Best Books for Boys (linky party + giveaway)

December 8, 2012

This past week, I went to a conference for Title 1 schools and I heard a great presentation about boys and reading by Michael Shoulders. Some of the research that he presented said that the average fourth grade girl reader is 1 year above grade level and the average fourth grade boy reader is 2 years below grade level. Unbelievable! Honestly, if I look at my classes over the last few years, my lowest reading groups consist of mostly boys. (Here‘s an article I found online with more interesting research if you’re interested)

As teachers know, boys love nonfiction and this is backed by research. Boys do well remembering facts and figures. This week, I was reading a book about reindeer to my class and my boys could remember so many specific facts about reindeer the next day. They remembered more than I did.

I’ve noticed in my classroom library that I have mostly fiction books. In second grade, boys will read fiction books but they are drawn to the nonfiction books. I know that I need to do better to get my boys reading and loving to read so I thought I would host a linky party so we could all share ideas about books that boys love.

You can join the linky party by linking up below.
These smart word readers are a huge hit in my classroom. They are always in some one’s book box.
 This “Who Was..” biography series was really popular in my classroom last year.  About half my class loved reading biographies and these were very appealing to them. There’s a whole bunch of them with famous Americans and other famous world leaders. My girls loved these too because I had some with Annie Oakley, Helen Keller, and Sacagawea.
This book was shown at the training that I attended. It has lots of interesting, gross stories that the boys will love. I went to the Scholastic Warehouse sale today nearest my house and found it there. I can’t wait to introduce it to my boys.
 These sports alphabet books by Brad Herzog are great for boys. There’s a whole bunch of them you can find if you search for the author’s name.
“Remarkable Reindeer” has been a big hit in my classroom lately. The other Science Vocabulary Readers are great too.
So what do your boys love? Link up below. Don’t forget to grab the button when you do so other people can find the linky party. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to leave a comment with your favorite books. If I get lots of entries, I’ll try to combine them into a resource for all teachers. 
Best of all, I am going to give away a $25 Amazon gift certificate to one of the entrants. I’ll draw for the gift card in mid January.
If anyone knows how to add a scroll box underneath my linky party image, let me know. I have done it before but I can’t remember how to now. I would like to do it to make it easier to embed in your posts. 

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28 Comments on “Best Books for Boys (linky party + giveaway)

  1. I always get anything Superhero related! The boys love them. I've even found some Power Rangers books from Dollar Tree that they love! And I always look for animal books about insects, reptiles, or sharks! Thanks for the linky party! I'm always looking for new books for my boys!
    briawnacallahan@gmail.com

  2. My son (6yrs old) is obsessed with the Ready Freddy Series. He can't seem to get enough of those books. The boys in my first grade class really enjoy them too. They also like the Magic Treehouse Series (the boys enjoy them way more than the girls in my room) and the Black Lagoon Adventure Series.

  3. My second grade boys really like the Geronimo Stilton series… just right for them! And they also like the Thea Stilton ones, even though she is a girl mouse!

    (bookmarking to come back later to check all the great ideas!)

    tokyoshoes (at) hotmail (dot) com

  4. Great linky! I have found some new ideas for my son! Funny that you should mention Michael Shoulders. My son's school had an author visit with him, and he got to eat lunch with him. I had never heard of him until my son came home talking about him.

    Andrea
    Reading Toward the Stars

  5. I LOVE this topic because out of my 14 students, 12 are boys! Coincidentally, I just blogged about The Invention of Hugo Cabret and how I used it to connect with my 12 boys!!! I HAVE 12 BOYS IN A CLASS OF 14. My life revolves around finding books for these boys! So I'll link up with that post. Thanks for all of the recommendations and doing this linky so I can find new ideas!

    Sarah

    The Eager Teacher
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  6. Thanks for all the recommendations. I have struggling readers. As of now the boys love science books. I am trying to build my library as fast as I can to help the boys find their love of reading.

  7. Hot Wheels, Lego, super heros, David Shannon books, Chester books (by Melanie Watt), dinosaurs and anything non-fiction, especially bugs, snakes, frogs, lions and sharks! Thanks for all the great ideas! My boys are definitely a little harder to motivate than my girls.

  8. I know I'm a little late to this party but I had to link up! I love this topic!! We really do forget about our boys sometimes when we teach reading and writing! There are books that boys like (they love the gross stuff) and they do like to write silly stuff sometimes. That's just boys! Great topic! Glad I found your linky!
    Gina
    Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

  9. My 2nd graders seem to like the Magic Treehouse Books and the Research Guides that go along with them. They also like the Black Lagoon Series, both the picture books and chapter books.

  10. Thank you so much for starting this Linky – it has been so helpful to me. I love finding new books and authors – or just being reminded of books that I haven`t used in a while. The boys in my class love humour – especially Captain Underpants and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

    Looking From Third to Fourth

  11. My boys love the Sidekicks series by Dan Danko, They love anything Graphic novel like. They are especially loving the Lunch Lady and Bone series right now. I also have a big basket of Star Wars books and Lego books They love reading them, making lists and comparing with each other. I have just found the first few Skylanders books at my Barnes and Noble and can't wait to bring them to school tomorrow. I know the boys are going to eat them up. ��

  12. Hi, I teach grade 1/2 in Australia and we have a great author called Andy Grffiths who writes a terrific series of books about a boy called Andy and his misadventures. They are very popular in Australia

  13. Thanks for hosting this linky. Getting boys hooked on reading is so important. My son (now 18 and a nonfiction reader) loved having the Roald Dahl books read to him – loved the warped sense of humour. (so did i!) He devoured the Captain Underpants series. More warped humour. Hmmmmm… a theme!

    sandi
    rubberboots and elf shoes

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