian Fleming (adventure; humor; family)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (adventure; humor; family)
Millions, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (humor; family; contemporary)
Framed, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (humor; art; family; contemporary)
Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce (humor; family; contemporary; science fiction)
Heart of a Shepherd, by Rosanne Parry (contemporary; family life)
When the Whistle Blows, by Fran Cannon Slayton (historical; family life)
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling (fantasy; literary)
The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (fantasy; literary)
Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neal Gaiman (fantasy; mythology; literary; adventure)
Ben and Me, by Robert Lawson (historical; animal fantasy)
Mr. Revere and I, by Robert Lawson (historical; animal fantasy)
Captain Kidd’s Cat, by Robert Lawson (historical; animal fantasy)
I Discover Columbus, by Robert Lawson (historical; animal fantasy)
Mr. Wilmer, by Robert Lawson (animal fantasy)
Homer Price, by Robert McCloskey (humor)
Centerburg Tales, by Robert McCloskey (humor)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins, by Florence and Richard Atwater (humor)
Redwall, by Brian Jacques (series; adventure; animal fantasy)
Dr. Doolittle, by Hugh Lofting (series; animal fantasy)
The Cricket in Times Square, by George Selden (series; animal fantasy)
Stuart Little, by E. B. White (animal fantasy; literary)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle, by Beverly Cleary (series; animal fantasy)
Henry Huggins, by Beverly Cleary (humor; family life)
Henry and Ribsy, by Beverly Cleary (humor; family life)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl (humor; fantasy)
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, by Roald Dahl (humor; fantasy)
Danny the Champion of the World, by Roald Dahl (humor; fantasy)
The Witches, by Roald Dahl (humor; fantasy)
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl (humor; fantasy)
The BFG, by Roald Dahl (humor; fantasy)
The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart (series; adventure; mystery)
Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer (series; adventure; fantasy)
The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (series; adventure; fantasy)
Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain (historical; literary; adventure)
Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain (historical; literary; adventure)
The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain (historical; literary; adventure)
The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis (series; fantasy; literary; adventure)
The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien (fantasy; literary; adventure)
A Season of Gifts, by Richard Peck (historical; humor; family)
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster (fantasy; humor; adventure)
Men of Iron, by Sir Walter Scott (adventure; literary; historical)
Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott (adventure; literary; historical)
The Scottish Chiefs, by Jane Porter (adventure; literary; historical)
Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson (adventure; literary; historical)
David Balfour, by Robert Louis Stevenson (adventure; literary; historical)
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson (adventure; literary; historical)
Crunch, by Leslie Connor (contemporary; family life)
Holes, by Louis Sachar (contempoary; historical; humor; adventure
The Schwa was Here, by Neal Schusterman (humor; contemporary)
My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George (“roughing it” adventure; nature)
On the Far Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George (adventure; nature)
Frightful’s Mountain, by Jean Craighead George (adventure; nature)
Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett (fantasy; humor)
Truckers, by Terry Pratchett (fantasy; humor)
Encyclopedia Brown, by Donald Sobol (series; mystery; humor)
Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes (historical)
If you’d like more specific recommendations (such as: “My son is a quite young, but advanced reader, so what should I give him?” to which the answer is: “A hug. And Redwall.”) feel free to send me an email. Seriously, I love answering questions like that. :)
What a great list! And it includes one of my all time favorites...My Side of the Mountain!
ReplyDeleteA terrific list. Maybe you post it as a separate page and keep adding to it as you remember more titles.
ReplyDeleteHere are a couple more:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (talking animals, MG)
The Great Brain series by JD Fitzgerald (HF based on the author's own life in Utah, MG)
Bunnicula by James Howe (talking animals, lower MG)
Lowji Discovers America by Candace Fleming (contemporary, lower MG)
Sideways Stories by Louis Sachar and HOLES!
I'll stop now ... all but the first are hilarious.
Vijaya
Good idea--and thanks for the book suggestions, Vijaya!
DeleteAnd a new one for boys of all ages: Super Cowboy Rides by Daris Howard.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen--I want to take a look at it, too. :)
DeleteI didn't see the ERAGON series by Paolini on there, but my son loves those and has read them over and over. I'm also not sure if WAR HORSE is on there, but that book is fantastic for middle graders (girls and boys alike!).
ReplyDeleteIf your son has read Eragon multiple times, I'm sure he is well on his way to being a fine reader. I couldn't include them as a personal recommendation because I've never had the patience to finish!
DeleteActually, I just started listening to the audiobook of War Horse, and it's great so far.
Thanks for chipping in. :)
My first thought upon reading this post was " 'Tom Sawyer' and "Huckleberry Finn' better be on this list!" Sure enough, they are! I learned to read at an early age and loved to do so, but after my Dad gave me his boyhood copy of 'Tom Sawyer" I LOVED reading... and could not get enough of it. His sister gave me 'Huck Finn' and by that point my parents had to force me outside every day for physical activity. It's amazing how one good book can set a course for the rest of your life. And to this day I can still hear my Dad quoting from the first lines of "our" book with the orange cover: ""Tom!" No Answer. "Tom!" No answer. "What's gone with that boy, I wonder?" "
ReplyDeleteOf course they're on there. :) No self-respecting Connecticut reader could leave out Mark Twain.
DeleteGirls like a lot of these too. :) Besides the Hobbit, I especially liked The Mysterious Benedict Society.
ReplyDeleteConsidering many of these are personal favorites, I can attest to their appeal to girls, too. :) Have you read the most recent TMBS book?
DeleteYour Godson just read Tom Sawyer and LOVED it. He's reading the abridged version of Huckleberry Finn now... there were a few things in the original version that I thought were a bit too much (content-wise) for an 8-year-old boy, but I'll let him read Twain's real version in the not-too-distant future. He still loves the abridged version, though... I have to keep reminding him to do his other subjects because he does not want to put it down!
ReplyDeleteWow, this is quite an exhaustive list! One of my sons, who didn't read fiction much, loved Maniac Magee so much that he wrote to Jerry Spinelli (and got an answer). :)
ReplyDeletewow! how wonderful you've compiled this list!! Great great work! I'm checking out a few I haven't heard of. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is great!!! Thanks. I need to find reluctant reader books for my son.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Redwall books. Sigh.