The books I listed in my series post on Monday are fine for an eight or nine year old boy to read to himself, but he needs to be challenged with stuff he can comprehend, but maybe not read alone. These are a few suggestions for read aloud time or for a nine year old who’s reading confidently and voraciously on his own:
The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (and the rest of the Narnia books)
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Big Red by Jim Kjelgaard
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
Little Britches by Ralph Moody
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (and the rest of the Prydain books)
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynn Reid Banks
To read alone or together:
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
Henry Reed, Inc. by Keith Robertson
The Toothpaste Millionaire by Jean Merrill
Little Eddie by Carolyn Haywood
The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald (and the rest of the series)
Einstein Anderson, Science Sleuth by Seymour Simon
Soup by Robert Newton Peck
By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman
The Great Turkey Walk by Kathleen Karr
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
The Sword in the Tree by Clyde Robert Bulla
Viking Adventure by Clyde Robert Bulla
My Life as a Smashed Burrito with Extra Hot Sauce by Bill Myers
The Great Quarterback Switch by Matt Christopher (and all his other sports fiction books)
Dan Gutman is a real favorite with guys. I heartily recommend his Johnny Hangtime about a stunt kid in Hollywood. Gutman is more famous for his baseball card books, and his “million dollar” books.
Also the “Jack” books by Jack Gantos are brilliant in my opinion. They are hysterically funny and also very thoughtful about the nature of “boys” and families.
Titus Comrade of the Cross and Stephen Soldier of the Cross were two excellent read alouds. They are both lamplighter books.
Also, the Minute Boys of Lexington. There’s a few others in that series.
I’ll have to ask my boys this question. They are 13 and 15 now. Both have really enjoyed Robinson Crusoe.
I also remember them enjoying North to Freedom. They made a move about that book called “I am David”. Excellent read.
Because of Winn Dixie is also another favorite from last summer.
A Table in the Presence is one we recently devoured. It would be a great read aloud. Lots of military stories with God’s faithfulness all through it.
How about Swiss Family Robinson?
Thanks! We’ll make use of this–the more so as we’ve already done a number of the books on the list.
Love this list – a great reference! (i’m stopping by for the blog party – a little belatedly!)
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