Books to read aloud to a 9 year old boy

[Splandy]

My 9 year old is a very reluctant reader. He's fluent and reads very well but just won't. He's more likely to read comics or joke books, and will sometimes read books of facts or other non-fiction. I've started reading aloud to him again to try to capture his imagination and show him how fun it is. I'm currently reading the second Harry Potter book and he is loving it. He has found it a bit scary, though. He's quite sensitive in that way. I don't think I'll go beyond the third book at the moment.

Any recommendations? I'm struggling a bit because most books at the library which seem geared towards getting boys reading don't seem like they'd be any good for me reading aloud to him - not exactly brilliant stories.

He sounds just like my boy. He liked hearing Mr Gum, Galaxy's Most Wanted. He's 10 now and he's reading Astrosaurs.

Just to say I was nodding when Waterfeature mentioned Beverly Cleary. She is wonderful. I've been reading the Ramona books with DD. The Henry Huggins ones are but a distant memory from my own childhood, but she is so amazingly perceptive about how things feel to small dc - I reckon all her books reflect that.

(And she's funny and not dark, though realistic in a warm way)

Some of the books DS2 and I have enjoyed together recently are:

Karlson on the Roof Astrid Lindgren
Emile and the Detectives Erich Kastner
Bogwoppit Ursula Williams
The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof Annie M.G. Schmidt