Looking for suggestions for boys' series to Read Aloud

Hi, I'm looking for some suggestions for series to read aloud for dh to read to our 7yob. He's just finishing up the Andrew Lost series by J.C. Greenburg which they have both enjoyed so much.

The books need to be relatively short as dh works several nights a week and longer books just don't work when they can't read them regularly. Also, no fantasy, dh doesn't like fantasy; I'm the fantasy reader in the house.

Thanks so much for any suggestions!

I am a school librarian and these are loved by boys this age.....

Time Warp trio by Scieszka - 3 boys go back in time and have all sorts of adventures

Boxcar Children by Warner are great mysteries

Geronimno Stilton by Stilton are more action mysteries told by a mouse

Hank the Cowdog by Ericson funny adventures

Good Luck!

My boys loved Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey at that age. Short, silly and lots of bathroom humour.

Jon Scieszka has a site called Guys Read (www.guysread.com) that gives great ideas for books to try. I use it as a resource with my son.
At 7, my son really enjoyed stories by Roald Dahl. He also enjoyed the Magic School Bus chapter books.

We tried Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper. Went over like a lead balloon. Maybe we'll try again when he's a few years older.

Try The Littles-that's a very enjoyable story. My son loves the mysteries by Carole Marsh. They are set in real places (so they learn a little about history etc) and she uses her grandchildren as the main characters. She also uses two other real children in her story. They are wonderful, enjoyable and easy reads. We've read The Mystery of the Missing Dinosaurs, The White House Christmas mystery and The Mystery on Alaska's Iditarod Trail. She also has a new series that she's been starting, using her grandchildren of course, that's called Around the World in 80 Mysteries. I believe that she has the first dozen or so done, but I haven't been able to find them yet.

I ditto the Boxcar Children stories, I love them.

Hope this helps!

Avi is a good boy writer...my boys loved The Dimwood Forest Series...included in this is Ragweed, Poppy and Rye, Eredth's Birthday, and Poppy's Return

Scieszka also put out a book with short essays, stories, pieces by various guy writers. It's either called Guys Write or guys Read - I forget. I'm sure it's on his website. This is a great book to test out certain writers to see who you would like to read more.

My 7 y.o. son really likes the Beast Quest books. I think as of now there are three of them out. They are fantasy based and involve dragons, sea serpents and trolls.

I've also heard good things about the Magic Treehouse books.

I second Roald Dahl. My son really enjoyed the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar and the Flat Stanley books by Jeff Brown.

The 'Horrid Henry' books by Francesca Simon are a really fun read.

Phillip Ardagh's Eddie Dickens books are fun.

Great minds think alike jugglingpaynes! I was going to suggest the same thing. And the book is called Guys Read. The book is great because if you like an author, you can get more of his/her books. It is a great way to get guys to read!

I always have to plug Gordon Korman, he's hilarious. He has a series about 2 boys called Bruno and Boots who attend a boarding school called MacDonald Hall. They get into all kinds of trouble. He also has shorter adventure themed series - Everest, Dive, and Island. Plus one about kids on the run from the FBI called Chasing the Falconers. The latter 2 series are short and Bruno and Boots are medium-short.

Magic Tree House books are hugely popular and I second Phillip Ardagh's books, they're funny.

Another suggestion for boys who don't like to read. Start with books on CD. My son (11) had no interest in reading until I picked up one of Bruce Coville's Magic Shop series book on CD. Now he listens and reads avidly. Sometimes you need to spark that interest, especially for those who are slow to catch onto reading. Bruce Coville has been devoting a lot of time to books on CD with his group, Full Cast Audio

I have to second the nomination of the Hank the Cowdog books by John Erickson. They are great for readalouds, because the characters are so clearly individual, the situations are so funny, and Hank is so predictably dense.

They are also great for that middle elementary group of boys who are apprehensive about "chapter books." The humor carries them along and they are hooked on the story before they realize it.

edited to say that many of the books are available on tape or disc and can be used as jugglingpaynes suggests.

There's always the Narnia series, which is pretty much unisex. I know a 6 year-old boy who loves having these read to him, and my sister & I also enjoyed them very much when we were small. (My husband and his friends were apparently also fans). If so, I'd start in chronological order with The Magician's Nephew as it makes much more sense that way.

My 6.5 yo boy and I are enjoying Digory the Dragon Slayer by Angela McAllister (2006)--very funny, medieval-ish setting, turns the traditional fairy tale/knights and princesses story on its head. I especialy enjoy the challenges to gender stereotypes. Other themes include courage and friendship.

A few more series my son enjoyed at that age:
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne - already mentioned above, and very popular for a reason
The Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park - very, very funny!!!
The Polk Street School series by Patricia Reilly Giff - about kids in the same class at elementary school - more realistic situations
Also, a lot of the Matt Christopher books are good for reading together--tons of stories about boys and just about every sport you can think of.

My son LOVES the Secrets of Droon Series. He has a very vivid imagination (many imaginary friends, monsters, brothers, places). It is about three children who can enter magical world (Droon), and their adventures in that world. Primary themes are friendship, and good vs evil, and magic.

My 4th grade boy likes a series by Michael Dahl call Library of Doom series. The first one we got was "The book that Dripped Blood" then there are five more to go with it. The books have discussion questions, writing prompts, and internet links to visits.

Well, it's not a part of a series or fiction but Boy by Roald Dahl is wonderful.

and I second Hank the Cowdog.

Both my 8 year old son and 6 year old daughter have loved Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox and James and the Giant Peach. And they are LOVING The Tale of Despereaux.

I know, not series, but definitely worth a read!

What about The Indian in the Cupboard books by Lynne Reid Banks? Do people still read those? I loved them when I was a kid, as did my brother. My mom actually read them aloud to us.

My brother and I loved The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (that's the first one, but there is a series of probably 7 books about them) when we were kids. I'm not sure of the age range exactly, but if it's too old for what you are looking for, remember it in a few years :) They are very entertaining books.

I just read The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyleto my 6 and 9 year old boys and we ALL howled with laughter. It has short chapters, enough illustrations and a high silliness quotient. I think there are a couple of others about the same characters. We also recently read The Magic Pudding and both boys enjoyed that, too.

I second any of the magic tree house books

Some comments on what other people wrote:
Guys Read is great because you can read a story that you like and then you can go out and check out the other things that author has written.
Roald Dahl is great for 7 year old boys (except that some of his books can be frightening, so you might want to preview his stuff before you read them to your child.
If you are reading together and it is active/intetresting reading (rather than bedtime/sleepy time reading), Robert Munsch writes funny and engaging picture books like Good Families Don't (have farts) and Andrew's loose Tooth. They are just silly.

Zack Files by Dan Greenburg: funny and strange
A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy: neat little mysteries
Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline: school stories
Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park: funny stories, good for discussion
Commander Toad by Jane Yolen: science fiction with all due respect to George Lucas
Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne: short adventures through time.

All of these books are short chapter books that average 9-10 chapters.

The Chet Gecko series by Bruce Hale!!

My nine year old son and I are currently reading No Time Like Showtime by Michael Hoeye...had to ....we loved Time Stops for No Mouse and The Sands of Time.

My eight-almost-nine-year-old has recently enjoyed Hoot; Hugo Cabret; and the Screech Owls series by Roy Macgregor. We are currently reading the Wayside School books by Louis Sachar and he is getting a laugh out of them.

I also second The Tale of Despereaux and Fantastic Mr. Fox for reading aloud.

My 9 year old is currently buried in the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. The first one is The Lightning Thief. They must be good, I can't even tempt him away with video games! Plus, they're full of references to Greek mythology, and you can spin off in lots of directions from that.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is a very new series. The stories are about a boy, so I believe boys would connect with it, though the 7-year-old I know who is reading them is a girl. The series is small right now, but on the plus side, there will be more books in the future.