Pre-teen boy books

"You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need it a book." Dr. Seuss

I'll never forget the moment my Sidge, about seven years old, made me know I was doing an okay job at this parent thing. He was reading Suzanne Collins' series The Underland Chronicles. (You may recognize her name because she wrote Hunger Games. He looked up from his book and said, "I finally get why you wanted us to learn to read Mommy. This is so much fun." A few weeks later he finished book five and actually started crying. John talked him through the fact that he was letting go of some friends. "I just wish she could have written more than five books," he said. It was the start of his love of reading. Oh and a sidenote: Isaac didn't like this series.

Both of my boys devoured this series by Kathryn Lasky: Guardians of Ga'Hoole. I'm actually not even sure how many total books are in this series. Fifteen or sixteen I think. John said to warn everyone that the first book started slowly, and he had his doubts, but suddenly they TOOK OFF, and both boys read them with great eagerness.

I'll be honest. Years ago, I tried to get into this series and just couldn't do it. But John absolutely LOVED them, and shared them with the boys. They have both eaten them up. Some they liked more than others, and John slowed them down so that they were reading the scarier books when they were older as he says they get scarier as they go on. Either way, both boys give this one a huge thumbs up.

This is a Sidge favorite. Isaac hasn't gotten into them. It was recommended to me by my friend Aliceson Bales who has a son a little older than my boys. Hank the Cowdog is written by John E. Erickson. These are very fun, light reads that boys and girls would enjoy -- especially if they like animals or farming. They have a bit of the "Amelia Bedilia" spoof where Hank doesn't know the names for certain things. (He calls a car window a neck-cutter-offer or something like that.) There are well over 70 of these books, and we get them at our local library. Very fun and just light reads. Sidge often reads them inbetween some deeper series. Isaac hasn't tried these yet.

A favorite of the Dad and both boys is the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan. The boys have actually had fights over this one because they both need the same book at the same time and someone is going too slowly. They love them. (A little mild bad language in this book like hell and damn.) Isaac recommends it for 11 and up.

John reads these to the kids, but then Sidge especially has gone on to read them himself. Thornton Burgess' animal adventures are pure fun for kids of all ages! Isaac says "I'm not really into animals" so he didn't like it as much.

Other books that the boys have loved having read to them include: 

• Hobbit
• Lord of the Rings
• Narnia
• Treasure Island
• Around the World in 80 days
• Journey to the Center of the Earth 
• Calvin and Hobbes (not a book but the boys LOVE them!)

I'd love you to add your own opinions! Add a comment!