My Mom Friend Julie’s son, a third grader, is a reluctant reader. Though he’s a sporty kid, he doesn’t the usual sporty book fare. He’s loved the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series but he finished the series. It’s my job to find him more books that he will actually read without a fight. Here goes …
My nine-year-old daughter picks her favorite chapter books of 2011 and she cautions her peers, “I think that every book is boring in the beginning. Maybe the second or third chapter is when it starts getting good. Just keep reading.”
Please welcome my Mom Friend and yoga teacher’s daughter Ajani who is a voracious reader, reading secretly in bed with a flashlight under the covers, way past her bedtime. She reviews four books that she borrowed from me this past summer and returns them to me along with her book reviews. Thanks Ajani!
Reading list for boys, grades 1-6. I love to find books that excite reluctant readers. The key is to find that magic intersection that marries your child’s just-right level with content that matches their interest and a layout that is visually appealing (small chunks of text broken by pictures, larger font size, etc.). Alas, this is a moving target. I have an actual person that I select these books for, my youngest son’s best friend’s older brother who is a 4th grader with my oldest. My mom friends have had success with these books for their reluctant boy readers and suggests you try them. If you want to purchase a book, click on the image of the book to buy at Amazon.com.
If your elementary school is like my elementary school, kids entering grades 3-5 need to read 5 or so books during the summer (and do a book project on one of the books). It’s not normally a struggle to get my kids to read 5 books during the summer except for the selection of the books because the summertime reading has to be especially engaging to compete for their time! These 10 books should do the trick. And if your child reads 5 books and fills out a form from Borders Bookstore, she or he can get one of ten selected books for free.
Please welcome Danette Haworth, author of Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightening, The Summer of Moonlight Secrets, and soon to be released Me & Jack. I fell in love with Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightening when I read it last year. The book really stuck with me and when I posted a list of Boy Characters You’d Let Your Daughter Date, I frankly could not forget Eddie from Violet Raines. Danette was kind enough to leave a comment and that lead to an email exchange and then this interview. I confess that I was slow to come up with questions because a different author at KidLitCon 2010 had complained about when an interviewer did not do her research and asks questions that were clearly stated at the author’s website! I didn’t want to be one of those people!