Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Read Alouds for Boys...Our Top Ten


The first year we began homeschooling, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to an incredible curriculum. The only other homeschool mother that I knew, generously lent me a crate of books. These were the books included in the Sonlight K program. This crate of treasures began our adventures of reading aloud. My boys and I savored the times of cuddling in the living room and plowing through endless books. 


Each morning after Bible time, our little routine was to pick out a hand toy. I learned quickly that sitting for more than ten minutes without something keeping their hands busy could be dangerous. They would find something the fiddle with or break; a loose string on a shirt, their brother, their nose, or some other distraction. Most mornings Random would find a superhero to perform flips during the current story. I drew the line at sound effects. Paperboy would tweak his mini Lego creations. I would read as long as my voice held up, since most days they begged for more. 


Those times were my personal favorite days of our homeschooling lives. Now these boys are in 8th and 9th grade, read alouds are rarer. I regret to say, they are approached with less zeal. One child considers them a chore. He can read the book faster in his head, why do we just sit and listen? I experienced my last read aloud to Paperboy and Daddy at the table the other night. It was a funny short book by Jon AcuffGazelles, Baby Steps And 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt. They didn't want me to stop and we were laughing together, but it wasn't the same as "Little Britches, Father and I were Ranchers".




Here are some of my favorites. I call it: My do not miss these books with your boys list. If you have girls, I am sorry, I don't have a list. I still don't understand them. I was a girl once, but I have never mothered one or had to choose books for one.



  1. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the first one Statueman and I shared when he was 4. He was riveted by Pa cleaning his gun, the bear and the intricate details of daily life in a log cabin. With my middle two, we read through the entire series using the Prairie Primer Curriculum one school year. I cannot say enough about that without sounding like a sales rep. So I won't. In fact, I'll stop commenting on each book so I can finish this post this year.
  2. Detectives in Togas by Henry Winterfeld
  3. Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
  4. The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabet George Speare
  5. Little Britches Series by Ralph Moody
  6. By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman
  7. Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil
  8. Johnny Tremain by Ester Forbes
  9. Biography of a Grizzly by Earnest Thomson Seton or any of his books.
  10. The Story of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting and the others in this series. 

Do you have any you must read this book to your children selections to share? I'd love to hear about your favorites. I'd love to share something new with Little Guy, since he leans toward non-fiction.


I welcome reader comments with open arms. I also understand if you aren't the commenting or hugging type of person, you can drop me an email at accidentallyhomeschooling@gmail.com.

9 comments:

Debra said...

Okay, so now I have ONE new book to add to my list of things to read aloud to my group. I've already read all of the others :)

One book that makes my all-time favorite list for my boys is Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. I'd have to think to come up with others. And I could never come up with a top ten list. No way.

Laurie said...

I love your list. We have read a few of those titles. I remember that my boys were suspicious of "Little House"- they did not want to read a girl book! As it turned out, they loved it. "Owls in the Family" and "Bears on Blue River" are two of my boys' favorites.

Loving learning at Home said...

Love the reading list. Thanks for stopping by my blog. We are reading Little Britches and Little House right now aloud together. The kids are loving both of them. Our family really enjoys reading together around the fire.

Helen said...

My boys have really enjoyed the Laura Ingalls Wilder books too! I have been surprised by their enjoyment, thinking that they would be more attractive to girls! But I was wrong. They have also really enjoyed Elmer and the Dragon series, historical fiction such as Squanto (by Clyde Bulla--they love just about anything by him!), The Courage of Sarah Noble; enjoyed In Grandma's Attic, Stone Fox...they even like nonfiction biographies (we're doing a series of missionaries right now, such as Cameron Townsend, Nate Saint, etc.) Thanks for your post!

Joy said...

Love the list! I do have a girl and I know she would love to read the books you listed! Thanks for joining in the Hip Homeschool Hop!

Tiffany said...

Thank you for coming by and entering my giveaway. Good luck!

I love you favorite book list, I certainly still remember my favorites from when I was a kid. One of my favorites still is "Little Women". :)

Jennifer Bogart said...

Thanks for coming by Terri! Well, we have 4 girls, and they are a lot younger than your boys, but my oldest (7) LOVES Farmer Boy! We love Seton too :). Have they read the Trailblazers series? Historical Christian biographical fiction, very fun :).

Susan said...

Thank you for sharing your list.

I would recommend Kipling (The Junglebook and the Mowgli Stories) for young ones.

Tales from the Odyssey is a good series from Mary Pope Osborne (again, for young ones---true to the original but all the icky bits are taken out).

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.

The Hobbit by Tolkien.

My daughter likes these too:-)

There are others, but my mind is drawing a blank.

Unknown said...

thank you SO much! I have a boy and am always looking for new books for him!