Comments on: Books for a boy

Question: Books for a boy

chickaboo — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:40:20 -0800

Help me come up with a set of books suitable for a 4 year old boy that are classic (even new "classics" are welcome), offer a good narrative, and will be a nice counterpoint to his shelf of truck related books.

I'm drawing a blank, all I can think of are the Berenstain Bears and Frog and Toad. This would be a birthday gift for my godson. He's drowning in toys so I only want to get him books.

By: CRS

CRS — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:44:31 -0800

Dr. Seuss? My 4 y.o. will read anything, but still requires lots of pictures. His favorite book right now is a Time/Life Western Series book titled The Cowboys. (But he's autistic and quite erm. . . eccentric).

By: Durin's Bane

Durin's Bane — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:48:50 -0800

How about getting and reading to him The Wind in the Willows? Maybe 4 is a bit young, but I just remember having it read to me when I was really little.

By: sharkfu

sharkfu — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:49:03 -0800

This blog post may help you.

By: moonshine

moonshine — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:51:40 -0800

Zen Shorts I love that book.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:53:47 -0800

Bread and Jam for Frances is fun, and definitely a classic. Amazon gives the reading level as ages 4-8.

By: sneakin

sneakin — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:56:13 -0800

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble? To be honest, any William Steig is aces. I especially loved Dr. DeSoto.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day might be a little old for him, but maybe not. Finally, Caps for Sale is the bomb.

By: Bulgaroktonos

Bulgaroktonos — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:56:31 -0800

As a disclaimer, I am not a parent have not been a four year old for a couple decades now and have no idea what is appropriate for that specific age. I also second the idea of reading books to them, since it gives you a chance to introduce them to books at a little higher level than they might be able to read alone.

That said: Curious George, Babar, Beatrix Potter, Winne the Pooh, maybe Lewis Carroll, Where the Wild Things Are, would all seem like good bets to me if you're looking for classics.

By: handee

handee — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:58:54 -0800

Teleskiving is right. The Frances books are all fab. I still remember running away to under the table (like Frances does in "A baby sister for Frances").

By: Biblio

Biblio — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:59:37 -0800

Most 4 year olds still enjoy good, old fashioned picture books. Dr. De Soto is a classic, anything by David McPhail is genius. My guys also liked Burnt Toast on Davenport St., Lyle the crocodile, Little Bear, Truman's Aunt Farm and this fantastic compilation of stories illustrated by Garth Williams.

By: qldaddy

qldaddy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:04:27 -0800

For old classics, I loved Frog and Toad as a kid and my kids love them today. You also can't go wrong with Pooh.

For newer stuff, we liked Cynthia Rylant's Poppleton, Mr. Putter, and Henry and Mudge books.

Oh, oh, also Kevin Henkes.

By: jquinby

jquinby — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:05:19 -0800

Seconding Beatrix Potter and the original Milne Pooh books. Also the Harry the Dog series, and don't forget a collection of Mother Goose. Doesn't get much more classic than that.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:10:03 -0800

I think my favorite at that age was Go Dog Go, but anything by P.D. Eastman would be appropriate. You might also consider A Family Treasury of Little Golden Books, which has 46 of those books you may remember with the gold edge in one big volume. Lots of reading material in a bookshelf and budget friendly volume!

Now to get slightly off-topic. Do you think either of his parents have the patience for Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons? Because this is *the book* for teaching someone to read IMHO.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:13:27 -0800

Oh now how the heck could I have forgotten to mention Danny and the Dinosaur?

By: frobozz

frobozz — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:22:46 -0800

All the Madeleine books - excellent pictures, good stories.

By: bullitt 5

bullitt 5 — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:30:48 -0800

How about Harold and the Purple Crayon and Goodnight Moon?

50 and 60 years old respectively. Classics!

By: caddis

caddis — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:34:34 -0800

Captain Underpants to the rescue.

By: Wavelet

Wavelet — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:40:21 -0800

Although it may be a while before he gets the Latin puns, Asterix and Obelix generally goes down well with young boys - they like the general stories and the cartoon-ish violence long before they can comprehend much of the humor. Plus, teaches history! Err, sort of!

One other direction that you may care to take is giving a simple, colorful children's encyclopedia. I don't have a (current) specific example in mind, but I can remember being fascinated by both the photographs and the trivia and tidbits about natural science, engineering, foreign countries, etc. in our Book of Knowledge set from a very early age.

By: argybarg

argybarg — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:41:46 -0800

From my experience with my 4-year-old (on the run, so no amazon links, sorry):

any Richard Scarry (a drag to read, but Lord does he love it)
Little Bear
Frog and Toad
The Little House
Beatrix Potter
Weslandia
Cowboy Small (and Fireman Small, etc.)
Any Jan Brett books (esp. Gingerbread Baby)
I Spy books
Tana Hoban's books

I'll post links for these two because my son and I love these so much:

The Year at Maple Hill Farm and Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm -- just exquisite, in their way.

By: mattr

mattr — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:45:35 -0800

My son loved the Gruffalo - and all of the books written & illustrated by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.

By: brujita

brujita — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:22:33 -0800

Harry the Dirty Dog and its sequels. Susan Meddaugh's Martha books and Mo Willems' pigeon books

By: Wolfdog

Wolfdog — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:48:15 -0800

Mr. Wolf's Pancakes is great.
Also - and pardon me if there's a certain theme emerging here - consider a book and CD combo of Peter & The Wolf. It was a big success with my nephew at that age and it was so very cool seeing him pick up on the instruments' sounds and themes as they related to the story.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:49:07 -0800

The kids I babysit love "Click, Clack, Moo", "Duck for President," and the other books by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin.

Also, if you want to start with chapter books that can be read to him, The Phantom Tollbooth and also Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are classics.

By: booth

booth — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:57:19 -0800

Once again with the Pooh. I make sure every new baby in my circle of friends gets a set.

By: metahawk

metahawk — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:03:44 -0800

One of the best resources I found for books was Chinaberry Books. They have three things going for them: 1. They are very thoughtful about the books they include in their catalog - books that nurture the soul, not just ones that sell. 2. They give nice long descriptions so you get a good feeling for each book. 3. Best of all, they give really good age estimates based, not just on reading level but also content. They will also specify "read aloud" ages and "read by themself" ages that are much more accurate than the publisher's age ranges.

By: mygothlaundry

mygothlaundry — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:03:46 -0800

If you're looking for chapter books, try the Oz books. I read every single one to my son beginning at about that age and he ate them up. I also will recommend the Moomin books although you may want to wait a year or two for those. I'd say he's probably a little young yet for Phantom Tollbooth and Charlie and one thing I found to my sorrow is that if you introduce a book too soon, it may make him never like it. Argybarg pretty much nailed it for picture books but let me add the Stupids or, actually, anything by Allard & Marshall.

By: jeffamaphone

jeffamaphone — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:13:18 -0800

Roald Dahl books. He may be too young for them now, but they'll be good for him soon.

By: Arch1

Arch1 — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:30:45 -0800

George and Martha books... James Marshall is the author, and the latest collection of all of those wonderful hippo stories has a lovely forward by Maurice Sendak.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:32:10 -0800

Anything by Bill Peet.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:34:01 -0800

Does he read? That makes a big difference. Many of the books listed here might be too young for him, if he's going to have them read to him -- most of Dr. Seuss, for example, or Go Dog Go. I love 'em, but they're a bit babyish. Maybe. Depending on the kid. Still, you're safest getting books that he might be too young for, since his parents can read them to him now or just put them aside until he's older.

My four-year-old son's current obsessions are Garfield comic books and the Choose Your Own Adventure series, though, so who am I to give advice?

By: dagnyscott

dagnyscott — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:42:42 -0800

Where the Wild Things Are
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Some Chris Van Allsburg, if you're going to read to him.

By: you're a kitty!

you're a kitty! — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:24:47 -0800

Seconding "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs." That was a favorite in my household for a good five to ten years. In fact, I'd still read it!

By: eiramazile

eiramazile — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:25:02 -0800

The most memorable books from my childhood where the Value Tales series. Four is a bit young but I'd say a 7- or 8-year old would have no problem reading them. It's a great way for a kid to discover positive historical role models to aspire to emulate.

By: chickaboo

chickaboo — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:36:09 -0800

These are such great ideas. thank you!!!! I've emailed his mom a few of my favorites from your suggestions to make sure he doesn't already own any of these.

By: misha

misha — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:25:44 -0800

The Winnie the Pooh books and the Arthur series are excellent for kids (Arthur even has some starring his little sister to start younger readers out). And Where the Wild Things Are always wins for its illustrations!

By: ahimsa

ahimsa — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:39:24 -0800

Where the Wild Things Are.

I second Goodnight Moon, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. Those are all fabulous choices.

I also loved the Ruby & Max books by Rosemary Wells when I was 4-5. I still love them now...

Kudos on buying the tyke books. That's all I ever buy my nephew, who's now almost 6.

By: howiamdifferent

howiamdifferent — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:06:35 -0800

A children book that I've read and loved (which has also won some awards) is Adele & Simon. Aside from having beautiful art, it has a wonderful message that I can summarize as "whatever you lose on your journey, you will get it back at the end..so don't worry!"/

By: Rain Man

Rain Man — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 15:19:57 -0800

There are some wonderful older narrative books pick up on little boys' obsessions with trucks .. such as Virginia Lee Burton's Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

joining in the chorus for Pooh and Madeleine and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

By: Cricket

Cricket — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 16:15:54 -0800

Get him "Where the Sidewalk Ends." It's classic, it's giggle-provoking, and my sister hasn't stopped loving "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too" between the ages of four and twenty-six.

By: kch

kch — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:35:35 -0800

Anything by Robert Munsch rules! eg Paperbag Princess, Mmm Cookies, Angela's Airplane, We share everything- but also there are hardback anthologies. My truck boys love them (but then again they too are autistic and a bit ... erm eccentric! Nah, these are just great books.)

By: jacalata

jacalata — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:50:48 -0800

It does seem kind of old, but my brother got the first Harry Potter for Christmas as a five year old. It was a huge hit, and he got a chapter read to him every night before bed (in fact, he and my 14-year-old 'books are stupid' brother got obsessed and read it together every afternoon). So you can go for pretty 'old' books if someone is going to put in the reading aloud effort.