I love to pass on this list of good books for boys as it has changed our reluctant reader to an avid reader.
I have to pinch myself almost everyday when I see my son with his nose buried in a book. I never thought I'd see the day when he would willingly pick up a book to read, let alone stay up until midnight reading in bed.
The Redwall series kick-started Jaden's adoration of the written word, and for a while he swore Redwall was the only series he'd ever like, but he's finally opened his mind to reading other books as well.
So for the last two weeks, after my husband's recommendation, Jaden has been reading devouring The Belgariad series by David Eddings, an engrossing five-book fantasy series. My husband read the series as a child and it has remained a favorite of his. It's such a favorite, in fact, that although my husband is a huge Lord of the Rings fan — having reread the LOTR trilogy at least ten times — he has read The Belgariad series at least a dozen times.
Obviously he loves the books.
And so does Jaden. It took Jaden about ten days to make it through all five books of The Belgariad series, and now he's moved on to a couple other Eddings' books which follow the same Belgariad characters.
In case you think The Belgariad is a little-known series by a little-known author, you might like to know that it appears on the "Books Every Boy Should Read" list found in The Dangerous Book for Boys
My husband would heartily agree.
Since my husband's such an avid reader, I had him look through the "Books Every Boy Should Read" list to find some other books he's read that we'll introduce to Jaden in the near future. Here's the list he came up with (obviously very heavy in the fantasy genre). I've included The Belgariad in case you'd like to print out the list for your own use. These books are generally appropriate for middle school reading level and up.
Good Books for Boys
- The Belgariad series, by David Eddings
- The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis
- Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
- Discworld books, Terry Pratchett
- Ender's Game
, by Orson Scott Card
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
, by Douglas Adams
- Magician (Riftwar Saga)
, by Raymond E. Feist (This is now published as two novels, Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master. And there's also a whole series of sequels to follow those.)
- The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Animal Farm
, by George Orwell
- 1984, by George Orwell
- Brave New World
, by Aldous Huxley
- The Time Machine
, by H.G. Wells
- The Invisible Man
, by H.G. Wells
- Sherlock Holmes Adventures
, by Sir Arhur Conan Doyle
Do you have any additional good books for boys you could add to the list? I'd love to hear your suggestions!
I have to say I've read almost all of those, only missing the H.B. Wells books. I'd agree with most all of those, and maybe add in Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer.
It seems like there could be a few more good straight fiction books to add in, I love my fantasy and sci-fi, but it feels light in the other areas.
@Ticia, Oh, this definitely wasn't meant to be an exhaustive list by any means. My husband's favorite genre is fantasy and sci-fi, so naturally he pulled those from the list.
He's also not a big Mark Twain fan, so although he's read the books before, and I believe Tom Sawyer is on the list from The Dangerous Book For Boys, he didn't add it to the list, as he didn't really like it himself.
I've read both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn to the kids, and they enjoyed them. And I agree, they'd be excellent to add to a booklist for boys. 🙂
@joyfulmiller, Okay, that explains it. I was thinking you were saying this was the whole list, and I was surprised at the shortness of it, and the sci-fi/fantasy slant.
And if your husband likes the Rift War Saga then he should read all of the other books by Feist, he's the only author I know of that has multiple series set in the same world at different times, sometimes centuries apart.
.-= Ticia´s last blog ..Science Sunday: Invisible Ink =-.
@Ticia, Oh, if you could only see our bookshelves! Jeff's already read all of Feist's works, and he's been collecting them as well, so he's got each and every Feist novel on his bookshelves so he can read them again…and have Jaden read them too. 🙂
So your last reply totally confused me because my husband is named Jeff too and has all of Feist's books.
.-= Ticia´s last blog ..Science Sunday: Invisible Ink =-.
@Ticia, K, in that case, has your Jeff ever heard of or read Glen Cook? If he likes his works at all, my Jeff said your Jeff would LOOOOOOVE Steven Erikson. 🙂
We are big readers at our house too!
My son has enjoyed books like:
My Side of the Mountain, The Hardy Boys, Treasure Island and now is loving the books by R. M. Ballantyne. He said that the Ballantyne books are the most exciting and funny books that he has ever read. (As Christians we stay away from the Harry Potter type books. After finding out what the Bible says about witchcraft, they were not an option.)
Isn't it great to see your children reading? I'm like you, it makes me so happy!
.-= Laryssa @ Heaven In The Home´s last blog ..New Cupcake Paintings! =-.
What a FANTASTIC list! My son is only three years old, but I've been thinking about starting to buy some books for when he gets older (all too fast). Some series can get pretty pricey and spreading it out over a few years might help us absorb the cost of getting some really wonderful reading material. Not to mention, my husband is much like yours and would absolutely reread a good deal of these books just for nostalgia. I don't have anything to add since I only have a little bitty boy, but thanks so much for posting!
.-= Jen´s last blog ..Pregancy Update – Almost There! =-.
This is a great list! I've seen your designs around the blogosphere and heard you recommended on twitter so the word is spreading.
What I didn't know was that you don't just blog about designing:)
I just started a new weekly meme called "Feed Me Books Friday" and this would be a great post for that. Technically I say recommend 1-3 books that you and your child enjoy and why on your blog and come link up!
This Friday will only be the second one but last week we had 15 links. They were mostly story books but it would be great to have YA (young adult) suggestions as well.
We'd love to have you any Friday if you at all interested!
.-= Adventure Mom Janna´s last blog ..Not Defeated, Not Defined: She Went Forward =-.
P.S. I'll be at Blissdom so maybe we'll meet up:)
.-= Adventure Mom Janna´s last blog ..Not Defeated, Not Defined: She Went Forward =-.
Good list! I second Redwall and a great intro series to get kids reading. My stepson started reading those books and I think he read ALL of them before moving on to the Ender's Game series, Left Behind series, Ted Dekker's books as in the Red/Black/White series (but all of his are awesome), Eragon… I can also suggest Robert Heinlein if a boy really likes sci-fi (VERY old sci-fi). Heinlein's books aren't so easy to come by any more but definitely appeal to boys even though I read many of them as a teen and I'm female. 🙂 Ballantyne's books are definitely BOY boys, as are G.A. Henty's. And you can read most of Ballantyne's & Henty's books online for free.
.-= Dawn´s last blog ..B90Days: The Home Stretch in the OT =-.