Wow thanks for all the suggestions! I'll definitely be trying them. We have had the Bob books for almost a year, and I've had to bribe him to actually read them, so I dropped them for a long time (that's part of what had me concerned about him this year - simple ones he was able to read to me last August he was no longer willing to do). I'll pull them out again to see if he has any interest (not holding my breath...). He'd rather I read Magic Treehouse aloud to him, with him reading a couple of words per page - he's into adventure stories. He also loves Henry and Mudge, but I realized that I must have more than one level of them - very little to sound out in the last two we read. I guess there's a big disconnect between the content he's looking for and his ability level. I think I'll keep trying to tempt him with more words in the books that he wants to read. I really, really appreciate all the phonics tips, and I'll definitely look into those other books - thanks ladies!!! I'm getting the feeling that this is one of those things that will take some patience and perserverence - mostly, one on one time (which tends to be in short supply, and will be in even shorter supply this summer with our last baby arriving soon). I'm hoping that once he gets to a certain level (like maybe in a year), he'll be more willing to struggle on his own a bit in order to read the books he wants. At least he's still asking me to read with him; guess I should be thankful for that.
