My Favorite Books to Read Aloud to Boys

Some of my favorite memories with my children are those made at the end of the each day, snuggling beside them to read a story. I have always been a pretty avid reader and lover of great books and I'm thankful Andrew is the same. I like to think part of his joy of reading stems from the hours I've spent making stories come alive for him. I reread him all my favorites from when I was younger, almost every Judy Bloom and Beverly Clearly book (still as amazing now as they were then). Through books he was introduced to old classics like Kind Arthur, and modern classics like The Princess Bride. We've often discussed why characters chose the course they did or what we anticipate will happen next. We have laughed hysterically and cried a time or two as well. Reading to them is something I truly look forward to just as much as they do (unless it is reading don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus for the 100th time). Now that Andrew is 11, I don't read to him every night like I used to during the school year (I do still read to Charlie though!). With homework and swim practice and reading of his own, it gets to be too much to squeeze in and keep a reasonable bedtime. Besides, he likes to end his days reading on his own. But in the summer, it's game on. I read to him most nights and we try to tackle one meaty novel or classic or I try introduce him to a new series or genre that he otherwise might have over looked. I contemplated Charles Dickens this summer, thinking David Copperfield, but Dickens can be a bit dark and heavy (maybe best saved for High School English class), which I don't think summer is the best time for all that, so we choose to kick off our summer reading with The Giver instead.

I asked him to think back and name some of his all time favorite books that we've read together. We started reading Judy Bloom type books in first grade (I read him every single Fudge book and then he reread each of them on his own!) and C.S. Lewis by third grade. I can think of a many more that I would add to this list, The Princess Bride and James and The Giant Peach to name a couple, so we might need to publish a round two. We choose to read the entire Narnia series in the order they were written (not the chronological order, though we debated the merits of each way) in case you are curious, but there is nothing quite like reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time! After reading the first Harry Potter book together, I couldn't keep up with him, he wanted to devour the rest at a pace faster than what we could read each night. I used to be worried he would trip walking into school because his nose would be in the book till the last second before he had to pay attention in class. Hope these spark some ideas for summer reading to the young boys in your life (or girls too, because I'm guessing many (most) of these would be equally loved by them!) There is a good mix on here for ages 6 to 12. What have been some of your favorites??