Boys Who Read

My 13-year-old son stood on my neighbor’s doorstep at nine p.m., begging for a book.

We were in the middle of a remodel and all of our books had been boxed up. John had already devoured all of his library books, as well as my current book club read. And he was in a bind. He couldn’t fall asleep without a book. Often he just rereads a favorite (what we like to call comfort reading in our home). But with all of his beloved books packed in a storage unit, his only option was the neighbors. He returned home with Jack London’s, Call of the Wild. The next day we took him to the library.

Keeping John (now 15) in stock of reading material is a constant challenge in our home. On our family trip to England last summer, we found a book store in every city, town or village to replenish his book supply. I found these excursions a delight. British book stores are the best! I bought a few books myself, but I didn’t finish a single one on the trip. There really wasn’t that much reading time. I have no idea how John went through so many books. I think he reads instead of sleeping.

This summer we had another book emergency. We found ourselves in a dusty used book store in the middle of the desert near Zion National Park. John had finished all five books he had brought on vacation with another week to go. When you average 500 pages a day, it’s hard to keep enough reading material.

I get a lot of questions and comments about John’s reading. I find this interesting because although both of my older daughters are avid readers, no one has ever commented on their reading. No one’s impressed or surprised by a bookish girl. In the United States and nearly every other developed country, girls read significantly more than boys. That’s why when someone finds out how much John reads they tend to ask two questions: How did you get him to read so much? And (especially if they have a son who reads a lot) what does he read?

I’ll start with the first question—how to raise boys (and girls) who read? First, I’m not an expert. I’m just a mom with two boys who read a lot. (My other son, Will, is also a rabid reader. But because he has access to all of his older brother’s books, he doesn’t seem to have book emergencies.) Consider this post more of a casual conversation between parents in the park. I’ll tell you what has worked in our family, while acknowledging the wide variability of kids’ temperaments and aptitudes.

Both of my girls could read well before they started kindergarten and both of my boys could read…umm…their names. I did not do any of those special teach your children to read early programs that I’ve watched some other, more ambitious mothers do. Up until third grade, I’d say John (who as a sophomore in high school reads far above a college level) was in the middle of his class. So if you have a young child who is not an amazing, or is even a struggling, reader, don’t fret. The important thing is that he learns to love books. And here’s how to do that.

1. Read to them every day.

This was easy for me as a young mom because I always wanted an excuse to sit for an hour or so. I did often fall asleep while reading. Even after kids can read on their own it’s nice to read out loud to them. I don’t think we ever outgrow being read to.

2. Audio Books

You can’t read to your kids all day long, though some days that’s all I wanted to do. But they can listen to books all day. And my boys did. They started with the Cricket in Times Square and Charlotte’s Web and then moved on to Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit. They listened to The Hobbit so much that at one time they could recite entire passages from memory. Books on tape are not cheating, they expose children to books at a higher reading level. Audio books build vocabulary and whet their appetite for more serious material. While they were still in Elementary school, my boys listened to and loved: To Kill a Mockingbird and Great Expectations.

3. Library trips.

Libraries are great for discovering new books. One of the our family’s favorite series Hank the Cow Dog was discovered on a library visit. But truth be told, my boys missed the glory days of Mitchell family library trips. I went to the library less often with my sons. That could be because four kids are harder to wrangle than two and a baby. Also, as soon as they could walk, my boys ran amok in the library. John liked to play hide and seek between the stacks. And when we moved to San Diego we found our local library had the world’s grumpiest librarian. But we did go. And I think my boys learned to associate libraries and books with fun.

4. We bought books. Lots of people don’t believe in buying books anymore. I know the arguments: bad for the environment, books create clutter, why spend money when you can get books for free from the library? But when you have four kids, you know that most books will be read at least four times— in our house most books will be read much more than that. All of my children love to reread books. Also, the presence of books in the home is the biggest predictor of a child’s academic success. I think of this study every time I click buy on Amazon.

5. My husband reads. As mentioned before, girls and women read a lot more than boys and men. Most experts believe this disparity is not driven by biology but by social norms. My husband doesn’t read quite as much as I do, but he is always reading something, usually some non-fiction historical book, which he loves to tell us about over dinner. (I love this because I get to hear all the best parts of these mostly boring books and save my reading time for my fun books.) Also, my sons have older boy cousins whom they admire who are also voracious readers. I don’t think they ever considered it unmanly to read.

So that’s what we have done to help our boys love reading. Which leads to the next question: what do they read? One reason girls read more than boys is because more books are written for girls. My brother-in-law hated reading when he was a kid because all the teacher gave him was Beverly Cleary. He did not find Ramona the Pest (one of my childhood favorites) interesting. So he decided he didn’t like books. The one day he stumbled upon The Hobbit, a book full of trolls and magic and dragons. And he thought, now this is a book worth reading!

Finding books for boys becomes even more difficult when they get older. Check out the teen section at a book store and you’ll see how much the market is geared to girls. The covers are full of pretty dresses, flowers, crowns and couples holding hands You can’t fault the publishers. They are catering to their biggest audience. But it can be discouraging for a young man looking for a good book.

Also, as a mom I couldn’t wait to introduce my daughters to my childhood favorites such as Ballet Shoes, Anne of Green Gables and Little Women. But I didn’t know the boy books. I’ve had to do lots of research and asking around for recommendations. And I am still asking. But for now here is an incomplete list of books my sons have loved. (I’ve provided links of lesser-known books to Amazon just to be helpful. I wish I got paid by them for recommending books, but I’m not that fancy.)

Picture Books

My sons enjoyed most of the same classic picture books as my daughters. One notable difference, while the girls loved all the beautifully illustrated fairy tales, my boys obsessed over the books about King Arthur. My youngest insisted that he was “King Arsur” until he started school.

Books on Tape

A Cricket in Times Square-George Selden

The Chronicles of Narnia-C.S. Lewis

Harry Potter Series-J.K. Rowling (These were so beloved! Some days I’d hear one book playing upstairs, and another playing downstairs.)

Charlotte’s Webb-E.B. White

Hank the Cow Dog-John R. Erickson

Around the world in 80 Days-Jules Verne

Journey to the Center of the Earth-Jules Verne

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea-Jules Verne

To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee

Great Expectations-Charles Dickens

Early reader-Third grade

Calvin and Hobbes-Bill Watterson (I believe comic books are the great gateway into reading. And Calvin and Hobbes which is named after two philosophers has more depth and humor than most comics.)

Almost all DK Non-fiction Picture books

Stephen Biesty’s Cross Sections Castle

The Atlas of Shipwrecks and Treasure

The Jedi Academy-Jeffrey Brown

Origami Yoda Series-Tom Angleberger

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series-Jeff Kinney

Big Nate series-Lincoln Peirce

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-Roald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach-Roald Dahl

101 Dalmations-Dodie Smith

Adventures of Tin Tin (Another gateway comic book)

Hank the Cow Dog-John R. Erickson

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-Ian Fleming

Third Grade and up

Holes-Louis Sachar

The Great Brain Series-John D. Fitzgerald

The Hobbit-J.R.R. Tolkien

By the Great Horn Spoon-Sid Fleischman

The Ranger’s Apprentice Series-John Flanagan

How to Train You Dragon Series-Cressida Cowell

Harry Potter Series-J.K. Rowling

The Lightning Thief Series-Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus Series-Rick Riordan

Gregor the Overlander series-Suzanne Collins

Half-Magic Series-Edward Eager

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarian- Brandon Sanderson

Freddy the Pig-Walter R. Brooks (This series has more than a dozen books. I loved it when my boys were reading it because it goes on and on.)

The Name of this Book is a Secret-Pseudonymous Bosch

Middle school and up

Watership Down-Richard Adams

Dark Life-Kat Falls

The Legend Trilogy-Marie Lu

The Giver-Lois Lowry

Life of Pi-Yann Martel

The Scarlet Pimpernel-Baroness Orczy

The Hunger Games series-Suzanne Collins

Enders Game-Orson Scott Card

The Count of Monte Cristo-Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers-Alexandre Dumas

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Agatha Christie

Farenheit 451-Ray Bradbury

War of the Worlds-H.G. Wells

Mistborn-Brandon Sanderson (I could save myself a lot of typing by simply writing everything by Brandon Sanderson. My sons love and reread everything he writes. But for those wondering where to start I listed a few favorites.)

The Way of Kings-Brandon Sanderson

Elantris-Brandon Sanderson

War Breaker-Brandon Sanderson

Demon King Series-Cindi Chima Williams

The Warrior Heir series-Cindi Chima Williams

Eragon Series-Christopher Paolini

Mortal Engines series-Philip Reve

Endurance-Alfred Lansing

Boys in the Boat-Daniel James Brown

Unbroken-Laura Hillenbrand

Lord of the Rings-J.R.R. Tolkien

Wool-Hugh Howey