Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales: Books for Boys

When I was pregnant with my first child, I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I happened to have a boy. I know little girls. I was one of course. I know their games and toys, clothes and hair, songs and stories. I had never really grown out of my love of girlish things. My mother gave me an Anne of Green Gables Madame Alexander doll for Christmas the year my child was born. That was exactly five days after Edward Thomas came into the world at a whopping 10.1 pounds.

Now don’t think that I didn’t like boys. I did. In fact, I was one of those rare teachers who loved, not only teaching middle school, but middle school boys. Girls are easier, of that I am sure, but boys are just so much fun. When they like you, they are loyal. Girls can’t be counted on to pick you over their own roller coaster emotions. Their bad days are followed by weeks of holding a grudge. As long as they know you like them, boys accept a consequence and move on.

What I did not know inherently about boy’s taste, I have learned from the experience of having taught them and continue to learn from raising two of my own.
Following is a list of stories I have found that boys love.

Younger Children:
Abridged Peter Pan (Barry, read by Dawn French)
Babar Collection (DeBrunhoff, read by Louis Jourdan)
The House at Pooh Corner (Milne, read by Peter Dennis)
The Secret Garden (Burnett, Story Treasure for Young Readers)
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, (D’Aulaire)
Frog and Toad Collection (Lobel,)
The Magic Tree House Collection (Pope Osborne)
Little Bear Collection (Holmelund Minarik)
Nate the Great Collection (Sharmat )
Sarah Plain and Tall Series (Maclachlan, read by Glenn Close)
Ralph S. Mouse series (Cleary)
The Narnaia Tales (Focus on the Family)
The Fairy Collection (Disney)

Rabbit Ears Radio Productions has a number of classic Children’s stories read by famous personalities with music performed by well known artists:
The Velveteen Rabbit (told by Merely Streep)
Pecos Bill (told by Robin Williams)
John Henry (told by Denzel Washington)
The 3 Little Pigs/The Billy Goats Gruff (told by Holly Hunter)
The Emperor and the Nightingale (told by Glenn Close)
Follow the Drinking Gourd (told by Morgan Freeman)

Jim Weiss is an ingenious storyteller. He retells classic stories in a kid friendly way:
Robin Hood
Egyptian Mummies
King Arthur
Galileo and the Stargazers
Shakespeare for Children
Treasure Island
Arabian Nights
Gulliver’s Travels
Greek Myths
A Christmas Carol
Giant Stories
Tales from the Old Testament
Celtic Treasures
Children ages 7-13:
Tom Sawyer Huck Finn
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever
Shiloh
The Littlest Angel
The Great Brain
Crispin and the Cross of Lead
My Side of the Mountain
Call it Courage
Winn Dixie
Pippi Longstocking
Call of the Wild
Long Way from Chicago
Shoeless Joe and Me
Peter and The Star Catcher Series
Just so Stories
Henry Huggins and Ramona Books
Super Fudge
Time Warp Trio Series
Scarecrow and His Servant
The Hobbit
Fr. Brown Mysteries
Hardy Boys
Sherlock Holmes (Stepping Stone)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stepping Stone)
Twenty Thousad Leagues Under the Sea (Stepping Stone)
Bunnicula Series
Charlie Bone Series
Peter Pan
Around the World in 80 Days
Arabian Nights
Color Fairies (Multiple books by Andrew Lang)

Ballantyne Adventures: Noted as a favorite author of Twain and Robert Lewis Stevenson