Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Summer Reading List for Boys

We've been spending a lot of time reading at our house. I know from both my house and my job sometimes it is hard to find books that boys love to read...therefore, I thought I might share my list. This is by no means, an expert list, just books I often see boys reading. I think these are fun books boys will love.  My little man tends to like books that feature mischievous boy characters, so many on this early elementary list fall into that category. Most of these are chapter books, but if you find your little buddy isn't quite ready to fly solo, then family read alongs are always fun.  My son reads a lot of the books in the 3-4 grades category as well, so don't count out a book that might be in an older grade.  It just depends on your reader's motivation and abilities.  Most of these are also series.

K-2
Flat Stanley  Jeff Brown
Nate the Great  Marjorie Weinman Shermat
George Brown, Class Clown  Nancy Krul
Ready Freddy   Abby Klein
Stink  Megan McDonald
Freddie Fernortner Fearless First Grader  Johnathan Rand
Rotten School Series  R.L. Stine
Captain Underpants  Dav Pilkey
The Magic Tree House Series  Mary Pope Osborne

3-4
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing  Beverly Cleary
How to Eat Fried Worms  Thomas Rockwell
Boy:  Tales of Childhood  Roald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach  Roald Dahl
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  Roald Dahl
BFG Roald Dahl
Big Nate on a Roll  Lincoln Pierce
Diary of a Wimpy Kid  Jeff Kinney

5-6
Lawn Boy  Gary Paulsen
The Hatchet  Gary Paulsen
Touching Spirit Bear Ben Mikaelsen
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo  Obert Skue
The Diamond Brothers Series- Anthony Horowitz
Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling
Skeleton Creek Series- Patrick Carman
Trackers- Patrick Carman

7 and up- a special note:  these titles come straight from student surveys, and my students would tell you that at the beginning of the year, many of them were "reluctant" readers, but one of these books lit the reading fire in them. 
The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan
The Kane Chronicles Rick Riordan
The Lost Hero Series Rick Riordan
The Fire Thief Terry Deary
Guts  Gary Paulsen
My Life in Dog Years  Gary Paulsen
Liar, Liar  Gary Paulsen
The Alex Rider Series- Anthony Horowitz
Memory Boy Will Weaver
Monster  Walter Dean Myers
Dark Eden Patrick Carman
Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer  John Grisham
The Maze Runner
Eleventh Plague  Jeff Hirsch
The Last Thing I Remember  Andrew Klaven
Lockdown  Alexander G. Smith
Tangerine  Edward Bloor
The Revolver  Marcus Sedwick
Virals  Kathy Reichs
Soldier Boys  Dean Hughes
Search and Destroy Dean Hughes
Sports Fiction Authors:  Mike Lupika, Tim Green, John Feinstein
The Hunger Games  Suzanne Collins
Legend  Marie Lu
The Boy Who Dared  Susan Campbell Barroletti
Pendragon-  D.J. MacHale
Knucklehead Jon Schieska


And if this isn't enough to get you started, here is a guys read website you will probably love. 
Loads of good reading suggestions to be found there, as well as some pretty convincing data about the importance of pointing our young men towards some good books.

6 comments:

Jewells said...

I hadn't heard of "Flat Stanley" until a friend asked me to help her Grandson in a school project.. his teacher read the story to her class and then the students had to send a Flat Stanley to someone. So I received a Flat Stanley from the east coast of USA all the way to Australia. I had to take him around and make up a story, then send him back with pictures & photos of what he did... of course he ate Vegemite, patted a Kangaroo, say the Opera House & The Sydney Harbour Bridge... "My" Flat Stanley travelled the furtherest!...Cheers

Allie said...

Oh yes - my boys are both grown and still love to read - so glad I instilled the loved of reading early. One series they loved was the G.A. Henty books, they're history written from a boys' perspective, great stories. Also, there's a very comprehensive reading list at amblesideonline.org.

Thimbleanna said...

Looks like a great lis! We loved anything by Roald Dahl. And don't forget The Time Warp Trio series of books by Jon Sc...I can't spell it. A funny little time travel series!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Great list! Amelia is reading chapter books as well. I will check it out for her. I'm sure Captain Underpants will keep her attention. LOL!

Kathy said...

My boys loved the Series of Unfortunate Events books as well as lots on this list. Thanks for sharing.

Cheryl said...

Love this post Kris!!!! The Dots love for me to read to them and I will definitely keep your list on hand.