Books for Boys

I spent my childhood immersed in books.  In fact, I probably remember stories I read better than conversations I had or people I knew.  We took weekly trips to the library to stock up on The Babysitter's Club and Encyclopedia Brown and Beverly Cleary.  I read about girl detectives and a girl's baseball team and girls growing up on the prairie and girls who were in the process of becoming little women.  I loved reading these books so much that, before I even became pregnant, I began curating a collection to give to my own child some day.

I never in my wildest dreams imagined that child would be a son.

Now I find myself, decades later, the very busy mother of three boys.  My youngest is learning to read on his own right now--it delights me to no end to listen to him sounding out words and looking through books on his own.  But a conversation I've had more than once, and one that I think will continue long after my kids are completely independent in their book choices, is this:

What do your boys like to read?

We could get all philosophical here and talk about whether books are, or should be, gendered (but tons of smarter people than me have written much more profound and eloquent articles on the subject, so I'll defer to them).  Let's skip over that, with the caveat that OF COURSE any person can read anything they please without calling into question their masculinity or femininity.  I read plenty of books that were probably written with a male audience in mind (at least, I'm assuming that's what Tom Clancy was trying to do...). so it stands to reason that if my son likes to read Junie B. Jones or Ramona or Here's to You, Rachel Robinson, I will not try to distract him with the Hardy Boys or a book about football.  I'm merely making public what has been said to me so often in private, that mothers are sometimes at a loss for what to read with their sons as they grow up.

Here, in an attempt at age appropriateness, are my suggestions...

1. MO WILLEMS [The Pigeon books, Knuffle Bunny (and Too and Free), Leonardo the Terrible Monster, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs, Elephant and Piggie, and so many more]

What did parents actually read to their babies and toddlers before Mo Willems' bus-obsessed, sleep-averse Pigeon came on the scene?  I guess there was Dr. Seuss and Maurice Sendak, but Mo Willems was the only author my oldest son would sit still for in his first five years of life.  He really deserves all the accolades and attention he gets, because his books are entertaining and colorful and a joy to read out loud.  The words and pictures complement each other perfectly and even help emerging readers learn how to say the words with expression.  (It seems like every 4 or 5 year old knows exactly how to read the phrase, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO.")  And if your children age alongside Trixie and her Knuffle Bunny, I dare you not to cry over the final pages of Knuffle Bunny Free.  What are you, a robot?!

2. POP UP BOOKS

It doesn't seem to matter much what it's about.  Thanksgiving, The Wheels on the Bus, My First Baseball Game...if the images move, or flaps open and shut, or (best of all) it makes noise, your son will go crazy for "reading."  Do not plan on archiving these or turning them into treasured family heirlooms, because after five years and three sons, half of the pages will be ripped to shreds or gnawed beyond recognition.  But hey, he held a book!  That's a win.

3. FLY GUY by Tedd Arnold

What little boy doesn't dream of someday being the proud owner of a pet fly who can say his name (because his parents hated him and named him "BUZZ")?  I know my sons were over the moon when they discovered this series of easy readers.  A trend emerged over time:  the grosser the jokes, the sillier the pictures, the more ridiculous the plot, the more likely my boys would read it over and over and over.  And thank goodness, because after the 10th booger/garbage/toilet image, I can't control my gag reflex.  Thank you, Tedd Arnold, for encouraging independent readers!

4. CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS by Dav Pilkey (or Dogman, or Oog and Gluk, or Super Diaper Baby)

It seemed like a natural transition from the revolting images of Fly Guy to the potty-humored comics of Dav Pilkey.  These books are longer and better for later elementary readers.  My sons have read Captain Underpants so many times that they double over laughing as they re-tell the various plots and jokes.  When two boys hypnotize their strict principal, he strips down to his tightie-whities and battles such villains as Professor Poopypants and the Wicked Wedgie Woman and the Turbo Toilet 2000.  I read in an interview that Dav Pilkey began writing stories and comics when he was in 2nd grade, which prompted my then 2nd grader to become an author in his own right.  And I couldn't be happier that he giggles as he reads and draws for hours at a time.  It's all positive so long as he isn't playing violent video games or building a pipe bomb, am I right?

5. BOOKS ABOUT DOGS

My oldest son is what some folks like to call a "reluctant reader."  But his interest level goes through the roof if a dog is featured prominently on a book's cover.  This includes: Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary, Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, and White Fang by Jack London.  He also really enjoyed books about talking farm animals, like Charlotte's Web and Babe.  It remains to be seen if this sets him up for an early love of Animal Farm by George Orwell.

6. BOOKS ABOUT SURVIVAL

When my 4th grader was assigned Robinson Crusoe for school, I thought for sure that he would hate it.  After all, it was originally written in 1719, meaning his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents could have read it as children.  Instead, he couldn't get enough of the man stranded on an island for years and the descriptions of his various efforts to survive the elements with rudimentary tools.  This book so captured his imagination that I picked up My Side of the Mountain for a summer reading opportunity.  Once again, he seemed to really enjoy the story.  I will definitely be keeping my ears open for more books along this vein.

7. STAR WARS/MINECRAFT/THE LEGO MOVIE

Yes, it was originally intended to be a movie or a video game (or both!), but when Mom says, "Screens off!" the fun can continue with books about Luke Skywalker or Steve in Diamond Armor or Emmett and WyldStyle.  I guess.  No matter what age your child or reading level they have mastered, there is a Star Wars book for them.  Explore a galaxy far, far away while your son flawlessly reads phrases like "Imperial stormtrooper" or "Intergalactic Senate" but stumbles over words like "probably" and "uses."  Or see their eyes light up on Christmas morning when they unwrap Mark Cheverton's GameKnight999 series, which includes such titles as The Wither Invasion and The Great Zombie Invasion and (I kid you not) Invasion of the Overworld.  I'm no expert, but I'm guessing the worst thing that can happen in Minecraft is some sort of invasion.

They may not be your cup of tea, but pat yourself on the back every time you survive a long wait at the doctor or a rainy family reunion, and your son appears angelic while he reads quietly in a chair.  Clearly your child is not going to become an axe murderer or a high school dropout, because early literacy matters!