Books for Little Boys

As a committed book worm, I get lots of requests for book recommendations for little boys. And really, I love that question. But rather than re-invent the wheel each time, I realized it might be helpful to post a few lists.

With caveats:
1) I have all boys. These lists may work for girls, too. I can tell you *I* enjoyed them, but I give no guarantees.
2) My oldest is 7.5yrs and has a remarkable attention span and reading comprehension level. I did NOTHING to make this happen. He's always been this way. But it means my impressions of "age-appropriate" may be skewed. I can only tell you from my experience.
3) My second is 5.5yrs and LOVES stories and so even though he struggles in other areas, narrative is one of his greatest passions and strengths.
4) My third is all about Sandra Boynton, so I really only have a sample of 2 at the moment.
5) THIS IS NOT A TO-DO LIST! All you guilt-ridden mamas out there can relax. Your kids do NOT have to read these books to be awesome. Ever. This is not a checklist. It is only meant to be helpful if you're looking for ideas.
6) My boys haven't read these themselves - we've read to them (or played the audio), usually before bed or in the car, and partially because I'd far rather read with them than play cars, legos, ninjas, or football.

I'll list each group in order of the age my boys started liking them... (i.e. youngest to oldest)

Favorite Picture Books
Mostly from Dolly Parton's phenomenal Imagination Library...

Any Sandra Boynton
Any Dr. Seuss
Noah's Crew Came 2 by 2 by MacDonald
Slide-and-Find Trucks by Priddy
Thomas the Tank Engine's Hidden Surprises by Yee
Firefighters to the Rescue by Hamilton
Taking Care of Mama by Modarressi
My Little Train by Ichikawa
Read to Tiger by Fore
Roar of a Snore by Arnold
Toot & Puddle series by Hobby
My Lucky Day by Kasza
The Spiffiest Giant in Town by Donaldson
May I See the King by Daubenspeck
Pretend by Plecas
The Tale of Pip & Squeak by Duke
If I Built a Car (or House) by Van Dusen
Let's Do Nothing! by Fucile
A Year in a Castle by Coombs
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Silverstein
Amelia Bedelia by Parish
The Book With No Pictures by Novak
Betty Bunny by Kaplan
Dino-Football by Wheeler
Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter by Platt
Any Lego Encyclopedias (sigh)

Favorite Chapter Books
We started these when my oldest was getting bored with picture books. My favorites series of junior classics is by Dalmatian Press and sometimes $1/book at Target (I'll put an * by these).

Charlotte's Web by White
Stuart Little by White
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by DiCamillo
The Jungle Book by Kipling*
Treasure Island by Stevenson*
Pinocchio by Collodi*
Doctor Dolittle by Lofting*
101 Dalmatians by Smith
Pippi Longstocking by Lindgren
The Trumpet of the Swan by White
Black Beauty by Davage*
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Dahl
The Tale of Despereaux by DiCamillo
Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery
The Prince and Pauper by Twain
Farmer Boy by Wilder
Hardy Boys by Dixon
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Dahl
Guinness Book of World Records
The Secret Garden by Burnett*
Nancy Drew by Keen (I was surprised to find these trend a little older than Hardy Boys)
Moby Dick by Melville*
White Fang by London*
Call of the Wild by London*
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Verne*
Oliver Twist*
Mary Poppins by Travers
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Hobbit by Tolkein

Favorite Audio Books
I'm a die-hard audiobook fan because I can "read" while doing housework or driving and I can "read" to the boys when I've lost my voice. I have passed this on to my boys whether they liked it or not. ;) We have many CDs that we play in the car or on a CD-player in the boys' bedroom, or I stream audiobooks from my phone (via our library) to a bluetooth speaker in my kitchen or my car.

Frog & Toad by Lobel
Dr. Seuss Collection (read by Dustin Hoffman, Kelsey Grammar, Billy Crystal, etc)
Curious George by Rey
The Wind in the Willows by Grahame
Frances by Hoban
Paddington by Bond
Henry Huggins by Cleary (read by Neil Patrick Harris)
Ralph S. Mouse by Cleary
Magic Treehouse by Osborne
Pippi Longstocking by Londgren
Ballpark Mysteries by Kelly
Knights' Tales by Morris
Chronicles of Narnia (starting with L,W,&W) by Lewis

Never Finished
These are a few I've tried that "didn't take" for whatever reason. Some we may revisit later. There are many more that I didn't bother to record.

Tom Sawyer by Twain
Peter Pan by Barrie
Matilda by Dahl
Junie B. Jones by Park

Acknowledgements: I need to give credit to my sister-in-law whose boys are 8 and 10yrs old and who consistently posts their book reviews on Goodreads.com. This has been and will continue to be a goldmine for me. It's also where I keep track of what we've read - and how I was able to create these lists. I do not have this good a memory!

That said, suggestions? Recommendations? What should we put on our To-Read list?