Wonderful Books for Boys

During the summers when I was in grade school, I would take a blanket and a book out to our windbreak on our farm and read, and read, and read.

I loved to read then. I love to read now.

And, I want to do my best to inspire a love of reading in our grandchildren. I think I’ve found one thing that will help.

Our oldest grandson’s birthday was back in March. So, as part of his gift, I gave him two books — the first two in the Magic Tree House series.

This beginning chapter book series are great books for boys. They are great favorites because they involve time-travel and fantasy. Two things that really hooks boys into reading!

Here’s the basic plot of the series. Morgan le Fay, a powerful enchantress from the tales about King Arthur, sends Jack and his little sister, Annie, on numerous adventures in an attempt to free her from a spell.

In the first book Dinosaurs Before Dark, Jack discovers a tree house filled with books. One has lots of pictures of dinosaurs. When he wishes that he could see a Pteranodon, he and Annie are magically transported back to the Cretaceous period. They are threatened by a Tyrannosaurus Rex and have to figure out how to escape it and how to get back home. Will they make it?

Well, since this is a series, they obviously escape the dinosaur perils and make it back home.

The Knight at Dawn is the second book in the series. In this book, Jack and Annie are whisked back to a castle during the Middle Ages where a feast is being held — and they are NOT welcomed!

Today, I bought the third book in the series and popped it into the mail for our grandson. Shhhhh! Let’s keep it a secret so that he won’t know that a book is on its way to him!

I like the title of the third book –– Mummies in the Morning. (With a slight stretch of the imagination, it could be Grand-Mummies in the Morning. This grand-mummy is certainly OLD enough to fit the time frame of ancient Egypt.) Jack and Annie meet a long-dead queen who needs their help. Can they solve her puzzle or will they end up mummies themselves?

Do you have a grandson that is a reluctant reader? If so, these books for boys will captivate his interest and suck him right into the plot. After finishing one book, he’ll beg to read the next one in the series so he can see what Jack and Annie are up to.

You can do a Book of the Month club with a grandchild and give him one or two books a month to read. Then, you can talk about the books with your grandchild. If he lives far away, use Skype or Google Hangouts for your discussion.

Or, you could give a book or two as a birthday present, Christmas present, or just because it happens to be the 13th day of April.

You could do a round-robin where one grandchild reads the book and then passes it to the next grandchild. When all of the grandkiddos have read the book, have a party with your grandchildren with the party’s theme based around the book.

(You realize, don’t you, that you’ll need to read the book before you give it to your grandchild! You’ll be able to zip through it really fast. Reading it will help your discussion with your grandchild.)

I give the Magic Tree House series two thumbs up! I think your grandchildren will, too!

(Disclaimer: I was not paid to endorse these books nor did I make any money writing about them.)