Favorite Read-Alouds for Boys (and Girls) of All Ages

One of my favorite things about homeschooling has been reading books aloud as a family. And our favorite books have been full of adventure with a bit of suspense.

When you have a big age difference or even just different interests among your kids, it can be difficult to keep the attention of all of your kids during read-aloud.

My friend Kelly has 3 amazing ways to make your family read alouds more enjoyable for all of your kiddos.

Having a daily read-aloud with your sons is a wonderful way to create memories and long-lasting bonds. Wondermom Wannabe has a big list of more ways to bond with your boys in her list of mother son activities.

Do your teen-aged sons love to read? Check out this list of the best books for 13-year old boys that they won’t be able to set down.

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So I’ve asked my husband and sons what their favorite read-aloud books for boys were and here are the books that topped their list:

Mocassin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw – The boys enjoyed this book’s vivid descriptions of life in the old west. Jim Keath followed his uncle to the west to be a trapper. Through a series of tragic events, he became part of a Crow tribe and then had the challenge of reconnecting with his family.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase: Wolves Chronicles by Joan Aiken – The books in this series can stand alone, but they are linked by characters and locations. They will take you on adventures all around the world. I think what we liked best about these books is the interweaving of history and geography facts with complete fantasy.

The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson – A young man travels from Ireland to America and joins the crew building the Ferris Wheel at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

The House of 60 Fathers by Meindert DeJong – Tien Pao’s boat breaks loose from its mooring while he is alone with his pet pig, Glory of the Republic.  Together, they must travel back through the Japanese soldiers to reunite with their family. 

Rascal by Sterling North – After Sterling North adopts a raccoon as a pet, the two friends do everything together. 

Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher – A new twist on a very old story. A girl with a crippled foot assists Shahrazad (Arabian Nights) in her quest for new stories to tell the Sultan.

More of Our Favorite Read Alouds for Boys: Early Learners

My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet Every child loves this 3 book series!

Hank the Cowdog by John R. Erickson These are fantastic and funny–grab the audiobook version to listen to in the car.

Henry Huggins by Beverly Clearly The first in a series of six, these timeless classics about the adventures of Henry, his dog Ribsy, and their friends will entertain your boys.

Thornton Burgess’ Animal Stories. We prefer the ones published by Dover Classics, but these are in the public domain, so you can often find an ebook version for free. Burgess was a conservationist who wrote thousands of children’s stories about our natural world. Our top three favorites are The Adventures of Bobby Racoon; The Adventures of Peter Cottontail; and The Adventures of Prickly Porky

The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford This favorite tale about two dogs and a cat has been made into 2 movies (The Incredible Journey & Homeward Bound) and is loved by kids of all ages.

More of Our Favorite Read Alouds for Boys: The Classics

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie A delightful tale! Be sure to get the original, unabridged version which is very different from the Disney version.

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. Wyss was an army chaplain and wrote this book in the fashion of Robinson Crusoe as a way to teach his four sons valuable life skills. It turned out to be full of adventures, challenges for the characters to overcome, and traditional values such as teamwork and love of family.

When you read Swiss Family Robinson, be sure to use the Swiss Family Robinson Unit Study as you go through the book to learn about many different subjects.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Vern The unabridged version contains very detailed descriptions of marine life as the narrator of the story of Captain Nemo and his Nautilus ship is a marine biologist, describing novel sea creatures. If you choose a different publisher than the version in the link, be sure that you are getting a F.P Walter translation since the Mercier Lewis translation is very difficult to read for most people and contains some “lost in translation” errors.

As you read this Jules Vern book, you’ll want to use our Sea Creatures Unit Study, All About Oceans Unit Study, and the Ocean Life Notebooking Printables & Resources

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum This original book was followed by THIRTEEN more volumes if you want to read the whole series! Again, be sure to look for the unabridged version for upper elementary and older. We also have a good abridged version for our younger kids, which at 100 pages still takes us at least a week to read through, but our littles ask for it over and over.

Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers by Ralph Moody There are an additional seven books in this series by Moody that are full of adventure. The last three in the series however may be less interesting to your littlest listeners due to the “technical” descriptions in them.

More of Our Favorite Read Alouds for Boys: Newer Classics

Redwall: A Tale From Redwall by Brian Jacques There are a whopping 22 books in this series and the first is about to be made into a movie! If your kids like LOTR or stories of “good vs. evil” they will love this series!

Peter and the Starcatchers (Book One) by Dave Barry This is a 5-book series that each of my older three kids insisted on having their own copy of because they planned to take them with them when they moved out. I’m not kidding! LOL

The Bark of the Bog Owl by Jonathan Rogers is book one of the WilderKing Trilogy. Along the same lines as the Wingfeather or Green Ember series. It’s a bit of a David v. Goliath story set in South Carolina where courage and perseverance will save the day.

And Even More of Our Boys’ Favorite Read Aloud Books: Historical Fiction

In the Heart of the Rockies: An Adventure on the Colorado River by G.A. Henty Henty used his travels as a war journalist to help his historical fiction writing for young boys. He wrote prolifically and your boys will love all of his adventure books.

We Were There at the First Airplane Flight by Felix Sutton My son wants to be a pilot so he was interested in this. However, there is a whole series of these history books called “We Were There” and they are all good!

The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare This coming-of-age story is one that never gets old, no matter how many times we’ve read it. Don’t miss the movie with Annette O’Toole and Keith Carradine which was originally titled “Keeping the Promise” but is often found under the book’s title also.

We have many more favorites, but these are the ones that were most memorable for the boys in our family.  I hope you get to enjoy some of them!

Here are even more ideas for creating your own homeschool reading list for your kids from my friend Sarah, at Homeschooling 4 Him.