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insegnante
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| Posted: April 13 2011 at 9:40am | IP Logged
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My 9yo son is an excellent and eager reader. I'm the one who combs the library shelves for books on the higher end of his reading ability and interest level.
I was looking for opinions about giving him some books that might seem "girl-oriented" but are also well-loved and/or classics. I wouldn't stop him from reading them if he took an interest, but I don't know if giving a 9-year-old boy, say, Betsy-Tacy is like suggesting a boy take a special interest in something that is "for girls." I really hope it will be understood what I'm concerned about here; I don't think I need enlightenment about the raising of sons generally, just these books.
I do give him the Little House books and he likes those, but I remember those better and even though the main character is a girl, there's no trouble seeing the appeal for boys in many of the storylines. He's also read and liked the All-of-a-Kind Family. It's really not at all just about the main characters being girls.
Some books I'm wondering about:
Betsy-Tacy and series
Anne of Green Gables and series
Ramona books -- would want to review more of the series before providing, but I was very fond of them, and I remember Ramona the Pest well enough to give it to him. He has read 2 or 3 Henry Huggins books and liked those.
A Little Princess
Thanks for opinions.
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Theresa
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 13 2011 at 10:32am | IP Logged
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I think it's fine to give any of these books to any child.
You might also want to try:
My Side of the Mountain
the Alvin Fernald series by Clifford B. Hicks
Homer Price
the Great Brain series (note: the "brain" character is smart and is always trying to con $, work, etc. out of his friends, kind of in a Tom Sawyerish way, but he does eventually grow up and become a better person)
All of these have boys as main characters (and I read them all and loved them as a child, even though I'm not a boy).
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 13 2011 at 12:11pm | IP Logged
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I agree with Nancy, good books are good books.
But one small caveat at giving any 9 yr old the Anne of Green Gables books.. the later ones do get into a bit more adult information.. her miscarriage is very poignant for instance..
You might go more toward Louisa May Alcott. She has some lovely books with great boy characters as well. And not just Little Women, but Jack and Jill, Under the Lilacs, Eight Cousins.
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stellamaris
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| Posted: April 13 2011 at 12:42pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
| You might go more toward Louisa May Alcott. She has some lovely books with great boy characters as well. And not just Little Women, but Jack and Jill, Under the Lilacs, Eight Cousins. |
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And Little Men! Perfect for a boy!
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Caroline
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SeaStar
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| Posted: April 13 2011 at 3:37pm | IP Logged
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My ds loved all the Ramona books- Ramona has friends that are boys, plus her dad is around and active. We did A LIttle Princess as a read aloud, and it was a hit as well; very interesting.
The Secret Garden is another great one that comes to mind, plus all the LIttle House Series. We are reading The Martha Years right now at bedtime, and ds loves to hear about her brothers Duncan and Alisdair.
I think the key is that many of these books do have, as you mentioned, stories that have great appeal. They are full of interesting facts and situations, suspense and even mystery,
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SaraP
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| Posted: May 04 2011 at 10:46pm | IP Logged
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My 8yo and 9yo DS's like the Ramona books a lot. Beverly Clearly 'got' kids - not just girls - and I think that is a big part of why they appeal to my boys. Well, that and the fact that they have a rather Ramona-ish little sister. 
A Little Princess might work for a boy because it is almost like a fairy tale and Sarah Crewe is a practical sort of girl, but I think I would skip the Anne books. Anne would be too much of a romantic for my boys and they would be making gagging noises the minute she started in about the "white way of delight" and the "lake of shining waters". Then they would sympathize with Gilbert and feel betrayed when he eventually falls in love with Anne. They were disgusted when they read (and enjoyed) a comic book version of Shakespeare's Henry V only to find the love scene at the end between Henry and Katherine.
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mamasue
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My boys love little house books
don't forget little britches
love the great brain books!
Love all Beverly cleary!
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cathhomeschool
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We listened to the first Anne book on CD and the boys enjoyed it but not so much that they had any interest in reading the later books. Same thing with the Little House books -- enjoyed the first couple but they didn't want to listen to more and I didn't make them.
They enjoyed A Little Princess, Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy.
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aforb001
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My son read Alvin Fernald Superweasal today and loved it! I had to get on amazon and order the rest in the series. He likes to read but doesn't read without being told so this was huge for.him. He went on and on about how much be loved that book!
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lapazfarm
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None of my boys has been interested in any of those books except the Little House books and the Beverly Cleary ones. And among those, Henry and Ribsy books were bigger hits than Ramona.
Along the same lines but more boy-friendly would be the Swallows and Amazons series or the Penderwicks.
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cathhomeschool
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We adored the Swallows and Amazon series! I read the first Penderwicks book to the boys and they enjoyed it too, though they did throw out a comment about the girls now and then. 
A book about a girl that my boys loved is Pippi Longstocking. They also enjoyed being read The Cottage at Bantry Bay, though they wouldn't have read it on their own.
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sunny
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We recently listened to Boxcar Children on CD. My ds 7 and dd 5 enjoyed them immensely.
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Erin
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Loved the Penderwicks here.
Theresa, I know your op was in regards to 'girly-type' books, but what about family books with boys and girls? My younger ones are currently loving Hilda Van Stockum's family books. Currently the Bantry Bay family, then we're reading the Mitchells next.
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lapazfarm
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Erin wrote:
Theresa, I know your op was in regards to 'girly-type' books, but what about family books with boys and girls? My younger ones are currently loving Hilda Van Stockum's family books. Currently the Bantry Bay family, then we're reading the Mitchells next. |
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I think it has more to do with the story line than whether or not the main characters are boys or girls.
Little House, for example, has nearly all girls, but the story line isn't "girly." Betsy-Tacy and Anne of Green gables however, have more "girly" storylines and did not interest my boys at all.
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CrunchyMom
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Erin wrote:
Loved the Penderwicks here.
Theresa, I know your op was in regards to 'girly-type' books, but what about family books with boys and girls? My younger ones are currently loving Hilda Van Stockum's family books. Currently the Bantry Bay family, then we're reading the Mitchells next. |
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Five Little Peppers
My boys like the movie of Anne of Green Gables, but I think that the books are a little more girly. The movies were made by a man, and I think that he developed the male characters a bit more. And while it isn't just about the characters as others have said, Montgomery's female characters are splendid and her male characters are practically non-existent and mostly just plot devices, lol. An older man might get a kick out of the descriptions of so many flawed women, but a nine year old boy, not so much, IMO.
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4Real Forums : Living Literature
Topic: question about books for 9yo boy
