[So many of the classic children's books either have girls as the main characters or feature boys who are troublemakers, don't like school, etc. This is a list of books that we've read starring good/smart/nice boys.]

• Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes
• Rufus M by Eleanor Estes
• Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
• Homer Price and More Tales from Centerburg by Robert McCloskey
• The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
• Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (series) by Donald Sobol
• Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
• Knight's Castle by Edward Eager
• The Borrowers by Mary Norton
• Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager
• The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton
• The Well-Wishers by Edward Eager
• The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• The Saturdays and The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright
• Five Children and It and The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit
• Henry Huggins (and other "Henry" books) by Beverley Cleary
• Swallows and Amazons (series) by Arthur Ransome
• Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
• Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary
• The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
• The Magic City by E. Nesbit
• Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
• The Alley and The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode by Eleanor Estes
• Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome
• The Coot Club by Arthur Ransome
• Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome
• 26 Fairmont Ave. series by Tomie DePaola
• The Adventures of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
• Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• The Great Brain by John Dennis Fitzgerald
• Great Northern? by Arthur Ransome