Chapter Books for Boys (and girls!)

On Christmas morning, our boys wake up to a wrapped book at the foot of their beds; before the sun is even up, we hear bed lights click on and paper-ripping begin.  

Finding each son a book that will be thrilling and engaging sometimes can feel like a holiday challenge, but one of the best methods is to get the latest book in a series they love.  In case you have some readers on your shopping list, I thought I'd share some of our crew's favorite series over the recent years.  

Ranger in Time Series by Kim Messner: Ranger is a search-and-rescue dog who travels through time to save the day.  Ish read this series last year; as a dog-lover, these books were the perfect way to get him excited about history.

Ryan and Krystle Howard's Little Rhino Series: Phillies' first baseman Ryan Howard and his wife wrote this series about a baseball-loving boy and how sports, school, and friends work together.  Toby devoured these books as soon as they came out.

Tiki and Ronde Barber's Game Time Books: Toby is getting one of these at the foot of his bed this Christmas.  These NFL brothers have written quite a few books inspired by their childhoods; Toby has read all the football books and is about to explore the basketball and baseball ones.

I Survived Series: Author Lauren Tarshis takes scary historical catastrophes, tells them through the lens of a child, and somehow teaches true facts in a way that doesn't strike crippling fear in the reader.  We have all but one of the books in this series and will have all of them once Ish opens his book on Christmas morning... ;) 

Cal Ripkin, Jr's All Stars Series: Eli and Toby have read all of these books, often checking to see if a new one has come out yet.  We started reading these because Cal Ripkin, Jr. was Uncle Tim's favorite player; now the boys are hooked.  

Any of Tim Green's books for kids: These sports books are longer and more mature than the other sports books mentioned above; Eli has read all of these, and Toby is working his way through them now.  When we have new Tim Green books, the reader will go missing from family activity, usually lost in the pages for hours.  I love them for the subtle way they teach character.

Andrew Peterson's Wingfeather Saga: I bought Eli the first in the series a year or two ago.  The first one was hard for him to get into, but once he finished it, he requested the rest of them for gifts and later listed the final book as his favorite book.  This series is fantasy and written by someone who loves Tolkien and Lewis.