The books which boys should read - whether they like reading or not!

How do we encourage boys to read? It's become a common refrain in recent years. People despair of a gender gap when it comes to reading ("Girls read:boys don't", remarked Mark Bauerlein, co-author of an American report which showed a huge slide in young men reading) and various people are trying to work out just what books will attracts boys (fact-based, adventures, sci-fi or just toilet humour!)

Research shows that boys are less interested in reading, and that they often only read if they have to. In 2007, the then education secretary Alan Johnson was behind a list encouraging teenage boys to read and today it was announced that a special boys' "reading tree" has been produced by Oxford University Press. Will this work?

Leonie Flynn, co-editor of The Ultimate Book Guide series is not convinced. She has years of experience as a librarian and library consultant and now works as the librarian in a boys' prep school. She says that what all children (not just boys) need are stories which are worth reading. Children need to be hooked, to want to find out what happens in a book, and not just to finish it because they've been told they have to.

Leonie is loath to generalise about boys and reading, but says that boys are "less likely to read everything, unlike girls". However, she adds that great books for boys are out there. And here are her recommendations for those first readers and beyond..

For boys aged 7-8, who are able to read, but unenthusiastic about doing so

1) Jeremy Strong: Pirate School
Leonie says: He is a genius and so funny. Once you discover him, you can keep on reading him, up until the end of primary school.

2) Jim Benton: The Franny K Stein books
Leonie says: These are well written, funny stories, and they just work for boys, even though the central character is a girl.

3) Anne Fine: Diary of a Killer Cat
Leonie says: Anne Fine is an under-rated genius and this is fail-safe, fantastic stuff.

4) Dav Pilkey: The adventures of Captain Underpants (shown above)
Leonie says: Dav Pilkey had huge learning problems at school, and, as an adult, he wanted to write the book that wasn't there for him as a child. A lot of adults don't like these, because they are about poos and farting, but give them to a 7-year-old who thinks there are no books around for him, and he'll be hooked.

5) The Magic Treehouse series
Leonie says: This American series is fact-based. Each story takes the two children, Jack and Annie, to an adventure from the past. Many of these books have accompanying research guides.

6) Eoin Colfer: The Legend of Spud Murphy
Leonie says: These are great books for boys

For boys who already read, and are looking for something a bit more challenging

1) Andy Stanton: You're a bad man, Mr Gum
Leonie says: Wonderful anarchic humour. This book takes boys to the next level. They don't have too many words on page, but the stories are more complicated and they are still quite challenging.

2) Alexander McCall Smith: The Doughnut Ring and the Akimbo stories
He may now be better known for his adult books, but Alexander McCall Smith made his name with his children's books. Leonie describes them simply as "great stories."

3) Steve Cole: The Astrosaurs books
Leonie says: A genius writer, very funny.

4) Elizabeth Singer Hunt: The Jack Stalwart books
Leonie says: These adventure stories are each set in a different country. They have a sci-fi edge to them and work very well for boys.

5) Sally Gardner: The Magical children's series
Leonie says: These are beautifully written. Once you get a boy hooked on The Boy who would Fly, or The Invisible Boy, they will be happy to read the others too.
(NB Sarah's daughter is a big fan of the Strongest Girl in the World, which is a brilliant book).

6) David Roberts and Alan MacDonald: The Dirty Bertie books
Leonie says: These started off as picture books, but are great stories and a step up from Horrid Henry. Not that Bertie is horrid, but awful things do happen to him..

Read The Ultimate Book Guide blog

Read School Gate on:

Books for older boys

The 25 best boarding school books

Is Horrid Henry too horrid for kids?

Which children's books inspired you?

The 20 best picture books

Do girls need girls schools?

Comments

[Catherine]

The books that seem to have hooked my 6yo son into reading are the Rascal the Dragon series by Australian author Paul Jennings (who has also written 'The Reading Bug' which is a great guide for parents and teaching on techniques for encouraging reading). These would be equally good for older, struggling readers as they are cleverly 'disguised' as chapter books when in fact they have quite simple text and vivid colour illustrations. From these, a child called progress to the hilarious Cabbage Patch series which are simple chapter books about a crazy family who get into wars with their neighbours, find babies in the cabbage patch etc etc. Along a similar vein is Tim Winton's 'Bugalugs Bum Thief' about a town where everyone's bottom goes missing overnight. Andy Griffith's 'Just' stories (eg, 'Just Annoying', 'Just Shocking' etc) are also hugely popular with boys (and girls) from about 8yo. I went and read some of these aloud to a 3rd grade class and these were a huge hit with the boys especially those who were struggling with reading. I think it is really important to read aloud to reluctant or struggling readers to keep them interested in books (even if these might be beyond their abilities at the present time) and expand their skills in terms of vocabulary, understanding narrative structure etc - all good 'tools' for reading and writing.

[Yi-Peng Li]

I'd be glad to venture some time-tested classics like Treasure Island and Peter Pan, but I think boys would enjoy reading some Roald Dahl books too. Beneath the wonderful stories that Roald tells is a sense of anarchy and danger that keeps boys on the edge and makes them want to keep reading. I myself have read a lot as I was growing up, and I know I read some girls' books at times, like The Secret Garden. But I think that boys would read anything that takes their fancy, and not necessarily the machoistic books one would think they would like reading.

[Sarah]

My son - aged 8 - is currently hooked on Michael Morpurgo books. I read a chapter at night and he reads on before falling asleep. What I have found utterly charming is his 12 year old step-brother (who has recently started sleeping over at our house) comes into the bedroom to hear the bed-time story, before getting ready for bed himself. He also likes the books and for the same reason: they're written in the 1st person. I'd not have thought of that as a "hook" but it's what both boys like about his style of authorship.

[Simon]

I saw a man in a pub waiting to be seated for his Sunday lunch. He got his son to read out football results and various other aspects to the articles, from the newspaper . Although the level of prose may be low, it was appropriate given the child was approx. 6/7. Can boys' love of football not be used to their advantage rather than a distraction?

I remember at primary school I and another pupil used to compete on how many maths cards we could complete. We would secretely take extras home. This competition was of our own making - nothing to do with a love of maths (nor introduced by the teacher). Try get two lads or a small group of them to compete on the number of books they have read. Create a Premier League style league table and see what happens...

[Father Ignatius Brown]

Well done Tina Jones for mentioning Willard Price - his "... Adventure" series are just brilliant - I remember reading the lot in my first term at boarding school (just turned nine and feeling very sorry for myself) they were the ultimate antidote to Matron, rugger, cold baths and damp English winters in the early 70s - especially Amazon Adventure when the boys captured a Jaguar using honey (or something sticky).

[Father Ignatius Brown]

Sometimes you have to let the child decide - it's not all about stories. For instance I was in a book shop recently and a young lad (about 6-7) was looking lovingly at a big book on sports cars (that had a bargain basement £1.99 sticker on it). But when he asked his mum if she would buy it for him, she refused saying he could have it when his reading improved. "For God's sake GIVE IT TO HIM," I wanted to cry. If he shows interest buy him the book - his reading will improve because of it.

PS: SUZY M - I sympathise - some teachers seem to be particularly stupid and hate it when a child can read early. My daughter could read fluently by 3.5 when she started private nursery - it was a small group and the teacher was great, letting her read any book from any shelf (she really took to the DK Children's bible for some reason!).

But later when she went to a state primary the dumbos refused to listen when we told them that she was already onto the Famous Five and tried to put her back on baby-board books - she got very angry and, after a dreadful term, we took her out to home educate her. She is much happier now - and at the age of 7 is really into the Swallows and Amazon's series and Harry Potter.

As GPS said at the top of this post - it is easy to get a child to read - just read to them every day from the day they are born and read interesting things. My wife read Jane Austen to our daughter from the day she was born (and really enjoyed the experience of reading out loud) and I read her things like the Economist, New Scientist and Winnie the Pooh - it's great fun doing the different character's voices (though my George Bush was not as good as my Tigger) - you just have to make it interesting (I did skip the not so suitable stuff!). As a result our daughter loves fact and fiction in equal measure (and is a big fan of Ted Hughes).

[Rotwatcher]

My son (10) is in the process of reading the entire Harry Potter oeuvre for at least the fourth time. He reads anything and everything - loves Agatha Christie too. His elder brother (12) thinks books are the work of the devil, though he writes stories all the time.

By the way, Phillip Pulliam, there are 20 completed Aubrey/Maturin novels. If you've missed the last six, you're in for a treat!

[G P S]

It is easy to get boys to read – growing up I would read anything I could get my hands on, including my older sister's Mills & Boone novels – start them young 4 or 5 weeks old, YES WEEKS, and read to them every day.

The seventies were a great time for me as a boy:
Anything by Dr Seuss
Peanuts
My First Reading Primer
Superman
Spiderman
Fantastic four
Those little war comics of British daring in WW2
Where the Red Fern Grows, it still makes me pause as JOY and sadness moves my soul – Must find a copy for when my 3-year-old son is ready – and is a must for any child who has an animal companion.
Edge the loner
Adam Steele
Tom Sawyer
Oliver Twist
The BIBLE
1984
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Calvin and Hobbes – Still laugh-out-loud funny even on a packed train
Nick Carter
Anything written by the late Robert Ludlum
Almost anything by Stephen King

I could go on. Maybe today's boys don't like reading because the books and comics they would so love have been hijacked by puerile adult men – Yes it is mostly us men – and is no longer suitable. What now obtains is geared towards girls or is "gender neutral".
Boy need adventure and daring, not caring, sharing or puerile meanness, give them something to wrap their imaginations around, aspirational, inspiring and just a little bit dangerous. Then give them a little wild place to hide and you will miss them for hours.

[Will]

The DFC! It's a weekly subscription comic, and my eight-year-old son loves reading it. He wasn't typically a great reader but he pours over this every friday after it comes through the post, and it's leading him on to longer, more challenging material too.

[Nick]

Alex Rider

[Richard Lennon]

Can I recommend the Bartimaeus trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud? Fine flights of fantasy, with a strong theme of British history running through them. Whilst I don't really qualify as a boy these days through age and abdominal expansion, I'd have bitten your hand off for them as a youngster.

[JohnM]

I'm surprised to see from Amazon that the Biggles books are still available. These were the first books that I really got into - my parent's efforts to get me to read more worthy books having failed.

[Phillip Pulliam]

They are a bit sophisticated, but the Patrick O'Brien series of 14 novels on the Aubrey-Maturin seafaring friendship is one of the most rewarding reads you can provide to a young man or woman. His writing style and language are challenging and durable.

[Pete]

Some of the best of the past were the Tom Swift books!
They were really ahead of their time!

[Chris Wiltshire]

We bought our (just) 14 year old son a block of 10 "classic" books from the Book People for Christmas with the hope that he might read some of them in spite of the dated language. He is working his way through The Prisoner of Zenda, Rupert of Henztau, 39 Steps, Frenchman's Creek and yarns of such kind with great enthusiasm. If the story is good enough ... . John Grisham has been well received as well. We shouldn't be afraid of the challenge!

[jim]

When I was growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s the 'Goosebumps' series of mildly scary stories by R. L. Stine was always a huge hit for schoolchildren. They are stereotypically more "boy" but both boys and girls adored them.

I want to offer a tip for dads and mums of reluctant or unskilled readers: if you can afford it, buy both a copy of the book and a copy of the book on CD/MP3.

If you can't afford but have a few minutes each day, record yourself reading it, a chapter or two a day (children's chapters are usually short). Certainly we should be reading to our children directly when we can, but if the kids have access to your recordings, they can use them whenever they like.

My two nephews gradually nearly doubled the amount of reading they did after dad recorded himself reading a few books by Jerry Spinelli, Louis Sachar, Gary Paulsen &c.

Mum convinced dad to record himself to MP3 at his computer, then she loaded the MP3 files onto a cheap little MP3 player with earbuds for each lad.

Because you are dealing with spoken word, you can record "low bitrate" (low sound quality) files that are small and fit loads of them onto a cheap MP3 player.

The 1 GB Sandisk Sansa Clip is £13.99 on Amazon right now. You could fit about 4,200 minutes of dad or mum speaking at AM radio quality onto that thing. That's a lot!

[David]

What's wrong with comics? I used to love comics like the Beano, Buster and Whizzer and Chips as a young boy and they certainly got me into the habit of reading (I used to look forward to the new issues coming out each week in fact!).

In terms of books I was an avid fan of the Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone when I was 8 or 9. These were definitely targeted to boys rather than girls and had the added appeal of being a game as well as a book (you rolled dice to 'fight' monsters and the outcome of the book depended on choices made by the reader). Do boys still read books like this today?

[peter c]

I was brought up on the now out of favour GA Henty, really good exciting stories for bys or the Saint books by Leslie Charteris were wonderful

[starling]

The Little Nicholas books by Goscinny are perfect for boys. They're hysterically funny stories about real boys who punch each other quite a lot. My 9-year old son can't wait to get his hands on the next translation.

He doesn't like Swallows and Amazons or Famous Five, he thinks they're boring. He's currently reading Mathilda by Dahl and he's just finished Half Moon Detective Agency by Colfer.

He loves reading, but he didn't learn to read until he was nearly 7. Now he's a "free reader", meaning he's outgrown the Oxford reading tree at school and can read anything he likes, which he does!

[Suzy M]

My son started reading at about 3.5 and took to it like a duck to water, taking home reading books from nursery almost everyday. When he started school I (gently!)advised the teachers of his level of reading but they ignored it and started him back at the most basic books which of course bored him senseless and stopped him wanting to read!

They are only just coming round to the idea of moving his level up but still are sending home books way too simple for him and only changing them every week or two - he had no books over Christmas at all. I now get early reader books for him from the library where I can at least pick out both a story and a level of difficulty that I know will interest him.

[Wendy]

Swallows and Amazons, old fashioned I know but what a read, my son just loses himself in the adventures, he's onto book 5 now! He's 11

My 8-yr old loves the Hank Zipzer series written by Henry Winkler (yes...the Fonz!) and also the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books - super stuff! He's been an avid reader for some time now.

[Pat]

I do wonder how much damage is being caused by this insistence that boys don't read. My eldest learnt to read before going to school. Every teacher he had at that infant school insisted his reading ability was lower than it was because he was a boy and also the youngest in the class so couldn't have the highest reading ability ! Drove us both mad and cost me a fortune in books as I had to provide all reading material at appropriate level to help him develop and was an early lesson for him in the persistence of teachers 'beliefs' in the face of all evidence to the contary.

He is now a high performer at a top grammar school who still can't understand why his first school didn't want to believe he could read.

[Anne]

You need to include some stuff from across the pond.....Jon Scieszka's Time Warp Trio, Roland Smith, many of the Gordon Korman adventure series, the Screech Owls, Ben Mikaelson. These fill the bill after Magic Treehouse, and before the more difficult Artemis Fowl and Alex Ryder adventures. The boys also love many of the Jack Henry books by Jack Gantos. As a Canadian, I really encourage you to expand your English language offerings for kids - just for fun, start with The Nose from Jupiter by Richard Scrimger, or Dust by Arthur Slade. You might be very pleasantly surprised. And these are only a few of my picks for boys - and believe it or not there's a wait list to get into my nine and ten year old boys' book club.

[kirsty]

What's happened to Enid Blyton? My 8 year old son loves 'The Mystery of..' and the Secret Seven books. Also, Beast Quest are a great start for boys of about 7 who are learning to read on their own. How about letting your sons read the Beano - fun, silly and still has words !!!

[Tina Jones]

If they like animals, Willard Price stories. And they can learn stuff from them, too.

What about the Hardy boys? What about Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events? What about the Artemis Fowl and Alex Ryder books?

[Kaphie]

My 11 yo daughter has been swapping books with our admin's similarly aged previously reluctant reader son.
Successes from both sides so far:
Nightmare Academy - Dean Lorey (huge hit with both)
Percy Jackson series - Rick Riordan (especially boy)
Ranger's Apprentice series - John Flanagan

[DW Golden]

As long as the child knows how to read and reads well why is it so important that they read all the time for pleasure? My little boy reads near or right at the top of his class, but simply doesn't like to do it. But he does play for hours and has an extraordinary imagination, making up his own stories.

DW Golden
Fly with Fairies in Purple Butterflies

[sam]

Captain Underpant's did it for my son!

[Jane]

Cornelia Funke is very popular with my nine year old son. Especially the Inkblood trilogy and Hetty Hissop for a lighter quicker read (English is not his first language)

[Max Elliot Anderson]

I grew up as a reluctant reader. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for tween boys, that girls and boys hate to put down. My web site is at http://www.maxbooks.9k.com and my Books for Boys blog is at http://booksandboys.blogspot.com

I also have a short story in a new book called LAY UPS and LONG SHOTS, published by Darby Creek Publishing. It's a Junior Library Guild selection. I'm also featured in an article in the 2009 edition of Children's Writer Guide.

My other books are all ranked by Accelerated Reader

Max Elliot Anderson

[Daveyd]

Horrid Henry all the way. How can he not be on this list?

[Annoyed mama]

How about Not now Bernard? A hit in our house

[Arthur Van Der Lae]

My 5 year old son loves the Horrid Henry books and also the various Dav Pilkey books (including Capt Underpants).

As the article says - anything that encourages boys like him to read can only be good.

I also enjoy reading them to him !

[Hol]

Along the Eoin Colfer lines - his Artmeis Fowl series is great. Even as an adult I thoroughly enjoy them

[Tara@Sticky Fingers]

My son is 6 and just can't get enough of books. He sucks them all up (just like the Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers - a great book for 4 +)

I found that when he started school he wanted a bit more than just a picture book and so he started reading a great early reader series featuring Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems. They are great for learning to read and quite witty too (always a bonus!). He started reading them in Reception and he really enjoys them as there is a lot of repetition and nice vivid drawings.

He was give a Captain Underpants book for Christmas, so will look forward to reading that together.
Will defo check out the rest of the list too.

[Sarah Ebner]

Hi Jonquil,

Try my list of the best 20 picture books for pre-schoolers. The link's at the end of the piece.

And hopefully others will make suggestions too!

I'm hoping to run another piece on books for older boys next week too.

Best wishes,

Sarah

[jonquil]

the book recommendations start so old! what about books for pre-schoolers? or beginning readers (4-6)?