male version of Ramona or Clementine

[blue heron]

We've been reading aloud both the Ramona books and the Clementine books to our 6 yo ds. He loves them both. I was thinking he would enjoy a similar book or series about a boy, but I can't think of one. Is there one?

[Chamsia]

Beverly Cleary had a few books about a boy named Henry in the same town as Ramona and Beezus.

I must admit I find this question refreshing since so, so many books have boy protagonists!

It sounds like he is ready for Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Such a fantastic, wonderful book. And though it's author has been discredited I stand boy The Education of Little Tree (Forrest Carter) as a wonderful and important piece of literature. Seriously, if you haven't read it, get thee to a library pronto!

He's probably too young for Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls, but you can look forward to those before long.

Good luck and I'll try to think of more. My daughter's 3 so I'm still in picture-book land.

[LaLaLaLa]

When I was a kid, my brother and I read the Henry Huggins books that the PP mentioned. They were good books, although Henry doesn't have the same mischievous slant that I always loved about Ramona. If you're just looking for reading level and not necessarily similar personality, I remember also enjoying The Mouse and the Motorcycle, I think also by Beverly Cleary. And Stuart Little, too. Even though he's a mouse, he's a boy mouse and has some neat adventures.

Good luck finding something; it's such fun to read aloud these books!

[sunnmama]

Judy Blume's Superfudge series has 2 boys as main character (Peter and his little brother "Fudge"). They are fantastic, but one of them does spill the beans on Santa, and also (same book? Or another?) has a theme about the birds and the bees. It isn't explained in the book, but the child won't "get the joke" if they don't know how babies are made. My dd LOVED that series at 6--listened to the whole set on tape over and over.

We also loved Henry Huggins. For me, Beverly Cleary's Ramona series will always be the holy grail of children's literature, lol, and I am just so grateful she she also wrote books about Henry Dd loved them all.

[mags]

nak

the great brain series by john d fitzgerald was one of my favs as a kid and the main chacter is a boy. also loved encylopedia brown, which is mystery.

[LuckyMommaToo]

I second The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Henry Huggins is in more like 4th grade, and DS didn't really take to those books yet (he's six). He also didn't love Stuart Little or Farmer Boy.

He DID love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, both of which have male protagonists. Oh, Cricket in Times Square, too! (Sorry, none of those are series, are they?)

I'll come back if I can think of any true boy series we've loved. I think Mouse is it, though.
-e

[dawncayden]

subbing

[newbymom05]

Try any of the Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks. I discovered them after seeing them recommended on a NYT's blog on all time greatest children's books. They're chapter books written from the 1930's-50's about the Bean Farm and its talking animals. Supposedly Freddy the Politician was the inspiration for Animal Farm. Totally charming stories, well-written (Brooks has been compared to Greene/Wind in the Willows) with character lessons-importance of honesty,friendship, cooperation, etc.

[annettemarie]

Definitely Henry Hugins. Hmm... Homer Price? Did Judy Blume write any books where Fudge is the main character?

[monkaha]

:

[emmaegbert]

Ds who is almost 5 loves chapter books, we've been reading them for about 2 years together now. He doesn't mind girl protagonists, but does like to read about boys.

Books already mentioned that he love are: Farmer Boy, the Mouse and His Motorcycle (and sequel, though frankly I wasn't crazy about them), Stuart Little, James and the Giant Peach.

The Moomin books are great! Moomintroll is a boy, and he is the main character, though there is a whole big cast of characters who have the adventures. None are human.

I personally LOVE Edward Eager (Half Magic, Knights Castle, etc) and Edith Nesbit (the 5 children and It, the Story of the Treasure Seekers). We've read a few of those and they are a little old for him but he loves them. They are about sibling groups, some male, some female.

Also Series of Unfortunate Events, if you are into a more "black humor" kind of book. Brother and 2 sisters are the main characters. The CS Lewis books (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, a big series, many good male protagonists).

DS liked The Return of the Twelves, a book which had belonged to DH that I'd never read.

DS LOVED the Wizard of Oz, and there are many more of those. Dorothy is a girl, but her companions are all male characters. Pippi Longstocking is about a girl, but Tommy (her neigbor friend) is a boy and in many of the adventures.

Dinotopia is a fun book, though not a chapter book exactly.

[LynnS6]

There are a couple of books by Lois Lowry about Sam:

All About Sam
Attaboy Sam!

are two good ones (I didn't like the third book as well)- Sam has a mischievous slant, but is well meaning and funny.

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

Did Judy Blume write any books where Fudge is the main character?

Fudge is arguably the main character of the last in the series, Double Fudge, even though it is narrated by Peter. He is enough of a force in all of the "Fudge" books that they were highly entertaining to my dd at 6.

[RufusBeans]

I think Ralph S. Mouse is more like Ramona in mischievousness than Henry Huggins is, but the Henry books are good. Henry has several books, and I believe Ralph has 3.

"Tale of a Forth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume is told from the view of Peter, but really, it's all about Fudge. It's a fun great book. The Santa-thing is blown in Superfudge. There are 4Fudge books, so it is a series. IMO the first two books "Tale of a Forth Grade Nothing" and "Super Fudge" eclipse the other 2. I just skip the Santa part when we read outloud

[emmaegbert]

oh, when I was a kid I LOVED "Soup" and "Soup and Me"-- very much like the Ramona books but about boys in Vermont.

[amcal]

How about the Geronimo Stilton series? We haven't read them but they came highly recommended. I believe they're mystery/adventure and, I hear that they give a bit of a geography lesson as well (stories and facts about each location the books take place in).

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_...on&sprefix=ger

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by amcal

How about the Geronimo Stilton series? We haven't read them but they came highly recommended. I believe they're mystery/adventure and, I hear that they give a bit of a geography lesson as well (stories and facts about each location the books take place in).

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_...on&sprefix=ger

Dd loves these books. BUT--Geronimo Stilton is an adult mouse, albeit a naive and bumbling one, lol. Not really a Ramona/Clementine feel, but fun nonetheless!

[ollyoxenfree]

Not chapter books and not about a boy, but I always think of Curious George when I think of mischief leading to trouble.

My other thought was Fudge - good suggestion.

[zebra15]

DS loved 'Mercy Watson' which is about a Pig. I think there are 5 books in the series.

[clipfish]

Originally Posted by blue heron

We've been reading aloud both the Ramona books and the Clementine books to our 6 yo ds. He loves them both. I was thinking he would enjoy a similar book or series about a boy, but I can't think of one. Is there one?

This is my standard kids bookstore question. LOL

What we've found so far, though nothing so Ramona-ish as Ramona:

Frank Ash-- StarJumper series (http://www.amazon.com/Star-Jumper-Jo.../dp/1553378873)

Frances O'Roark Dowell-- Phineas Macquire

Robert Peck-- Soup series

Johanna Hurwitz-- Aldo series

John Fitzgerald--The Great Brain series

Lynne Banks-- Indian in the Cupboard

Diary of a Wimpy Kid has also recently captured my 5yos heart, but I'm not sure if I would recommend it for younger kids as it does deal more with the older kid social realm. The main character definitely has elements of the Ramona-spunk though, just not so much of the sweetness.