Boys. What strange creatures they are. I tried to be a tom boy when I was younger and attempted to hang out with my brother and his friends, but at heart I am a girly girl. So, naturally, when these two bustling boys came around I had a hard time buying toys and books that appealed to them. As a parent, I not only wanted to give them things that were "with the times" but I also wanted to share some things from my childhood. However, I don't think My Little Pony, 'Anne Likes Red', or 'The Little Mermaid' would go over too well. Then I learned that these little creatures would create their own preferences and opinions at a very young age.
Jacob wanted to mimic everything his Daddy did and spent many hours playing under his rocking car with his tools ("I'm fixin' it, Mommy") and his ball cap on backwards. Blues Clues, The Lion King and The Brave Little Toaster wore out our VCR, serenaded us through the speakers during car trips and even decorated his 2nd birthday party. He has played soccer, t-ball, basketball, baseball and karate. Fast forward almost 10 years later and we are on to Harry Potter, Xbox, and Yu-Gi-Oh.
Austin seemed to be his older brother's exact opposite. While Jacob was our social butterfly, Austin was much more introverted. He preferred playing in the kitchen at his special bench with his special cooking utensils while Papa cooked for us. His baby rattle was a whisk with a megablock inside. And boy, oh boy, did he love books. We would read over and over and over and over until I could quote them front to back, back to front. Austin's memorization of facts is quite impressive. His obsessions went from Cars to Dinosaurs to Reptiles and now he reads every 'Believe It or Not'-type book he can find. Everyone who has met Austin has agreed that boy is an old man trapped in a boys' body.
Well, their differences could make bedtime stories difficult to choose. Add that to the fact I do not hold the same interests, finding books at the library that I enjoyed reading as much as they enjoyed listening too was quite a task. However, it was not impossible. Now that our friends and family are growing their families and we have added a few more boys to the group, I know exactly what to include in the birthday gifts.
The Boys' "must read" list:
0-4 years old
I Love You, Stinky Face
The Little Red Hen
Dr. Suess' ABC book
Are You My Mother?
4-7 years old
If I Ran the Zoo
Fox in Socks
I Need My Monster
The Mitten
The Magic Treehouse Series
7-10 years old
The Magic Treehouse series
Captain Underpants and all affiliated series
A-Z Mysteries
10-12 years old
Butt Wars
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Harry Potter
The Lost Hero
Hatchet
Of course reading level and maturity take a role in what is appropriate for your child. Austin has read everything except the Harry Potter series in the 10-12 year old category. He started the first book but the reading level was a bit too high for him. I attribute his early love for books and attempting to keep up with his older brother to his higher reading level (he is reading at a 4th grade level in 2nd grade). While Jacob's desire, and now passion, to read didn't begin until 4th grade and started with The Magic Treehouse series. We supplemented this with books on tape and that actually made him more interested in the newer stories.
As a lady, half of these books totally disgust me and I had a hard time reading about all the gross bodily functions and a superhero running around in his underwear and a cape but it sure did grab my boys' attention. Honestly, these are things little boys will joke about anyway and for some strange reason they find it just hilarious. Knowing friends and cousins who are similar in age read the same things, I can safely say these books appeal to most of the younger male species (and even the older ones as my husband would sit in on the readings of the Captain Underpants books and laugh right along with them).
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