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 …
Tag: chapter books for boys
Top 10: Spawn of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” Books
I think that when a book series is different and successful such that it creates its own mini genre that this is only a good thing. Just like Harry Potter which broke publishing notions that kids won’t read very, very thick books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid series also got kids wildly excited to read. And though the lead character is a boy, girls were also reading this series in droves. I also think that the graphics helped to legitimize graphic novels from comic book status to it-counts-for-your-reading-log status. In any case, if your child needs more Diary of a Wimpy Kid but has read all the books, here are more options including some that skew younger and older.
Exploring Vietnam: Culture and KidLit
For children’s literature, I picked two books, one picture and one chapter book, that really seem evoke the culture and spirit of Vietnam. Both have a Zen quality to their story: spare, eloquent, and powerful. And both stories recall the terrible war but also the ability of the Vietnamese to transcend and make peace with it.
Chapter Books for 2nd Grade through 8th Grade
Please welcome Tanya who writes a fantastic children’s literature book blog called Books4YourKids. I am always struck by her great taste in books and now, after reading her list, I am itching to get my hands on Vanished. This is the third time it’s hit my radar. Thank you Tanya for a really great list of books! We will be enjoying it all year!
Best Books for Boy Readers, Reluctant or Otherwise (ages 7-14)
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.
How to Raise Boys Who Read from a dad of 6 boys!
Thank you to my work Dad Friend, who also has a blog called adverlicio.us, an online ad archive, for this great article from the Wall Street Journal on How to Raise Boys Who Read by Thomas Spence with a note that says “Hint: Not with Gross-Out Books and Video Game Bribes.” Spence is apparently disgusted by the pandering of publishers to reluctant boy readers with Gross-Out books and proposes a simple solution that worked for his 6 (that’s right, folks, SIX!!!!) boys: TURN OFF THE SCREENS! FILL THE HOUSE WITH GOOD BOOKS.
NERDS: A series for Reluctant Readers
This is from FunKidsLive. It looked like a great book series for reluctant boy readers. NERDS (which stands for National Espionage, Rescue and Defense Society) is a new book series by Michael Buckley.