Book Reviews & Extras - Elementary Boys

[esoloj]

My son really likes The Kingdom Series by Chuck Black (think knights and castles), The Burgess Bird Book, The Burgess Animal Book, and Mother West Wind.

[TriciaMR]

I have a 1st grader that "doesn't like to read." Well, today at Sam's Club I saw a Lego story book (now, my boys LOVE Legos). Guess what my boy is doing right now? Sitting in the big recliner reading this Lego story book! So, if you have a Sam's Club, look for the Lego City story book - it has 6 stories in it, that I would say are definitely 1st grade level.

Postby TriciaMR » Sun May 22, 2011 9:48 pm
Even better - they each read one story to me at bedtime tonight out of the new book, instead of me reading to them! Gotta love it... Now, if we can just keep the interest...

-Trish

[705emily]

That's so great!!! It happened to my ds too! At 6 he was really not motivated to read at all. Then... one day he saw a picture of a blue whale and found out it was the biggest creature on earth. All of a sudden---he wanted every book that the library had on sharks, whales, and other sea creatures. His interest was so strong that he'd sit and slowly figure out words--just to find out the information he wanted to know!! I could not believe it! Two weeks ago he stood up at Homeschool Presentation night and gave a presentation on sharks. He gave an extremely detailed description about the anatomy of sharks, from the names of each fin to the differences between males and females. .He made 6 posters of his favorite sharks, and talked about each one. He made an ocean box this year for science and added all the creatures he learned about. He wrote up index cards with facts about each sea creature, and then pasted them onto a display board and we entered it at a local science fair. After talking the judges' ears off with all the things he had learned, he won a prize for "Best Display" ...all because of something that caught his interest!! The right motivator is powerful!!!

[Dusenkids]

For us it is dinos although legos are a hit too. I might have to go shopping CONGRATS on the find!!

[rxmom]

Trish,
My boys will read or write about anything that has to do with Legos!! I bought my 12 yo the "history" of Legos book and the Complete Star Wars Lego Book for Christmas and he reads this almost nightly...actually he wrote an IEW paper on history of the Lego company...I say use what works/motivates...thanks for sharing.

Delcey

[Cyndi (AZ)]

What books are you giving your early elementary student (ages 7 or eight) who is reading around a 5th grade level or higher?

I have been looking at Honey for a Child's Heart. The picture books, for ages 4 - 8, he has lost interest in. He is wanting chapter books by this point, and he is reading approximately 1 hour a day on his own. The section for 9 - 12 year olds has some of my child hood favorites listed, but I am concerned about content.

What books can I use that are age appropriate for content, but engaging and interesting for a boy who wants to read chapter books?

P.S. I think I will add the fact that he is emotionally sensitive to some topics.

I don't have a boy. I have an advanced reader dd, who is the epitome of sensitive.

The first 17 Boxcar Children books. Note: these kids live without a parent.

Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary.
Mouse and the Motorcycle series by Beverly Cleary.

The Cricket in Times Square by Garth Williams.

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.
Stuart Little by E.B. White.

Magic Tree House books came highly recommended, but my dd did not care for them AT ALL.

The Littles series by John Peterson are adventurous.

I told my dd why I was thinking of all these great books for a boy, and she suggested "Mr. Putter and Tabby" books and "Oliver and Amanda" books. They are picture/chapter books that she really, really enjoyed at that age and still loves to read, even if they are below her reading level.

Mr. Popper's Penguins is another awesome one -- which I sincerely hope they do justice to with the upcoming movie. So hard to trust that, though.

Hi Cyndi! I was hoping you would chime in on this thread, too, since you were in the exact same situation, weren't you? Ready for advanced reading but not for advanced topics.

It was definitely more of a challenge when she was 7yo, but - I'm still there . . . I think it may be a bit easier with a dd, though. There is quite a bit of historical fiction geared more for girls, IMO, which my dd has grown to love so much.

It's tough to be a kid that doesn't like "fantasy" books these days. I tried to tell my dd that Narnia is an allegory and that Aslan is like Jesus and the Witch -- "Witch?! Forget it, Mom. I know what an allegory is, but I still don't want to read that." *sigh*

[Dusenkids]

I have read many, but not all, in these sets so take it for what it's worth.

Geronimo Stilton: Newspaper Mouse who lives in New Mouse City, goes on several adventures. Do pre-read them as a few do get into ghosts, spells and the such.
CamJansen: 5th grade girl and her friend Eric use her photographic memory to solve mysteries. One caution, I wouldn't let my 5th grader run around by themselve like they do in the book. They do get into a couple sticky situations. There is a Jr set but have not read any of them.
I like Magic TreeHouse. Some of them do get into the culture's religions so you may want to pre-read some of them, talk about it first. One thing I really like is that some of them now have a non-fiction book to go with them.
I avoid Bailey School Kids. To me, they are just strange books. Example: Vampires don't Drink Lemonade, or Aliens Don't Wear Braces. Four kids think everyone around them is strange and they try to figure out who they "really are" Just not my kind of book.
Childhood of Famous Americans: Little harder but are great if he is into real-life books. They are written like a story be stay close to the facts. Books are many presidents, Boone, Ford, Wright Brothers, Walt Disney...
Ten Commandments Mysteries: I've have only read #9 but the children use the commandments to solve mysteries and figure out the best way to fix the problem.
Jigsaw Jones: More mystery books
Aurthur (Aurthur and DW, kid show) has some chapter books but I have not read them.
And who doesn't like a little Ameilia Bedelia...

HTH
I'm sure I can think of others I have used but it's late...

[davimee]

How about Henry and Ribsy? I think there are several Henry books by Beverly Cleary. Also a book about Ribsy, if he likes dogs.

[gratitude]

Thank you ladies! This board is so helpful.

You have my wheels spinning, and have given me some great ideas of books that I have never read, and threads that have more good ideas. I feel like now I have a direction to go in, and can work on making this come together.

Thank you!

[Buttercup78]

I have the exact same child! Some of his favorite series are the Wally McDoogle by Bill Myers and also the Dixie books by Gilbert Morris.

[DS4home]

DS is finishing 4th grade, and I am beginning to make up a Summer Reading List. Any suggestions for 10 yo boys?
I have Homer Price on the list, for starters!
Thanks,
Rhonda

Max Elliot Anderson has some great boy books in his Tweener Press Adventure Series. These were some of the first books my ds actually enjoyed reading! We have Reckless Runaway, Legend of the White Wolf, and North Woods Poachers. They are great adventures with Godly values, around 120-150 pages divided into 14-17 or so chapters.

Dawn

[MelissaB]

The original versions of Heidi and The Secret Garden - - Great for both boys & girls.

One more recommendation...

We just discovered the Sugar Creek Gang Books. They're inexpensive and are good for both genders. It's about a group of five children who hang out and take different adventures. Written a long time ago, but still apply to today.

Melissa B.

[jasntas]

Books a 10 year old boy might enjoy:

I recently found out about a couple of book series that my ds has really been enjoying. They are The Three Cousins Detective Club and The Cul-De-Sac-Kids. These are short chapter books with around 60+ pages. Compared to The Boxcar Children that are usually around 100 pages. There's also the Nate the Great series as well but those might be a little too easy depending upon your child's reading ability and interest. There is the Magic Tree House series but the books talk about magic and some of them have evolutionary content in them.

[Buttercup78]

Our evaluator just recommended a website classical homeschooling . org that has a page called "1000 good books" and they are categorized by age/grade and type.

[Tracey in ME]

I don't have time to read all of the responses, so I apologize if this suggestion was already given, but Sonlight is selling some summer reader sets. I didn't buy any, but I checked out what they had listed from our library. My girls have enjoyed some of them!