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Subject Topic: Best of Nonfiction for Boys Post ReplyPost New Topic
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SeaStar
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Posted: April 28 2014 at 6:44pm | IP Logged Quote SeaStar
My ds loves his audiobooks for fiction, but for a book in hand I am seeing him leaning more and more towards nonfiction titles.

He'll check out the 1,000 page fishing encyclopedia from the library and lug it home. He loves books like Jim Arnosky's "Hook, Line and Seeker" and the Patrick MacManus books.

So I am wondering what other classic boy nonfiction titles are out there...
he's been through the American Boy's Handy Book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, etc.

Any ideas?

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MaryM
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 12:58am | IP Logged Quote MaryM
Hmmmm....I do think it depends on the interests (ie obsessions) of the boy. My Civil War obsessed son gravitated to anything on that topic as well as nautical/Age of Sail. Next one really didn't lean toward much non-fiction at all. Youngest prefers saint and faith based non-fiction.

I am not thinking of any classics off the top of my head. Still thinking...

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Posted: April 30 2014 at 1:00am | IP Logged Quote MaryM
Oh, McCauley books probably fit the category. Classic non-fiction especially The Way Things Work

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 5:18am | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
Those McManus books look fun. I had not seen them. I will have to add that Arnosky book to the list as well.

I'd been thinking of this on and off, and McCauley was all I could think of, too, outside of specific topics.

My boys really like the Usborne Time Traveler books. Theey also study the Usborne WWI and WWII books as well as other history volumes like WWII Aircraft.

We have a number of Landmark books, which I think of as classic childrens nonfiction. My son loves those. The ones we've happened upon are about various wars and battles and Westerns .

My oldest also really liked the Ernest Thompson Seton books like Wild Animals I Have Known.

Have you looked through the Yesterday's Classics library? I know we homeschoolers tend to use those titles for "school," but most were not originally intended for that. They were simply nonfictions to be enjoyed by children.

Most of our nonfiction was acquired at used book sales, and I wouldn't consider it a classic, just an informative book on a particular topic.

Dover is another place to browse. They republish a lot of classics in nonfiction.

I also like to reference this thread for OOP Science authors.

I also am positive that my sons will love the Richard Halliburton books, but if you don't plan on assigning them for school, why not get them now?

Oh!!! And while not written for children, I would consider KonTiki to be a children's classic in non fiction. You can also watch the original film on Amazon.


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SeaStar
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 6:17am | IP Logged Quote SeaStar
Thanks for these ideas. We have the Usborne WWII book- I had forgotten about checking out more in the series.

I find that nonfiction is tough- it's hard to know sometimes if the book is good/acceptable without reading it yourself, and I am not always enthusiastic about reading fishing or hunting nonfiction.

Right now he is reading "The Diary of an Early American Boy" and enjoying that- it's a neat little book with many interesting illustrations.

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 6:49am | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
I agree, Melinda. For instance, Richard Halliburton was a prolific writer, but I would feel the need to preread his books for adults, though I imagine my son loving them.

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SallyT
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 7:24am | IP Logged Quote SallyT
Melinda, my 11-year-old has been enjoying Bruce Bairnsfeather's WWI memoir, Bullets and Billets (free on Kindle, which is how I stumbled on it).

I confess that I did not preread very carefully, but it seems to be a typical British-of-that-era stiff-upper-lip-humor narrative, like a non-fiction Biggles book.

Anyway, it's probably his favorite thing he's read this year.

Sally

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Posted: April 30 2014 at 8:37am | IP Logged Quote organiclilac
My son is enjoying the free-for-Kindle book My Adventures as a Spy by Lord Baden-Powell (founder of the Boy Scouts). He used to waltz right into German camps during WWII by pretending to be an absent-minded butterfly collector!

(If you don't have a Kindle, there are free Kindle apps.)

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Posted: April 30 2014 at 9:31am | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
Sally and Tracy, my 10 year old will be so excited next time he comes to me looking for something new to read!

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SeaStar
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Posted: April 30 2014 at 11:32am | IP Logged Quote SeaStar
CrunchyMom wrote:
Sally and Tracy, my 10 year old will be so excited next time he comes to me looking for something new to read!


Yes- thanks for both of these! I just downloaded them both onto our Kindles .

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: May 02 2014 at 7:13am | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
I just came across this book Dune Boy, which is the childhood autobiography of naturalist Edwin Teale. I have not read it, but it looks really good!

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: May 17 2014 at 9:42am | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
I just saw that the book I recommended is available for free download from Archive.org

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CrunchyMom
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Posted: July 10 2014 at 1:00pm | IP Logged Quote CrunchyMom
SeaStar wrote:
My ds loves his audiobooks for fiction, but for a book in hand I am seeing him leaning more and more towards nonfiction titles.

He'll check out the 1,000 page fishing encyclopedia from the library and lug it home. He loves books like Jim Arnosky's "Hook, Line and Seeker" and the Patrick MacManus books.

So I am wondering what other classic boy nonfiction titles are out there...
he's been through the American Boy's Handy Book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, etc.

Any ideas?


After your rave reviews of Hook, Line, and Seeker, I have been filing away ideas for my own son, very much a naturalist in the making. Amazon recommended Arnosky's Nearer Nature: The Secrets of a Wildlife Watcher based on my "recent history." It is out of print but affordably priced.

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