I am on a quest to find incredible books (both chapter and picture) that showcase BOYS and the incredible gifts God has given them. I want my son to know how awesome his masculinity is, and I want him to heroize boy/male characters who are strong, faithful, steadfast, daring, courageous, and all the things that God made men to be. I've compiled the books that have been recommended to me for this purpose. This is by no means an exhaustive list (and I have neither read nor vetted all of them,) but it's a start!
*note: most are Amazon links; some I found elsewhere on the internet

Hardy Boys
When I'm A Daddy: A Little Boy's Guide to Biblical Fatherhood
Rush Revere Series
Teddy’s Button
Tiger and Tom and Other Stories for Boys
Way of the Warrior Kid
Sir Badalot and the Cranky Danky Dragon
Jesus and My Gender
The Manliness of Christ
Peter Pan
Brave Heroes and Bold Defenders
The Squire and the Scroll
Prince Martin Wins His Sword
The Call of the Wild
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 
Old Yeller (*maybe better for older kids; my small children would be DEVASTATED at the dog dying)
Where the Red Fern Grows
Little Pilgrim's Progress
Lightkeepers Boys Series
Hatchet Series
Boxcar Children (series--there are so many!)
Little Britches (here's the first; there are 8 in the set)
Mikey and the Dragons
My Father's Dragon
Chronicles of Narnia (specifically: The Horse and His Boy)
The Hobbit (my kids especially love this version, with its stunning full color illustrations)

I also discovered this website/blog post with its own list. Worth checking out. 

I hope these titles/links prove helpful to you and your family! If you have a recommendation or few, leave a comment, and I'll add yours to the list!

I was packing away our books today, glancing over each title as I stacked it on the others, when I got to thinking about my friend, Sarah.

Many of us would like to think we are voracious readers. Until you read like Sarah does, though, you can’t claim that title.

Sarah has 11 children. She reads during swim lessons. She reads while waiting in the pickup line after sports practices. She reads before bed. She reads in the morning. She reads to her children, with her children, and when she’s not with her children.

Bookshelves fill their home. It’s not a stretch to say she’s collected thousands upon thousands of books.

I used to spend a lot of time with Sarah and her family, when I was in college. We’d be sitting in the living room, talking, and she’d quietly get up and walk over to the shelf. She’d thumb across the rows until she found the one she wanted, open it up, and turn to a dog-eared page. She’d read something she had underlined, one time long ago—words suddenly necessary and appropriate for the conversation at hand.

Sarah does this. She quotes books in the middle of conversations. The words she has read strengthen and fortify her own convictions, arguments, and opinions. She admits that she hasn’t come to her (strong!) beliefs in a vacuum.

As I was packing away my books today and thinking about how much I’ve been reading lately, I realized: I want to be like Sarah. And the only way to do that is to read and read and read some more.

​I’m slowing my world, even as THE world is spiraling out of control.

I’m re-discovering these books, my oldest loves, and I can feel my brain growing. My conversations are becoming more interesting. My children are happier. My mind is working, but at ease.

These books are re-forming me into someone I’ve wanted to become for a very, very long time indeed.

​Someone like Sarah.