“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”

— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Do you have boys on your holiday gift list?  I do.  In fact I’ve been looking at books today for the #1 boy on my list, my 4th grade son.  Since books are one of those things I hate to buy without a recommendation, I thought I would share a few of our recent favorites….

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg is a whopper of a book.  OK sorry for the pun, but the main character Homer is a master of bending the truth.  “Telling the truth don’t come easy to me, but I will try, even if old Truth ain’t nearly as useful as a fib sometimes.”   With those words Homer introduces us to his story that takes him from his home in Maine, through adventures of the war ravaged North to the Battle of Gettysburg.   This is one of my favorite books we’ve read in a long time.  Set during the Civil War, this book is both entertaining and educational.  I loved the rollicking language and the Mark Twainish story telling style.  I loved that this story didn’t shy away from the hard issues of history, and slavery and war.  This book is a “please just read one more chapter tonight…” kind of book.

Have you heard of The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs?  This book was recommended by our school librarian (thank you Paula!)  and it is a gem.  I just finished reading it aloud to all three of my kids.  The kids loved this story.  It was sweet and thought provoking.

The Seven Wonders is set in the early 1920’s in a small town in Missouri.  The main character is a young boy named Eben.  Everyday he works hard helping his father with their farm.  But, in his spare time he has his nose in a book about the Seven Wonders of the World and dreams of travel and adventure.

One day his father gives him a challenge, find Seven Wonders in their small town in seven days time and he would be able to go on a train journey to visit family in Colorado.  Eben sets off to find the equivalent of a pyramid in his small town. “I was only looking for big things . . . but a small thing can be a prize too.”  Eben does find wonders in the most unexpected places.

While the wonders Eben finds are quite fanciful, the message is clear.  There are miracles and wonders all around us, if only we have eyes to see.  If you are looking for a small wonder of a book, check out “Seven Wonders.”

Last but not least, The 39 Clues Book 1:The Maze of Bones is top of my son’s reading list.  My husband is reading it aloud to him.  And my son is reading it to himself.  39 Clues is a bit like National Treasure… a hunt for treasure on a grand scale.  And like National Treasure there’s a lot of history mixed in.  The story begins with the death of Great Aunt Grace.  She leaves the family members a choice of taking their one million dollar inheritance or choosing a perilous journey to find their families treasure and source of  power.  The main characters are a brother and sister Amy and Dan, orphans who opt for the adventure rather than the easy money.  This book is the first of 10 in the series.  Yeah!  That should keep my son busy with good books for a good long time!

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If you are interested in more of my son’s favorite read aloud books at each age, I wrote about them about a year and a half ago, but thought I should repost them today:

Age 1

• Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
• Dinosaur Roar (Picture Puffins) by Paul and Henrietta Stickland
• Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom and Bruce Degen
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Age 2

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Age 3

• Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
• How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon
• “Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” by Patricia Thomas and Wallace Tripp

Age 4

• The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
• The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
• The Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Yes I know all three books are from Julia Donaldson… we got on a kick that year… and we still love her books)

Age 5

• Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman and Christopher Bing (My husband and I were shocked to discover that one of our favorite children’s books when we were kids was now considered controversial and racist! Then we found this wonderful illustrated version from Christopher Bing. He gives an interesting explaination of the controversy at the back of the book. I don’t think anyone could find fault with this version…)
  
• Knots on a Counting Rope by John Archambault, Ted Rand, and Bill Martin Jr.
• Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ted Rand

Age 6

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien and Michael Hague
• Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
• The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald
  

Age 7

• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls
• The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
  
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
  

Age 8

• The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

Keep in mind these book were read aloud, so they are not always reading level appropriate.

Oh!  I love looking back on this list.  It makes me feel so nostalgic!  ….Isn’t there anyone I can read “Jesse Bear” to anymore?

I would love to hear your favorite books for boys… I need to choose this years Christmas book for my son.

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