It seems that it is harder and harder to get kids, especially boys, excited about reading. There are a lot of reasons for this, and I sure am not an expert on the state of reading instruction in this country…I’m just a mom who cares a lot about literature and bringing that love to my kids through books. I thought I’d share some ideas of books for boys who are resistant to reading. They are books my son enjoyed reading in Elementary school.
If you’ve followed my blog before, you might remember that I care a lot about giving my kids the best children’s literature. Charlotte Mason (one of my homeschooling gurus) said
“One more thing is of vital importance; children must have books, living books; the best are not too good for them; anything less than the best is not good enough; and if it is needful to exercise economy, let go everything that belongs to soft and luxurious living before letting go the duty of supplying the books, and the frequent changes of books, which are necessary for the constant stimulation of the child’s intellectual life.” – Charlotte Mason
It’s hard to get anyone excited about reading if all they are getting to read is excerpts from books, or early readers with barely any plot. Once my son had moved beyond early readers and was ready for something harder than picture books – these are the books that my son was happy to read for fun.
Before I get into the books, there are a couple of tools/techniques I would suggest to encourage a love of reading in your home.
- Set a good example. Make sure your son sees you/adults in their home reading real books – not ebooks on your phone. Bring books into your home and display them on a shelf, don’t hide them in a closet. Show your son that it is an honor to value books, and to be able to read books.
- Have a bouquet of bookmarks. Scraps of paper, or cut up construction paper are just fine. But you can also buy some. The point is – whether your child is reading a novel, a comic book, or a picture book – they don’t have to finish it in one sitting. Reading when too tired and unfocused is not helpful – you retain nothing. It’s okay to use a bookmark.
- Pair longer novels with audiobooks. Let you child listen to the audiobook first and give them a hardcopy of the book to follow along. Long novels seem less daunting when paired with an audiobook.
- Encourage re-reading. That is one benefit of owning the books rather than getting them from the library – they are always available in your home to re-read – and re-reading strengthens reading skills and comprehension enormously.
If you’re looking for some new high quality reading material for a school aged boy, read on! My son is an engineering-minded boy. He likes machines and science-fiction. He likes trains, planes, cars, robots, spaceships. Like a typical boy, he also loves shenanigans, absurdities, and general goofiness. He was motivated to read these books and his reading improved immensely once he started reading these for fun.
I’ve written a few more posts on books my son has enjoyed, so be sure to check those out as well!
If your boy likes the first Dogman, there is a whole series of reading to keep him going. Dogman introduces a lot of new vocabulary, and it also references other works of literature within its pages. My son started to draw his own comics as well after reading Dogman and the follow up series, Cat Kid Comic Club.
Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey
Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Do I love Captain Underpants? No. But I’m a 38 year old woman, not a 9 year old boy. And Captain Underpants has been entertaining little boy readers for decades. Back in the late 90s, my 9 year old brother was also a resistant reader, but he liked Captain Underpants! You’d never guess that at 9 he hated reading…because these days he is a Creative Director at an ad agency, an avid reader, and a fantastic writer.
I Survived Series by Lauren Tarshis
I think most little boys have a Titanic Era where they are obsessed with learning everything possible about the Titanic. Ours began when I found this digital animation of the layout and sinking of the Titanic by Jared Owens. Highly recommend Jared Owens’ channel if you have a little engineer in your life. Shortly afterwards my son read the I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic and he was hooked. He soon read all 20 books from the series.
Wallace the Brave series by Will Henry
These graphic novels have been read to shreds in my home. My son loves them. They are for grades 2-6.
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Okay so what happened here is that my son has a small attic space off his bedroom. Stored in this attic was his dad’s extremely heavy Complete Collection of Calvin and Hobbes boxed set. My 5 year old son, with his weak little arms hauled this treasure out of the attic and began to read. Was it the comics, or was it that he found this magical story of a boy and his toy tiger in a secret attic? Probably both – he was enchanted. Was the language a bit hard for him? Yes. Did some of the jokes go over his head? Yes. But it challenged him and he figured out a lot based on the context of the comic strips. These books really are what took him to the next level of his reading. Of course, I know not everyone wants anvil-sized books at their house for their kids – so I’ve linked a more reasonable sized treasury above.
Three Tales of My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
We started listening to this trilogy as an audiobook when we were driving to appointments. But I also got my son a hardcopy of this book and I would often see him re-reading his favourite chapters. If you have the budget to get both the audiobook and a hardcopy of the book, I think it is worth it as it has been helpful in our home. One way to get audiobooks is through Audible.
Alternately, I’ve found Libby to be a great way to check out audiobooks for free from our library – but we have to return them and some books it’s just better to own and have at the ready to play in the car.
The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman
The Silver Arrow and its sequel, The Golden Swift are two other novels that we paired with the audiobooks to encourage independent reading. My son already knew the story from listening to (and loving) the audiobooks (they really are very well done). He would re-read his favourite chapters, and eventually read the entire novel independently several times over.
I hope this list gave you some ideas to try with your son or grandson to encourage a love of reading in his life.
Warmly,
-Heather
ps: This post contains Amazon affiliate links, from which I earn a small commission. Thank you for supporting my blog. I am a real person and every word of this post was written by me. My son has actually read and loved these books.
Enjoyed what you read? Check out some of my other recent posts!
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- Why Halloween is Important for Kids
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