Hey folks, today we’re coming to you with a new series of posts…BOOKS FOR BOYS! Yep!
As readers, and writers, there is something we’ve noticed over the years. There are a lot more books being written for girls than boys. Why would some girls notice that? Well, because we’ve always been more drawn toward boy books. Girl books have so much romance and girly things that we, as a tomboys, never really vibed with.
Yet, that love of adventure and sword fights has never left us, which led us to write a Young Adult fantasy series for boys called The Dragon Prince Chronicles. This post is not about that series, but you can find it on amazon!
So, with that said, we’ve compiled a few different list of boy books! Books that our brothers have either loved, or they would have loved had we known they existed back in the day. There is something for every boy here from the age of 8+ (and a few bonus books for the littles) and dare we say beyond that as well. This list is fantasy and most are non-magical, or very low magic that leans more toward fantastical, no spell casting or wands.
Without further ado, the list!
Fantasy books for ages 8+
#1 – Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
This one seems an obvious choice, but I feel like it is an often overlooked classic. It is a fun story and something well worth reading with young boys, or is a great book for them to read alone.
# 2 – The Spiderwick Chronicles (5 books) by Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi
This is such a fun series! Short books and illustrations to keep things interesting. There is humor and adventure and lots of strange creatures and myths woven in.
#3 – The Green Ember Series (4 books) by S.D. Smith
This is one of my all time favorite series! There is adventure and action, heartfelt family moments and humor. These are fantastic for the whole family as a read aloud or for a solo reader.
#4 – Tales of Old Natalia (3 books) by S.D. Smith
A prequel series to The Green Ember series. Just as much adventure and action and humor! I’m not as much a fan of book 3 in this series as there is some addition of magic to the series that always feels out of place to me, but I love the first two books in this series!
#5 – The Green Ember Archer Tales (3 books) by S.D. Smith
This series inserts inside The Green Ember series and are best if read before the 4th book. I love these so much for the archery aspect and the humor! Jo Shanks is absolutely hilarious and I’m so glad he got his own series!
#6 – Green Ember Lost Tales (2 books) by S.D. Smith
I’ve only read the first of these and enjoyed it, but it didn’t quite end so I’m eager to get my hands on book 2 eventually. They aren’t my favorite in The Green Ember universe, but if you have a kid begging for more rabbits with swords, then these are something to give them.
# 7 – Jack Zulu and the Waylanders Key by S.D. Smith
I didn’t enjoy this series as much as The Green Ember, it is a really cool concept and I’m probably just biased…lol…I did enjoy book 2 more than book and there were some cool things in book 1 as well. These have some magic like elements for those who avoid magic.
# 8 – How to Train Your Dragon (12 books) by Cressida Cowell
These are nothing like the movies, but are extremely fun of their own accord! Hiccup and Toothless are hilarious and the adventures are so fun and bizarre! There are some mentions of slightly crude language like boobies, but in a characters name. There is also some talk of viking gods usually humorous and some magic.
#9 – The Vanished Kingdom Series (3 books) by Jonathan Auxier
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes won my heart and the sequel was just as fantastic! Peter is a blind thief, because don’t you know blind kids make the best thieves? It’s such a cool premise and fun story with such depth! Waiting to read book 3 but am so excited! These do have magical elements as well.
#10 – The Wild Robot (3 books) by Peter Brown
Admittedly I’ve only read book 1 and seen the movie, both of which I love and I can’t wait to read the next two books! These are so much fun and so beautiful! I thought they’d be weird… so avoided them for years, but it was sooo good!
#11 – Vincent in Wonderland by C.E. White
This one is by a local author to our area and was a fun read! Vincent Van Gogh in Wonderland? Yes, please! It was such an interesting concept and fit together so well with Van Gogh and his style of art. It was a blast to read!
#12 – World of Silence by Kaytlin Phillips
A book from Sisters Three Press! World of Silence is about a deaf archer who befriends a dragon and ends up on an epic adventure of purpose and discovery.
#13 – The Mistmantle Chronicles (5 books) by M.I. McAllister
We’ve read the first 3 books in the series and the second in our favorite…we need to get the last two books but haven’t yet. These are so fun and if your kids like The Green Ember than you definitely need to introduce them to Urchin the squirrel!
#14 – The Prince Warriors (4 books) by Priscilla Shirer
An amazing series about spiritual warfare! These books are so good and might leave you answering a lot of questions for the kiddos, but are well worth the read! They are just such good books! The Winter War is our favorite!
#15 – Scumble by Ingrid Law (2 other books in the series with girl main characters)
This series as a whole is fun, but Scumble has a boy main character while the other two books do not. You can also read Scumble without having read the other books as it is about the cousin of the MCs of those books. These take everyday gifts and call them a Savvy with the premise that some people have more noticeable Savvy’s.
#16 – The Magician’s Elephant by Kate Dicamillo
Is a beautiful story of discovery, family, and friendship! Also the Netflix film is really good as well, not the same as the book but pretty close and a lot of fun!
#17 – The Different World by B.W. Luby
Another book your kids might enjoy if they like The Green Ember Series, this one is about the guardians of childhood known as Foxlings and the wars they help children fight inside their hearts and minds. So good y’all! But it is a big book…like 6×9 and over 400 pages.
#18 – Rise of the Livingwood by Kylie Beevers
Foxes with swords? You see where this is going…lol…this is an amazing book with lots of action and adventure and similar vibes to The Green Ember series!
#19 – The Wilder King Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers
Admittedly, we haven’t read these but they are here because we have heard many people say their boys enjoy them and they are retelling of David. We started the first book on audio years ago, but weren’t a fan and plan to circle back and actually read them at some point.
#20 – The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Only read book 1 but it was a lot of fun! A big book, but definitely something fun and enjoyable!
Fantasy books for ages 4+
Bonus books for the littles! These are some we’ve enjoyed over the years and that might be fun as bedtime readalouds for the whole family!
- The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop
- Jem and the Search for Home by Lillian Keith
- Henry and the Chalk Dragon by Jennifer Trafton
- Abougrugon Chronicles (2 books) by Bree Pembrook
Conclusion:
And that brings us to the end of the post! We hope you walked away with a few new books to try! What are some of your favorite Middle Grade Fantasy books for boys? We’d love to hear about them because we are always looking for more books to read!
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