The boys have been in a reading frenzy of late, thanks to the gift of a box of books from my publishers at Hachette Australia, as well as book ‘prizes’ for good reports, and the like. If you do something good around these parts, you get a book. If we buy a present, you get a book. If you look slightly bored, someone shoves a book in your hands. All of which is excellent for me on those days when blog posts are hard to find.
I asked Mr10 which books he would recommend from his current pile of ‘books I have read, but not yet put away’ (this is a very large pile, I might add). His suggestions are as follows:
Books for boys 10+
Dark Lord, The Teenage Years, by Jamie Thomson. Apparently, this book is “hilarious”.
Ghost Knight, by Cornelia Funke. When I read the back of this book, about a boy being tormented by murderous ghosts, I had concerns about suitability, but Mr10 assures me that it is excellent and not too scary (but “too scary for Mr7”) and that it has made him want to read Inkworld, Cornelia Funke’s bestselling series.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne. This is “old-fashioned, but much better than Around the World in 80 Days“.
House of Secrets, by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini. Mr10 simply loves this book. He also loves the fact that the writers are named after “an explorer and the guy from The Princess Bride”.
Books for boys 7+
At the younger end of the house, Mr7 has taken a liking to these books:
Time Hunters #3: Viking Raiders, by Chris Blake.
The Ranger’s Apprentice, by John Flanagan.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling.
But mostly, he’s just counting down the days until The 52-Storey Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths, is finally released.
What are your boys reading at the moment?
Are you new here? Welcome to my blog! I’m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I’m the author of two epic middle-grade adventure series, The Mapmaker Chronicles and The Ateban Cipher, and a new ‘almost history’ detective series called the Maven & Reeve Mysteries (you’ll find book #1 THE FIRE STAR here).
You can find out more about me here, and more about my books here.
If you’re looking for more books for boys, try these booklists:
21 tried-and-tested books for 13/14-year-old boys
60 more tried-and-tested books for 13/14-year-old boys
Hi, it’s me and I am not an adult! I am looking forward to the remaining books in the Last Thirteen Series. I will also be looking out for Half Mad, all the How To Train Your Dragon Books, 52 Storey treehouse and lots of others Mum has for me later!
Hi Hamish – thanks for your comment and your recommendations! My boys love the How To Train Your Dragon series as well! A
Boys are so different to girls when it comes to reading! Do you think I can get Miss 8 to read anything that doesn’t involve an animal? Nope!
Thanks Allison! This is so timely as I look at ideas for books to take away with us (we are very excited that our European holiday starts on Sunday!). We loved Journey to the Centre of the Earth – I started my 9 year old off and then he just ran with it – he had to be convinced that we couldn’t fit Iceland (or was it Greenland?) into our travel plans. But agree – couldn’t get into Around the World (maybe it was the money stealing aspect that he just couldn’t relate to? Not sure). Will love to look into the others (bar Harry Potter – which has been read, and great excitement as we plan to visit the studios!)
My son has just finished the last in the series of How to Train your Dragon – fantastic book. I borrowed it from the library without properly checking, and didn’t realise it was a series, so he now has the remaining 9 to read (which is good – he is happy knowing that even in the scary parts it ends well). So we picked up the first two in the series. And of course, the count down to the 52nd storey tree house is on.
Now to work out what my 6 yr old girl will read …
Great! Thanks for this as I’ve been thinking about suggesting some new books (besides Diary of Whimpy Kid) to my 8 year old now that he’s really reading with confidence. I’ll show him this list and see what tickles his fancy.