{Best Books for Boys} LiNkY

Hi friends! I love a good linky and this one is so fun! Courtney from Swimming into Second is hosting this par-tay and it's such a great idea!

The majority of my boys love nonfiction books! Bugs, rocks, gross things, cars. If it's a typical boy topic, they are reading about it and letting everyone around them know how boyishly-boy of a topic it is! Of course, with the new CCSS coming down the pike, it's important that their reading is balanced in genre. At 3rd grade, 50% of what they're reading should be fiction and the other 50% should be nonfiction. So, the struggle is getting them hooked on those fiction books! Most of the time, they get bored with the fiction chapter books because there are no pictures and their attention span is cut short {imagine that! haha}. But, thanks to some AWESOME authors, there are some GREAT fiction books and authors that will scoop them up and have them engaged instantly! Below are some of the most PoPuLaR fiction and nonfiction books that my boys are reading from my classroom library and school library.

FICTION

Here are some great, highly engaging fiction books for your little studly muffins in your classroom! {Click on each book so that it links you back to Amazon!}

Chris Van Allsburg is ah-mazing, #1. #2, I read this book to my kids in October during a lesson on asking "Deep Questions" and how the illustrations connect to the details in the story. Since that time, this book has not been in my library at all. It's been circulating between my boys (and girls, but mostly boys). The suspense and element of mystery is so exciting to them! Love it!

Geronimo Stilto is a super popular {short} chapter book series with my boys! It's a series of adventure and mystery written from the point of view of a mouse named Geronimo. He writes for a newspaper, but his true passion is writing adventure stories for all the mouse citizens of Mouse Island! There are cute black and white illustrations scattered throughout the book that keeps them engaged and chuckling the entire time! 

The ever classic Box Car Children gets 'em every time! I usually do the first book as a read-aloud at the beginning of the year, and that gets them hooked. However, this year, my read-alouds have been cut short {sadly...} and I just introduced the series, showing them some of my favorites from the series, and building them up! The favorite now is The Blue Bay Mystery. 

Every little boy I've ever known likes Legos, Star Wars, or both. What a brilliant idea when an author combined the two into this captivating series that flies off our school library shelves!! There are chapter books {which are for more advanced readers} and picture books. Both are precious...errrr manly and adventurous and great reads for boys!

Another highly engaging fiction book I must recommend is yet another Chris Van Allsburg book. My kids love this one! It's a clever spin on Jumanji, but with outerspace characters and elements. It's a funny tale of two brothers who get sucked into outerspace and their adventures in their floating house! It's quite hysterical!

This book is HYSTERICAL! Boys, and girls alike, L-O-V-E this book! It's one of the top 5 in my library FOR sure! If you don't own it, you should! It's so funny, and a great trade book to prompt writing ideas for your kiddos!

                            NONFICTION

Here are some great, highly engaging nonfiction books for your little studly muffins in your classroom! {Click on each book so that it links you back to Amazon!}

There's something about the Titanic that intrigues every boy I've ever had in class! I have abut 4 different books in my classroom library about the Titanic. However, Eyewitness Book's version is the H-O-T-T hottest to read! Literally, the pages are falling out! haha Pretty much any Eyewitness Book is an awesome read!

We have a copy of this book in the library and in my classroom. It's a great read that's been passed around from one little boy to the next...and periodically during silent reading you'll hear truck sounds. Just saying.

Finally, this book is SUPER popular with the boys! Their favorite thing to do is go around the room and ask everyone their birthday so they can tell them their birth stone! They get a huge kick out of it! It's so cute!

Check out one of my most popular products on TpT that uses the books Zathura and Jumanji by Mr. Van Allsburg. It's a CCSS aligned mini unit with everything you need to properly teach your students how to compare and contrast key story elements, and SURE to keep your little boys engaged! :)

Until then,