Snapshot Saturday
Reading Harry Potter to my boys + an eclectic dress up bin = some crazy variations on the Harry Potter theme. Here’s to creative little boys with wild imaginations!
By the way, I’d love to hear any book recommendations you have for reading aloud to kids and/or chapter books my older boys (ages 6 and 8) would love. With weekly trips to the library, we are always looking for new, well-recommended books (some of their favorite past reads are A to Z Mysteries, Encyclopedia Brown, Magic Treehouse, Flat Stanley and The Mouse & the Motorcycle novels)
*UPDATE! Thanks for all of your recommendations! My boys read through the comments with me and we can’t wait to hit the library with our new list in hand. I compiled all the recommendations (so far) in a little document since I want to have all these ideas in one great place. If you want the list, click HERE for a Word doc or HERE for a .pdf. You guys are the best!
If you’d like to check out past Snapshot Saturdays, click HERE.
My boys loved My Father’s Dragon and the sequels that go along with it!
Oh and the Ranger series by John Flanagan.
I love Diana Wynne Jones’ books. Also the A wrinkle in Time series by Margaret L’Engle. And Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne collins. 🙂
Flawed Dogs, fabulous
If they like boy humor try “The Adventures of Hashbrown Winters” series.
‘Where the Red Fern Grows’ My mom read it to us growing up. I loved it.
I’m loving all these recommendations for you. I think I shall make a list of these for my own 3 boys. Yay!
My first-graders always loved the Bunnicula series by James Howe: Bunnicula, Howliday Inn, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, and Nighty Nightmare, all “written” by Harold, the dog.
I have the perfect book for you!
Evertaster by Adam Sidwell, a local (utah!) author, was just released about two months ago on Amazon, so I’m not sure if a library would have it yet, but it’s a great book. I just read it (yes, I’m an adult) and it’s target audience is 8+ so maybe give it a couple years. Just a few (almost) scary scenes, nothing worse than Harry Potter, though. It’s about a little boy who is a super picky eater, but then he comes to find out that he’s actually an Evertaster, which means he’s just got an ultra-refined palate. He and his family go on a quest to find and make the perfect recipe with the finest ingredients (made me hungry). I think you’d all like it. It’s pretty funny. Great family-togetherness book, where mom is celebrated, as well as food. I think it’s right up your alley!
Box car children, Matt Christopher (sports books), C.S. Lewis- chronicles of Narnia, Farmer Boy (and any Little House books- boys like them too), E.B. White books are great too.
The Secret Zoo
Mel,
I hope I do not offend you, but I feel that I must tell you what God’s Word says about the books choices you are making for your boys.
Harry Potter is dangerous. It glorifies the practices of the devil. The Bible is very clear about staying away from witchcraft.
“There shall not be found among you anyone who …practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.”
Deut. 18:10-14
A quote from Christiananswers.net:
“While a few Christians don’t even like to read or see classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Lord of the Rings, or Chronicles of Narnia due to the mere presence of evil, most Christians recognize the good vs. evil element as being clearly delineated. Evil is evil, and good is good, and good is promoted while evil is not.
But in the Potter series, the line is not so clear. The “good” guys practice “white magic”, while the bad guys practice the “Dark Arts”. Readers become fascinated with the magic used (explained in remarkable detail). Yet God is clear in Scripture that any practice of magic is an “abomination” to him. God doesn’t distinguish between “white” and “dark” magic since they both originate from the same source.”
We are very careful about what we choose for our kids to read and movies they watch. Books make a huge impact on young minds. What you read as a child will stay with you all of your life. There is a company whom we buy alot of books for our children. Our older kids shop there too. The name is Grace and Truth Books. Do a search for books for young boys on their website. They have missionary stories, character building stories, etc. Who do you want your kids to become? Give them Godly role models when they are young. Another resource is Bob Jones University Press Journey Forth novels. They are divided up by age group. We have almost all of their 100+ books. Excellent books!! They have all genres.
I highly encourage you and anyone else reading this to evaluate reading material by the standards Paul set forth in Phil 4:8.
” Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
God bless you as you seek to raise your children in Godliness,
Cindy
I think your boys would like The Mysterious Benedict Society books. They are really good!
Hi Mel!
Well, you have just hit what my specialty is. Books for boys! I have three boys, ages 11, 9 & 6. I dearly love to read and made it a goal to find books that they would be hooked on. I have Pinterest board for all our tried and true boy books. My personal favorite is the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Went to a book signing on my son’s birthday. It was the coolest thing to hear kids cheering for an author and high school teacher. They treated him like a rock star. Mr. Riordan has a son with learning difficulties and wanted to write a book for him, featuring a hero that struggled with learning too. Such a fantastic read. My 11 year old read Harry Potter, loved it and can’t decide which series is his favorite. Thanks for the Saturday snap shot. It is really fun to hear a bit about your life.
http://pinterest.com/caramo/good-books-for-boys/
I love the Box Car Kids, children love it.
We read our way through many of these. I would also add Black Beauty. As the kids got older, we listened to the Star Wars audiobooks which took us through many lengthy drives!
Your fans have given you some great recommendations for books!! I too wanted to recommend audio books, in addition to hard copy books. Most audio books are recorded by actors/actresses and individuals who have had voice training. They can make a trip—-even a short one to the grocery store , to school, or the park– so much more enjoyable…….. esp. with all those boys. My grandchildren love them and ask for them. I really enjoy them, too!! We don’t go anywhere without a book on CD. I get all our audio books from the library. Did I say I love, love, love the library?
Thanks for including that photo. It just made this Nana smile. He is so precious and so handsome!!
Beginning readers love “The Magic Treehouse” series. They develop an early interest in history, plus there are non-fiction companion books to go with them, if the reader is especially interested in that subject. Also–I see that “Hank the Cowdog” has been suggested, but I strongly recommend the audio version because the author uses different voices for each character. My kids LOVE these stories!
My 8 year old love sto laugh when reading and her most fav author (and mine from childhood) is Gordon Korman. If yours loves a belly laugh out loud every chapter, he may want to try 2 of Gordon Korman’s best books (I Want to Go Home) about a boy who keeps trying to escape from summer camp and (No Coins Please) about a group of kids on a cross country summer camp ‘road trip’). Promise you will hear him laughing like a nut in the wee hours when he is supposed to be asleep. .. . After my 8 year old had polished off a whack of his funny books (those 2 above are his best we think!), – we are now reading some of his ‘adventure’ series out loud to my 5 and 8 year old as well. They loved the ‘Everest’ series (3 thin books about a group of 12 year olds who get to climb Everest and the suspense that goes along with that) and now we are on the Island series (about a group of 12 year olds who get stranded on a desert Island). There are 3 thin books in each ‘adventure’ series and there are very ‘page turn-ery’ for the 8 year old -she howls when we stop each night and can’t want to find out what happens etc. Love the list you have now created above- I am going to grab a pen and write some of these down!! THANK YOU!!
I miss reading to my boys (now 13 & 16 & think they should read to themselves!!)! There are so many wonderful books listed here, I totally agree with the Percy Jackson, Fablehaven, Ranger’s apprentice, and Inkheart series. I would also add the Peter & the Starcatchers series, it was a lot of fun to read to them. My kids read the Pendragon series themselves and loved it. I used to read to my kids every night, and now they are both book lovers themselves. We love to read! Have fun!
Hi Mel!
my son will be 6 in two weeks, and my husband has REALLY enjoyed reading him the ‘shredderman’ series. we have gotten all of them from our local library. they are about an elementary school boy who develops a website to ‘out’ a school bully by recording him bullying kids. he becomes kind of a masked hero, and calls himself shredderman! they are chapter books, and it takes them a few nights to get through one (we read to him about 20 min each night before bed). there are 4 shredderman books, and then there are ‘gecko and sticky’ spin-off books with characters from the shredderman series.
also, if you haven’t read the Junie B. Jones books, my son and I LOVE those! SO much fun to read, these books really make us laugh!!
OH, and we also love the Magic Treehouse books!
You should try the Indian in the Cupboard series, they are awesome! Little House on the Prairie has some excitement for boys, Pippi Longstocking is hilarious, as well. Charlotte’s Web, Old Yeller, Holes, Hatchet, The Incredible Journey, My side of the Mountain, Treasure Island, I think it’s fun to read books to my kids and then show them the movie after, good luck, love your blog!
You all should read Evertaster (it’s available on Amazon I know). It’s going to be a new series and its all about a kid and FOOD! Perfect for kids of a food blogger, right?
Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. Excellent adventure book, first in a long series, set in England in the early 1930’s. It is all about sailing and adventure!
I don’t usually comment, but I love reading and I have four boys. One series that hasn’t been mentioned is the Magic Thief by Sarah Pineas (sp?). This series was the one that really pulled my oldest in and made him realize that reading is fun. I enjoyed the story too.
The Percy Jackson series!!
My 6 year old has enjoyed listening to Inkheart (we’re now listening to the sequel Inkspell) Audiobook in the car this year. They are narrated by Brendan Frasier who stared in the film version of Inkheart (which we haven’t watched yet). Some of the language is a bit beyond them but overall she likes it. At the very least I enjoy the Audiobooks because it keeps them mostly quiet in the car without a DVD player or something like that.
I remember loving Soccer Shock (after he gets hit by lightning his freckles talk to him), Harriet the Spy, and Chocolate Fever.
I agree with all of these great suggestions. With our 4 kids we have read aloud Roald Dahl, Harry Potter, Geronimo Stilton, Magic Tree house, Fablehaven and other fun books. The only series I would add that my kids absolutely loved is The Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis. These are great read alouds and then we could have a movie viewing party afterwards. Super fun!
When my brother was that age, he loves the Hank the CowDog books. There’s always a mystery on the farm.
OMG! My sweet “almost 9” boy loves the Bunnicula series…by James Howe. And…goin’ old school on ya: 2 of our faves from Bill Wallace are Pick of the Litter, and Coyote Autumn. Enjoy!! I can see that you have a nice list in front of you (as well as your readers! Yea for us!)
I will have to recuse myself from suggesting books for you to read to your boys. My 14-year old (spaniel) enjoys the contents list from the Milk Bone box.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is absolutely delightful.
I know they are kind of old and some don’t like them, but my 1st and 2nd graders loved when I read the Junie B. Jones series aloud to them. They are also easy to read for kids that are ready for “chapter books” but not really quite ready! Junie is a quirky little character and the way she talks is not always with the best grammar so some teachers don’t like to read them for that reason. I loved them but that’s my teaching personality!
These books (available on Amazon) are awesome! My kids are 20 somethings now, but this book was on target for different kids, different levels, etc.–The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition by Jim Trelease (Jul 25, 2006). And this book: Parents Who Love Reading, Kids Who Don’t: How It Happens and What You Can Do About It by Mary Leonhardt (Mar 28, 1995) is also really good. I also read and referred to it. My kids really benefited academically from all the reading aloud we did. It made it EASY for them to love reading for pleasure on their own.
I’d recommend Charlotte’s Web. I think I read that in 2nd grade, so it’s right in the middle for that age group.
Nate the Great series and Fantastic Mr. Fox. My 8 year old boy loves “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series and “Big Nate” series.
Ranger’s Apprentice series by Jogn Flanagan.
Boxcar children
Dr. Doolittle is one of our favorite books and the Berenstein Bears are great books with great lessons in them!
The Geronimo Stilton books are really funny and well done (about a timid, book-ish mouse that is the editor of a newspaper who is always being pulled into crazy adventures by his family). My boys (6 & 7) love the books and the books on CD, especially for car trips.
We just finished The Mouse and the Motorcycle yesterday. I think I read all Beverly Cleary’s stuff as a kid, except those! My boys and I loved it.
Check out the book The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. It’s a book with lists of good books to read aloud to kids of different ages!
Adorable picture Mel! My boys (9,7 and 5) love many of the books already mentioned but an additional favorite is the books by Kate Dicamillo. The most famous is The Tale of Desperaux (which is a FANTASTIC animated movie also about a mouse learning to be brave and honorable) but the boys also like the series she wrote a pig named Mercy Watson (Mercy Watson to the Rescue, Mercy Watson Fights Crime, etc). Enjoy!
If you guys love Harry Potter, the Fablehaven series might be good for you. My husband and I love it. Actually, even before that, The Candy Shop War by the same author (Brandon Mull) is what I would strongly recommend. It’s a really fun story! I just read it for my own enjoyment, but my sister read it to her second or third grade students, and they all loved it!
All the Roald Dahl books are fun to read aloud, the 39 Clues series is really cool, The Indian in the Cupboard, Rick Riordan has 2 great series (Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson) and Erin hunter has several Warriors series (about cats) that my 8 year old has enjoyed. We also liked Suzanne Collins’ Gregor books, The Emerald Atlas, and the Artemis Fowl series. There are many more (we love to read) but I think that list should give you plenty to consider. 🙂
Have they read the other two Ralph Mouse books? And indeed, any books by Beverly Cleary are great. The Edgar Eager books about children and their adventures with magic are really good, though these are better if you read in order. If they really like Harry Potter, then they would probably like the various series by Diana Wynne Jones. The classic “Tom’s Midnight Garden” would be a good read aloud. And at your public library, they should have list of books that are like other books, and also books that are good for boys, or books that are for a certain reading level, etc.
My favorites have already been said (though James and the Giant Peach was a great favorite at our house), and we read the first Series of Unfortunate Events book. I think my six-year-old may have been a little too young for the humor in that, though.
I had thought about starting the Prydain Chronicles when we ran out of other stuff, but I don’t remember what reading level they are. I remember loving them (the Black Caldron books).
Andrew Clements is an excellent author.
Boxcar children, Percy Jackson, Hardy boys, chronicles of narnia
I have three boys. We love any Roald Dahl books. I think the BFG and the Twits are their favorites so far.