What (picture, preferably) books does your 5 Year Old Boy love?

[Astrophe]

He's not at school and not reading alone yet, but loves to be read to, and the picture books we have a seeming a little young for him.

We like Katie Morag - does anyone know of something of similar length and depth that might appeal to a little boy (he does like Katie, but might like a boy character )?

His interests are fairly broad, and it doesn't have to have a stereotypical 'boy' theme - trucks,monsters, space ships etc...although he does like those things too.

Ideally I'd like something thats enjoyable for me to read (eg Katie Morag), as some of the little 'chapter books' writen for his age group are dreadfully written (imho).

Thanks :)

traction man was my sons hero at that age, also anything by julia donaldson is so fab to read as a parent I found. I grew up on the "alfie" stories, and now my kids love them too... alfie gets lost, alfies new shoes, alfie and the baby?

My daughter loves the aliens in underpants books, theres also a dinosaurs love underpants book too

Alfie is definitely a winner, also try "Little Tim" books by Edward Ardizzone (out of print but easy to get 2nd hand), though beware that they have fuelled a 2 year long, no sign of abating, ship obsession in my DS.
Other Shirley Hughes books eg Dogger, Stories by Firelight. You might try Dinosaur cove, they are chapter books, but fairly simple and have some pictures.
Stone age boy was a picture book we had to recurrently get from the library which I had forgotten about until today (DD2 found it...)

For the boys especially;
The incredible book eating boy
Yakari & great eagle
Hubert Horatio... by Lauren Child
Master Bun the Bakers Boy by Ahlberg

munstermum, that reminds me of the whole Ahlberg 'Happy Families' series. They might hit the spot for you OP - picture books but with a proper story, in the way that Katie Morag is. There are quite a few other Ahlberg books in that style, too.

YY to Ahlberg - we love Burglar Bill and also the one about Obadiah Jeremiah wotsisname. Also Alfie. We love Alfie. DS1 loves katie Morag too - have you read the Utterly Otterlys, also by Mairi Hedderwick?

IMO, Julia Donaldson stories are a bit younger than Katie Morag. We've started on chapter books with ds1 (5), and among favourites are the Moomins, which they love, Roald Dahl - the Enormous Crocodile and The Twits are good for that age - and My Naughty Little Sister books, which are a bit old-fashioned, but they are similar to Alfie in a way - simple stories about everyday stuff, which seems to appeal to the DSs. DS2, who is 4.6, really likes Mouse Trouble by Quentin Blake at the moment. His stories are all quite fun, and

sorry, drifted off there. No idea what I was going to say next. Hey ho.

Were you going to say 'Mrs Armitage on Wheels'??? (Also Quentin Blake)

I even know someone whose dog is called Breakspear after Mrs A's dog :)

Little Red train series by Benedict Blathwayt

Also the How to Catch a Star books captiviated my 5 year old

Oh yes Mrs Armitage is a big favourite here. Mostly with me, truth be told, but the DC like her too and esp the paheehahoorh horn and poor old Breakspear with the banana skin on his head in the bicycle one.

Thanks for all the great ideas! We have lots of Alfie - love Shirley Hughes - but probably after something a bit longer. We also have the CDs of My Naughty Little Sister - aren't they charming!? We love those too, but possibly DS would like a boy character.

Dopes anyone have the 'Just William" stories? I keep seeing them whilst buying other kids CDs online, but haven't bought any yet.

I'll sit down and check out all the other suggestion on amazon later today. Thanks! :)

Sorry, you're not 'dopes' ...I meant 'does'!

Aliens/Dinosaurs Love Underpants!

thanks everyone, I've just ordered Huburt Horatio, Mrs Armitage on wheels, Utterly Otterlys, Katie Morag of Course (a new KM for older readers apoparently...got it for DD), and Master bun the bakers boy. I could have ordered many, many more! Hopefully we have some winners there for DS - I do want to keep him hooked into fiction (he loves his non fiction - usborne 'see inside' series is his favourite) as well as non-fiction.

"The Night Pirates", or "Colin and the Curly Claw". Both enjoyable for grown ups too