Some of these might be less interesting to a boy at that age, but here are the books/authors I loved around 9 (lots of talking animals, magic, and adventure/detective plots):
Garth Nix
Sharon Creech
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
Jane Yolan
David Clement-Davies
E. L. Konigsburg
Louis Sachar
Avi
Brian Jacques
Louise Erdich
Edward Bloor
Susan Fletcher
"Reader Beware, You Choose the Scare" Goosebumps (like Choose Your Own Adventure but more modern at the time).
I grew into the kind of avid reader that still reads 50+ books a year. My Mom didn't try to control what I read, even if it was complete junk.
I also adored fact books like the coffee tables you mentioned. I remember having a pulpy "100,000 weird facts" book, both covers torn off because it was used so much. This was before Wikipedia.
Garth Nix Sharon Creech Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Jane Yolan David Clement-Davies E. L. Konigsburg Louis Sachar Avi Brian Jacques Louise Erdich Edward Bloor Susan Fletcher "Reader Beware, You Choose the Scare" Goosebumps (like Choose Your Own Adventure but more modern at the time).
I grew into the kind of avid reader that still reads 50+ books a year. My Mom didn't try to control what I read, even if it was complete junk.
I also adored fact books like the coffee tables you mentioned. I remember having a pulpy "100,000 weird facts" book, both covers torn off because it was used so much. This was before Wikipedia.