April 29, 2007 3:55 PM
Books for boys
The emphasis here is on books of adventure, courage, and heroism that will encourage boys to grow up to strong men, books that kindle the masculine spirit - and that may not be part of what first come to mothers' minds.
Hey hon - See comments on Raising Boys.Some moms would like a list of good stuff for boys to read. I promised you would put together a comprehensive list. Please????
Also movies if you have time.
Thanks!!!
love,
mom
From my #4 son Zach, now 19, who was one of my later readers (6), but within just a few years of his first early readers was reading college-level texts and choosing biographies about leaders like Hannibal and Churchill, and reading all kinds of stuff about World War II.
He seemed destined for a future as a leader, and in fact is an ENTJ (like his mom, only a guy).
Zach just received word that he has been nominated for the Air Force Academy!!! We are so excited for him!
Here is his reply about books for boys:
I wasn't sure what age range you wanted; I assumed you meant 7-13G.A. Henty
Sherlock Holmes
The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
Any cool science or technical book written on an understandable level, like The Way Things Work, by Macaulay
I liked military biographies, but that's me.
Treasure Island
Mysterious Island
Books about King Arthur
I also liked Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum, and Tom Clancy, but their books have some risque scenes, so be careful which books you pickLittle guys like books with heroes, so look for book which have a clearly admirable protagonist, who defeats the villain and saves the day. Also, try to find books with a hero who stands on firm principles and defends the weak.
If any of you have boys to ask, please feel free to add to this list in the comments.
Posted in Books, Boys | Permalink
Comments
Some classics that both boys and girls (or the whole family) might enjoy include The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, and the Henry Reed books by Keith Robertson.
Posted by: Katie Gillet | April 29, 2007 5:19 PM
My youngest son used to really like series about "The Little's" by John Peterson (up to about age 10).
My oldest son likes the youth books that Frank Peretti writes (he's 15 now, and has enjoyed them for a couple of years).
These are both kid- and parent-liked books...definitely a win-win situation.
Enjoy!
Posted by: Michelle | April 29, 2007 7:12 PM
My Charlie *adored* Farmer Boy, the Laura Ingalls Wilder book about Almanzo's childhood
Thanks for the list, now I have some better direction for read-alouds.
Posted by: gwen | April 29, 2007 9:32 PM
My boys love the old series, "The Rover Boys" and the "Tom Swift" books. We are currently reading, "Little Men" out loud, as it's one of the favorites with my boys as well.
Posted by: Agatha | April 29, 2007 11:16 PM
My son's a cadet at the Air Force Academy (he's finishing up his third year there.) If y'all have any questions feel free to contact me!
Posted by: konolia | April 30, 2007 12:02 AM
Congratulations to Zach! Will he be starting this fall?
My brother Daniel is just finishing his second year at the Air Force Academy, and he loves it there.
Posted by: Becky Miller | April 30, 2007 12:42 AM
My boys have enjoyed reading the Sugar Creek Gang Series, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, any stories about missionaries (David Livingstone, Nate Saint). We homeschool our children and use the Ambleside Online curriculum. If you go to www.amblesideonline.org you can find great book lists according to grade!
Beth
Posted by: Beth | April 30, 2007 7:43 AM
Thanks so much for the recommendations! Especially handy since we just found out God has blessed us with another son to raise for him! So many books we've picked up lately have wimpy seeming boys and that seems so typical in the culture these days that I'm really anxious to cultivate that "hero gene" that all little boys seem to have.
Posted by: Shannon Miller | April 30, 2007 9:37 AM
Congratulations on the Air Force Academy!! My husband is a cadet in the AFROTC here at our university, and loves it.
Posted by: Emily | April 30, 2007 10:01 AM
My boy (and girls) LOVE the Little Britches series by Ralph Moody. I blogged about it here.
Posted by: Connie | April 30, 2007 11:17 AM
Thanks. Great book recommendations for boys. I have a ton of "boy" books since I have two boys that are older, so now my problem is coming up with recommendations for my third child - a girl. What ideas do your readers have for "girl" books? :-)
BTW, some of your readers may feel uncomfortable with the Harry Potter books, but my boys and I loved them, as well as Eragon and Eldest (written by a homeschooled young man).
CONGRATS to your son.
Posted by: Carol | April 30, 2007 12:01 PM
Agree with all above!
Movies that come to mind with little thought include: Old Yeller, Master & Commander, Gettysburg, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Where The Red Fern Grows, Pink Panther series.
Posted by: Marie | April 30, 2007 12:07 PM
OOOooooo! Old Yeller is a good one, as is the sequel, Savage Sam!
Posted by: Connie | April 30, 2007 1:29 PM
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques....these are stories about animals that fight valiant battles in a medieval setting.
Posted by: Marni | April 30, 2007 1:43 PM
One more book suggestion for boys (although my girls love it too) -- Swiss Family Robinson!
Beth
Posted by: Beth | April 30, 2007 1:55 PM
My husband very excitedly bought several "Choose Your Own Adventure" books for our two oldest sons (ages 8 and nearly 7).
One night, they each sat down with a book. As my husband read his adventure (one he read as a kid), he realized it wasn't the same book he remembered---it had been "updated" to be politically correct. Of course. He was really disappointed.
Thanks for the ideas.
Posted by: mopsy | April 30, 2007 5:20 PM
My older brother (now 35) and I (age irrelevent) were both avid readers and still are. Thanks mom and dad!
I remember him reading Louis L'amour books. Very outdoorsy, wild west cowboy, good guy bad guy stuff. He still reads them.
I honestly don't know if there's anything racey in them. I wouldn't think so since my parent's introduced them.
Posted by: Alison | April 30, 2007 9:25 PM
My boys loved the "Little Britches" series of books. I read them aloud. They were fond of reading books by William O. Steele -- "The Lone Hunt" and "The Buffalo KNife." "The Chronicles of Narnia" were another hit. The "Harry Potter" books have become addictive.
Jody
Posted by: Jody | April 30, 2007 11:58 PM
My 10yo son loves the Trailblazer series. They are historical fiction based on the lives of actual missionaries. Teh authors last name is Jackson.
:)
Susie
Posted by: Susie | May 1, 2007 2:29 PM
What a wonderful list! Now lets work on the girls!
Posted by: Kitchen Madonna | May 1, 2007 3:25 PM
Reading the classics to my children has been one of the highlights of my life. Tolkein's Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring Trilogy, C.S.Lewis Chronicles of Narnia,Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel, Louis L'Amours westerns especially the Sackett series, G.A. Henty's books, (especially Freedom's Cause) Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Alexander Dumas complete series on the Four Musketeers and the Count of Monte Cristo, Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities, Nicholas Nicholby,& Martin Chuzzlewit, Daniel Dafoe's Robinson Crusoe,Black Arrow, Kidnapped, & Treasure Is. by R.L. Stevenson, James Femore Cooper's Leatherstocking saga The Deerslayer- Last of the Mohicans series, C.S. Forester's Hornblower series, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's White Company, (he's famous for Sherlock Holmes...but this was what he really wanted to write about...knights!) Ralph Moody's Little Britches series,Johnny Tremain, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Marjorie Rawlings The Yearling,
Movies: Moby Dick(Gregory Peck), Henry V(Kenneth Brannaugh), To Kill a Mockingbird, Captain's Courageous, Westerns;John Wayne in The Man who shot Liberty Valance, Hondo, Sons of Katie Elder, The Searchers, Tie a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, True Grit, Rio Bravo, Rio Lobo, Big Jake, The Cowboys*,McClintock, The Shootist ; Gary Cooper in High Noon, Alan Ladd in Shane, Jimmy Stewart in The Man from Laramie,Bend in the River,& Winchester 73,Wyatt Earp*(1994), The Man from Snowy River, Quigley Down Under*, Open Range* War /Epic/Adventure(past-present)Spartacus,Jason and the Argonauts(1963),Ivanhoe,Ran,The Lives of a Bengal Lancer,Zulu,Charge of the Light Brigade(1936),Treasure Island(1950) Red Badge of Courage, Sergeant York,Ben Hur,To Hell and Back, Bridge on the River Kwai,Guns of Navaronne, The Longest Day,Bridge to Far,Casablanca, To Have and to Have Not,The African Queen, Pork Chop Hill, Soldiers and Saints*, Sands of Iwo Jima,Memphis Belle*, Shenandoah*, Horse Soldiers, Gettysburg, Glory*, El Cid, Patton*, The Patriot*,Battle of the Bulge, Flying Leathernecks,Great Escape,Lifeboat,Sahara,Tora,Tora,Tora, We Were Soldiers*,Red Dawn*,HBO series Band of Brothers*, Braveheart*, Behind Enemy Lines*,Das Boot*, Gunga Din, Master & Commander, Japanese Samurai movies that American Westerns were derived from: Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro,The Hidden Fortress(Star Wars derived from this)Flight of the Phoenix(1965)Last of the Mohicans* French series w/ Gerard Depardieu in Comte de Monte Cristo(1998),Cyrano de Bergerac(1990)Gladiator*, Horatio Hornblower BBC series, Nicholas Nickleby*, Raiders of the Lost Ark*, The Rocketeer.
Musicals: Newsies....I will send in more when I have time and can think of them.
*possibly contains some adult content, language, excessive violence
Posted by: Papa Tripp | May 1, 2007 5:33 PM
Thanks for posting this great list!
Posted by: Christine | May 2, 2007 10:37 PM
My 14 yo son just recently finished Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne and loved it. He's commented several times about how good it was. He also likes Ali and the Golden Eagle by Wayne Grover, which he is in the process of reading.
Posted by: Kim | May 5, 2007 8:15 PM
Hi,
I grew up as a reluctant reader. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for boys 8 and up, that kids hate to put down. My web site is at http://www.maxbooks.9k.com and my Books for Boys blog is at http://booksandboys.blogspot.com
Ranked by Accelerated Reader
Thank you,
Max Elliot Anderson
Posted by: Max Elliot Anderson | April 30, 2008 6:58 PM
