While gender doesn’t determine if a book is great or not, it does help if children can identify with some of the characters in the stories. This is especially true for reluctant readers. The books in this particular category are noted for the predominance of boys as main characters.
Published 1991 Theme: Freedom of Expression Best for: ages 11 and up Five Stars This brilliantly written story by Salman Rushie both enchants children and makes adults think deeply about the importance of stories, writers and freedom in keeping a culture alive...
Published 1999 Theme: Selfless Service & Humility Best for: Boys 11 and up That is why the rare human who is truly good is so remarkable. And the rare human who acquires true wisdom...is so magnificent.". Yet again, Gerald Morris has taken a classic, Arthurian literature and created an inspirational children's book...
Published 1979 Theme: Fantasy Best for: Boys age 11-12 Almost written like a classic morality play, this amazing children's book weaves a message about selfishness and pride without ever appearing terribly heavy-handed. The fantasy elements of the story, a boy finding himself in a story being written as he appears in it, brings the reader far away from the real world.
by E. B. White, published 1970. What could be more fantastical than a swan who can't make his trumpeting sounds and so carries a trumpet. This wonderful image seems to real because E. B. White makes it so. The wonderful descriptions of nature, the lovely relationship between the boy Sam and the swan, and the feeling of life in the wild all create such a vivid experience that one forgets that perhaps a swan carrying a trumpet is make-believe..
By Edward Eager, first published 1956 "Their father always said how could he be sure there was magic, and besides, even if there weren't any such thing as magic, wasn't it pleasant to think that there might be?" It's always interesting to a children's book, one in a series, by a particular author that you…
By Gerald Morris, published 1998 "To forgive the unforgivable is the breath of life in this world." A brilliant retelling of some of the stories from Le Morte D'Arthur, author Morris begins his series of children's books about knights with this winning tale of Sir Gawain and his squire Terence. From beginning to end, the pace…
by Gerald Morris, published 2001 “As you have now learned, the things you achieve by your own mighty deeds have no value until they are thrown away. But the things worth keeping—those things are yours for the asking.” Parsifal’s Page is the book that launched this website. When I finished reading it, I was so…
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