Books That Inspire Boys to Step Up and BE the Hero

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Raise Boys Who Read.

“Mom, mom! Can you help me learn how to sew?”

My son must have noticed my confused look because he quickly explained that he wanted to learn how to sew a cape. But not just any cape. He wanted to make a Dirgen cape from his newest favorite series of books, The Wingfeather Saga.

With this piece of clarifying information, I was not surprised at all and we proceeded to rummage through my fabric bins. I’ve been grumbling at my pack-rat tendencies and wondering why on earth I packed 6 boxes of fabric across the country when we moved to Texas 3 years ago. But not this day. We used what we had on hand and that Saturday morning after about 30 minutes of work, he was off deep into the bit of woods behind our house practicing his “sneakery” (spying) skills and planning brave deeds to stand up to the evil that lurked out there.

A few months ago, I finally decided to read this series. Usually, I try to preview or read much of what I give to the boys, but anyone who has avid readers knows that is next to impossible to keep up with, especially the older they get. This series came highly recommended from people I respect, so I hadn’t previewed them. Frankly, I didn’t like the covers. But all three of my boys were obsessed and had read each book in the series at least 3 times a piece. Since I get questions from you all about good books for boys, I decided to see for myself what the appeal! I came away inspired.

Narrative is a powerful teacher

Boys love adventure. We can give our boys a love for reading and inspire their moral imagination when we expose them to good books about ordinary people who stepped up in extraordinary ways – both fictional and real.

Stories inspired by the middle ages are especially powerful, perhaps because of, not in spite of their penchant to slip over into the realm of legend or outright fairytale.  Fairy tales are not a waste of time. They help shape the moral imagination. They’re of infinite importance in the lives of our children because, as G. K. Chesterton reminds us, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

There is evil in the world. There is evil lurking in the hearts of mankind. Children know this. What they need are reminders that these dragons can and ought to be defeated. Narrative is a powerful teacher. It is in these stories that our boys connect with their own potential role in fighting the tyranny they will someday face.

We have found that stories from this period of history and fantasy stories in make-believe worlds shape the heart of our kids and gives them the ability to battle injustice in their imagination. These imaginary battles form a framework of battle-mindedness because they issue the call to stand against injustice – no matter the odds – and impresses the importance of doing so.

So I am sharing today some of our favorite medieval, fantasy and fairy-tale adventure books that your boys (and girls) will love!

Fantasy & Fairy Tale

Picture Books

St. George and the Dragon – one of my all-time favorite books. I’ve read it hundreds of times, both as a girl and now to my own kids. It inspires us to to the hard work of battling the dragons we face and not backing down in the face of fear or danger.

In the Time of Knights – This book draws us into the life of Sir William Marshall, considered by many to be the bravest knight of all time. He battled injustices everywhere and loyally served multiple kings.

Young Lancelot – This one is out of print, but if you library still has it, check it out. It’s worth requesting through inter-library loan!

Kitchen Knight – This tale comes from the same author/illustrator duo as St. George and the Dragon and will inspire your kids to bravely stand for what is right, even if others mock them for it.

The Bravest Knight by Mercer Mayer – Delightful celebration of the power of the imagination!

The Squire and the Scroll – This book inspires our kids to battle injustice and be careful about the way we go about doing it. A dragon has stolen the purest light and many brave knights have been lost in the quest to return it. But this young squire is faithful to the instruction of his parents and navigates around the temptations that fell many a great knight on this dangerous journey.

 

Chapter Books – Fantasy Fiction

Green Ember Series – This is a tattered and worn series in our home and has been read on repeat. I tease my kids that they love this series because the female lead character and I share a name… But it is the battles against injustice that they are drawn to instead. There is a prequel, The Black Star of Kingston and a related tale, The Last Archer.  The boys wanted to do a bookclub meeting to talk about standing against injustice for this month’s Chivalry Challenge and settled on the first book in this series to discuss!

Redwall series – Another great fantasy series. I’ll admit, I never quite got into this one, but I’m not a big fantasy person. My sister loved the series and read them all as a girl and my biggest fantasy reader here is a devoted fan.

The Mistmantle Chronicles – A series of 5 books that starts with The Urchin of the Riding Stars is an epic, Shakespearian story of murder, treachery and revenge set on the island of Mistmantle, a world of squirrels, otters, and moles. My youngest son is obsessed with this series.

The Dragon King – This is a new novel about a family that has the job of protecting the world from dragons. All goes well until an evil tyrant is bent on undoing it all. Fierce dragons, family secrets, and impossible odds as they stand against injustice make for an action-packed story.

Wilderking Trilogy – This series comes highly recommended from people I love. It is next on our list to read. I’ll update more once we’ve read them. It’s an imaginative fantasy rendition of the story of David and Goliath which is a perfect picture of the fight of good against evil – even when it seems that evil will win. We are excited to dig into this book this month!

Wingfeather Saga – current favorite series over here. After my boys kept reading them over and over again, I dove in and read them too. They weren’t happy with me reading by myself, so it morphed into read-aloud time. The stories of bravery in the face of impossible odds, the self-sacrifice, and loyalty to your call all come through loud and clear. The allegorical elements are especially powerful and reminiscent of the Chronicles of Narnia except perhaps delivered even more effectively.

Chronicles of Narnia – these are classic and should be read by everyone. They are a must-own in my opinion.

Lord of the Rings – I love this series and my boys are beginning to love them too. As with any of these books, I love drawing my children’s attention to the myriad of ways that different people battle injustice.

Tripod Trilogy – While definitely grounded in the real world, this is a fantasy futuristic setting where aliens – in their tripods come in and take control of earth. They exert control over humanity by placing caps on kids as they come of age at 13 and start to reach the age where they could think for themselves. Will feels that something isn’t right as his capping day approaches and makes a daring escape after he meets a mysterious man who shares that there might be a way to be your own man and not a slave to the tripods. This was one of my favorite series as a young teen and my boys have fallen in love with the story too as Will and his new friends take on the task of rescuing the world!

Would you add any books to this list of fantasy-related books?

Read books and discuss…

So read great books to your kids. Read great books along-side your kids and enter into conversations. Have them regal you with stories of the grand adventure. Discuss the villains. What evil is at work? How was it overcome? How did various characters use their individual strengths to battle injustice. Give them time to draw if they enjoy that or enter into imaginary worlds as they become these heroes in their minds. The narratives we listen to impact the people we become. Enjoy the adventure.