Saturday, March 24, 2012

7 Books to Ignite a Love of Reading in Your Boy

What books can we give our boys to teach them to love reading at a young age? What holds their interest and sparks a love of reading and knowledge? As a parent, you wonder what you can do to entice your boy to read, and not to fight them just to pick up a book. After months of trial and error with different genres, writing styles, and subjects, I found seven books that will spark a boy's interest and keep it.

1. The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey

George and Harold are two elementary school boys who love to draw and make up stories, so they decide to make comics for themselves. They are about a character they make up called Captain Underpants, who later becomes their principal! The series promotes creativity and encourages kids to draw or write their own comics. The unique and easy to follow writing style of the author insures that your boy will not become bored or frustrated by trying to figure out big words. The pictures throughout the book are fun and ensure that your boy will spend hours laughing over this book and will want to read it again and again. And luckily, there are more novels in this series!

2. Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot by Dav Pilkey

Since we enjoyed this author's writing style so much, we decided to try this series to see if the author's writing had the same endearing qualities, and we were not disappointed. With monsters from space, robots, and silly words and phrases, your boy will enjoy every minute in the pages of this book. There are no complicated or large words, and there are pictures on every page. As is consistent with the author's style, the book encourages art by providing instructions on how to draw the characters at the end of every book in the series!

3. The Stink Adventures by Megan McDonald

This series has differing themes throughout, such as space travel, gigantic jawbreakers, stinky shoes, and treasure hunts. This author also writes the Judy Moody series, and the main character, Stink, is Judy's younger brother. The books are easy to read and follow, with great jokes and silly situations that will keep your boy highly entertained, and excited for the next book. The pictures are detailed and just as entertaining as the story, and some books even have color pictures. This is a fun entertaining series that your boy will want more of.

4. Sir Fartsalot Hunts the Booger by Kevin Bolger

This book is a hilarious read. The book is full of silly and gross names that have boys hooting with delight, such as: the story takes place in the Kingdom of Armpit, a knight is named Sir Bedwetter, and Sir Fartsalot is hard of hearing, so he always hears what someone says incorrectly and creates great jokes. The book is filled with colorful characters and an entertaining style of writing, so your boy always wants to read more. This book is also fun to read together, as you will enjoy the jokes as much as your child.

5. Goosebumps by R.L. Stine

I enjoyed these books when I was in elementary school so I thought I would try reading them with my boy. He loves them so much that we have worn out copies and had to buy new ones. With scary but unique ideas such as invisibility gone wrong, haunted houses, scary monsters, and aliens, there is a novel in this series for every boy. If you want an easier read for your boy, the Goosebumps Horrorland series uses less large words than the Goosebumps series, and follows along, but has some interesting maps and stories to catch a boy attention and keep it, even before they can read the larger, harder-to-read series!

6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This series is easy to read and set up much like a comic book and diary. There are tons of pictures filled with as many jokes and descriptions as the actual story. This series addresses situations boys find themselves placed in with a witty outlook and realistic resolutions, by engaging boys with a character just like they are. As the character deals with everyday situations with sarcasm and humor, boys are sucked into the books and can't put them down!

7. My Weird School Days Series by Dan Gutman

Who didn't wish that their teacher really was an alien or crazy? This series takes those thoughts to the maximum with crazy teachers that do silly things, to super-smart teachers that are computers posing as people, to lunch ladies writing secret messages in mashed potatoes. The amusing situations and play-on-words keep boys anxious to read more, and laughing out loud. The books are filled with real facts that are delivered in a stimulating and easy to read way that helps kids remember them, but not realize that they are learning too!

Shi Belcher is a stay at home mom and an avid reader. She enjoys all genres of literature and reading childrens' books with her son. She enjoys expanding her book collection and believes that books are meant to be shared with others. She particularly enjoys the science-fiction, fantasy, romance, and classic books.

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