Knowing your boys need to be reading more manly fiction isn’t enough. Where can you find the sort of books they need to be reading? Some things are timeless; other resources need to be updated often. Instead of placing a specific resource section in the book which might be soon updated, we decided to put this list online where it can be easily refined and updated.

We hope these resources will help you raise your boys to be real men. Enjoy!

(Standard Disclaimer: While we have reviewed these sites and resources, we do not control nor can comprehensively check them, and there may be content, opinions, or ideologies represented that we do not recommend and may offend you or your children.)

Covenant Eyes

We hear often from families that believe they are protecting their sons from any temptation, only to find out that they’ve been exposed to horrible things on the internet and no one knew. One young man said he found out about the sites from the ads in the back of a science magazine at the library. One family kept the only computer in the family room, only to find out one son was stealing moments at evil sites when he’d run downstairs to get something at night.

We use Covenant Eyes to give our sons (and ourselves) constant accountability. It’s installed on all our computers (and the grandparents’ too!).  They send us reports weekly that tell us immediately if anyone has been to questionable sites. Our children learn to say no since they know they’ll get caught. Excellent, excellent service. We recommend getting everyone their own username, so you immediately know who’s done it.  Use this link to get a free month of service and to support our ministry, too.

HSLDA

People know the Home School Legal Defense Association for the way they tenaciously defend member families from those who would attack their homeschool freedoms, but few know what they do behind the scenes. They are constantly busy supporting and encouraging state homeschool organizations, watching Congress, the Courts and our state legislators and serving as sounding boards and colleagues to homeschool leaders across the nation. Join them to protect your own family, or to encourage the homeschool movements as a whole, but join them. Use this link to bless our ministry through your membership. We’re Lifetime Members ourselves.

Beloved Books

Our boys have really loved both reading and listening to the Sugar Creek Gang series. Read our review. Get the first Sugar Creek Gang audio book free when you buy Raising Real Men on this website, courtesy of our friends at Beloved Books. If you want the rest of the series (and you will!), buy it here. Use this coupon code to get 10% off and support our ministry, too: RAISINGREAL10

Timberdoodle

Besides being a retail partner of Raising Real Men, and the first company we bought homeschool materials from a long, long time ago, Timberdoodle has the best collection of construction toys anywhere. Be sure to check out Fischertechnik, our boys’ favorite, they were originally designed by German engineers to make industrial models. Very cool.

Doorposts

Doorposts publishes several useful resources for parents of boys. We particularly like The Brother-Offended Checklist, Plants Grown Up and For Instruction in Righteousness. Check them out!

Jim Hodges Audio Books

We can’t say enough about the books of G.A. Henty. They’ll teach you history, give you a clear picture of how the manly virtues are lived out and increase your comprehension of complex and rich English. That last part makes them a challenging read for some sons. Jim Hodges’ audio book versions make Henty more accessible – and are a great thing for a long trip, too!  Now we are the only authorized resellers of these fantastic audiobooks! Click here.

Schoolhouse Publishing

Run by our friends, the Kemmerer Family (who, thankfully, often end up in a booth near us at homeschool conferences so we can borrow electricity when we forget to charge the credit card machine :-), they carry nearly everything we use in our own homeschool, at great prices! Check them out! 

Philosophy Adventure

Our friends, the Farrells, at the Homeschool Adventure Company have put out a philosophy curriculum your high schoolers will just love – ours do! Can you imagine a philosophy textbook that looks like a magazine and reads like one, too? This one does – and – is robust and challenging as well. You can’t beat that: academically serious study materials that are engaging and readable, too. Check it out!

Good Parenting Books

Of course, we hope you’ll check out ours, but there are other great books you ought to have, too. Tedd Tripp’s Shepherding a Child’s Heart (affiliate link) and Lou Priollo’s The Heart of Anger (affiliate link) have both been very influential in our own parenting.

Must Reads

G.A. Henty novels – Character-building novels based very carefully on historical events. Great for learning history, geography and how to be a man. Read them all!

Jungle Doctor series by Paul White – Absolutely fascinating! Very respectful of the indigenous people without pulling punches toward their enslaving false religion. Exciting, funny, engaging.

Sugar Creek Gang series by Paul Hutchens – Based on his life growing up with six brothers, the Sugar Creek Gang is a great way to show your boys what it means to be a Christian as a boy. Fun, funny, enjoyable, an essential part of childhood in our family. We don’t like as much the new series by Pauline Hutchens Wilson and Sandy Dengler.

Childhood of Famous Americans series – Tells the stories of the childhood of many of our American heroes. Our guys just love these at about 8-10 years old. There are a very few about folks I don’t consider heroes. 🙂

Landmark series – A most remarkable series of books about history written for children. The thing that makes them great is they asked real adult experts on each subject to write them. Irresistable. A very, very few mention evolutionary ideas – the ancient history ones.

Little Britches series by Ralph Moody – The poignant, entertaining story of a boy whose father dies after they move to the West and how he helps support his family and then himself. He doesn’t always do what’s right, but he learns better! Great read alouds!

Swiss Family Robinson – Make sure you get the unabridged version; it was written by a pastor to entertain and teach his children and the full version is incredible. A terrific read aloud.

Robinson Crusoe – Get the unabridged version for your older sons to read. Did you know the original version begins with Crusoe’s repentance and turn to God? It’s terrific!

Narnia series by C.S. Lewis – A childhood classic in our home, it’s great to read aloud so they don’t miss the allegory! We don’t let them watch any movie version until they’ve read the books.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – An amazing allegory; Join Milo, an apathetic young man, as he journeys to strange lands by way of  a magic tollbooth, encountering Tock, a watchdog,  a divided kingdom, unabridged kings and Mathmagicians, small giants and large midgets, Kakafonous Dischord and his Awful Dynne, Spelling Bees and Humbugs as he endeavors to return Rhyme and Reason to the fair city of Wisdom. A fantastic story, much loved by our guys.

The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis – Probably better for your older sons as deeper meanings abound, our guys enjoy discussing this one!

Great Videos

We really can’t recommend highly enough the fantastic Moody science videos. The clothing is dated, the pace is calm, but the science is fantastic and utterly fascinating. Your kids will learn a ton and they point to the Word of God in so many ways. Worth every penny and will save your life on sick days – especially yours!

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