OK, I have an almost 5 yob who has rec'd every Lois Lenski book in print. I now want to start him on another author -- an author with beautiful books like Elsa Beskow -- but hers are a bit girly.
All you folks with boys or who are extensively read -- what would you recommend?
moving again ...
13 years ago
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11 comments:
My sons all liked the early books in the Little House series, at this age - up to but not including The Long Winter.
And the Enid Blyton books - not great literatue but fun ( if sexist) reads - Famous Five are easier reads than The Secret Seven.
They still loved picture books too ( still do!). And those Fr Lovasik books on saints, etc.
I have read aloud The Indian in the Cupboard to a couple of sons when they were five.
The Orpheline books were popular too.
And Amelia Bedelia, the Frog and Toad series by Lobel, the Magic Schoolbus and Magic Treehouse books, Boxcar books....HTH!
What about Robert McCloskey? His drawings of nature are beautiful and his boys are very appealing, and although Little Sal of Blueberries for Sal and One Morning in Maine is a girl, she is a tomboy who will probably appeal to all boys.
Are you looking specifically for picture books or fun read alouds?
Recently, we've listened to The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. That was delightful. The illustrations are by Garth Williams who did the Little House Books. (We listen to a lot of unabridged books on CDs for car rides.) Luke just listened to Caddie Woodlawn and he loved it!!
Also, We did use Christopher's Harvest Time for some Autumn reading and I was quite shocked how much he loved this book. He didn't say anything about it being girl-y or anything. He loved the illustrations. I actually didn't expect much of a reaction from him and so I was quite surprised! As for picture books, what about Jan Brett? She has lovely illustrations and quite a collection for Christmas. We just bought The Twelve Days of Christmas in board book format for Sammy. We also like Thimbleberry Stories by Cynthia Rylant...very cute forest animal stories. They have more text, but still qualify as picture books. Luke has really enjoyed the Mrs Piggle-Wiggle Books. They are older and definitely have that fifties feel! We love picture books over here. blessings, Carmen
Thanks ladies for the suggestions. We've got all the LH series and all the McCloseky books. The problem with being the youngest in a book-aholic family is that there isn't much new things out there!
I'm really looking for an author of beautifully illustrated and written books that I can "collect" for him ... like the Elsa Beskow collection I've got for String Bean.
Mary, I know that you want a collection of picture books to collect for your son, but I just thought of the book I am reading right now. I just discovered The Wind Boy by Ethel Cook Eliot. This is a gentle fairy story. I'd never heard of it until recently. I thought I'd read it before I read it aloud to Luke. I thought you might like as a read aloud. So far, I'm enjoying it. Apparently Ethel Cook Eliot became a Catholic convert, but grew up in a Protestant home with a father as a pastor. Sorry, it's not a picture book suggestion. -Carmen
Oh Lois Lenski IS just delightful isn't she!! My 5yob is loving all the Billy and Blaze stories by C. W. Anderson, these are definately all boy! What about the Frog and Toads, they are hysterical to little boys in our experience :)
Carmen,
I just requested "Wind Boy" from the library -- it does sound like a wonderful read-aloud ... thanks for suggesting it!
Meredith -- I too love the Frog and Toad ... as I mentioned on 4real a bit ago, I seem to really like the books where the author is also the illustrated ....
Someone had mentioned Eric Carle -- he's a good example of that and I always seem to like the Tomie dePaola that he writes as well as illustrates more than the ones he just illustrates. Kinda funny, huh?
Keep those suggestions coming folks!
Mary, I've been thinking about your book dilemma some more? What about the Snip, Snap and Snurr books by Maj Lindman. They were originally published in Swedish, I believe. I think I saw them in the Magic Cabin catalog recently and I thought Luke and Sammy would like them. I didn't order them, but I came across a small collection of them in all places A Christmas Store in Georgetown. I looked at them and I instantly loved the illustrations. They are both written and illustrated by Maj Lindman. She even has collection of girl adventures. They are called Flicka Ricka and Dicka. If you like them, there are so many titles. Hope this helps or heads in you in the direction you want to go. Happy All Saints! -Carmen L.
PS Can anyone join the near circles on the sidebar of your blog?
What about vintage Flat Stanley books? They are not beautiful in the same way, but they are so funny for boys, and while the new illustrations are jazzier there is something charming about the old ones, I think they are from the 70s?
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr are beautiful -- I'll have to look into those -- Magic Cabin has a set of all of them for $50 which makes them $7 a piece ... not bad.
I didn't know there were "vintage" flat stanley -- and more than one book? I'll look into that too.
THANKS ladies for the great suggestions -- these are fabulous!
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