Boys can be notoriously tricky customers when it comes to choosing a novel to read. Most girls will read pretty much anything, but for many parents with boys, finding a book that appeals to their child can be a daunting task. Anything pink on the cover rules the book out immediately, and often a lead female character or even a female author can be enough to put boys off. Boys like books that look as if they have been produced specifically with boys in mind. They enjoy action adventure stories, quirky humour and silly characters that make them laugh. So if you’re struggling to find something that your boy will consider reading, here are a few suggestions to get you started…

 

(5-7 years)

 

 

Laurence Anholt’s series of Seriously Silly Stories are fantastic for early reluctant readers. They take traditional fairy stories and turn them upsidedown, with hilarious results. In this story, Cinderella becomes Cinderboy, whose dream is to play football for Crystal Palace United. It’s funny, unthreatening and illustrated with some seriously silly cartoons.

 

(6-8 years)

 

 

Adam Blade’s Beast Quest series is to boys what the Rainbow Magic series is to girls. The books have become something of a publishing phenomenon, with boys counting down the days until the release of the next books in the series. The enchanting blend of adventure, action, magical beasts and heroism has proved irresistible to boys of a certain age.

 

(6-8 years)

 

 

The first in the hilarious series about every teacher’s nightmare pupil, together with his brother Perfect Peter and his arch-enemy Moody Margaret. The boy whose fiendish plots are forever landing him in trouble is brilliantly brought to life through Tony Ross’s illustrations. Francesca Simon has created a firm family favourite who’s stood the test of time – and she’s still busy writing new Horrid Henry stories!

 

(7-9 years)

 

 

This is a book unlikely to appeal to adults, but there can be no denying its popularity with young boys – and anything that encourages them to read can be no bad thing! When serial pranksters George and Harold try to elude punishment by hypnotising their headteacher, they accidentally create a very unusual superhero. Laugh-out-loud humour of the potty-theme variety.

 

(7-10 years)

 

 

Lemony Snicket’s very original take on children’s literature appeals to boys largely because it is the very opposite to what you might expect from a children’s story. The enormously successful series tells the tale of the Baudelaire siblings, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, who suffer a series of macabre misfortunes and horrible adventures. The books are fast-moving, darkly comic and thoroughly addictive.

 

(7-10 years)

 

 

Written in diary format complete with a handwritten type face and cartoons, Diary of a Wimpy Kid tells the story of the goofy Greg Heffley as he attempts to elevate his status from class loser to class clown at his new school. Greg and his even uncooler sidekick Rowley find themselves in a series of hilarious situations as they embark upon their quest.

 

(8-12 years)

 

 

Described by Eoin Colfer himself as ‘Die Hard with fairies’, Artemis Fowl poses a unique and modern twist on the world of magic that defies stereotypes and lets the imagination run riot. 12-year-old criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl hatches a dastardly plot to relieve the fairyfolk of their pot of gold by kidnapping a leprechaun and holding her to ransom. A rip-roaring and humorous slice of modern escapism.

 

(9-13 years)

 

 

When troubled schoolboy Percy Jackson discovers that he is in fact the son of the Greek God Poseidon, a whole new world of possibilities are opened up to him. Enrolled into Camp Half-Blood and accused by the God Zeus of stealing his thunderbolt, Percy and his friends embark on a quest fraught with danger. A hugely entertaining, pacey and funny adventure story that will appeal to fans of Harry Potter.

 

(12-15 years)

 

 

Anthony Horowitz has concocted a delicious blend of James Bond and Mission Impossible in Stormbreaker, the first in his series about the teenage spy Alex Rider. When 14-year-old Alex’s uncle dies in suspicious circumstances, Alex makes a shocking discovery that will turn his world upside down. Recruited into MI6, Alex is sent on his first mission to investigate the truth behind billionaire Herod Sayle’s Stormbreaker computers. Slick, action-packed and mature, teenage boys will find this difficult to put down.

 

(13-17 years)

 

 

Dark, witty, gory and compulsive, Cirque Du Freak is the first in a series of horror stories for teenage boys. It tells the story of Darren Shan and his friend Steve, who acquire tickets for a banned freak show. Mesmerised by what they see, Darren and Steve find themselves plunged into a terrifying world of vampires and giant poisonous spiders – a world from which there is no escape. Not for the faint-hearted.