Books For Reluctant Readers

[megfitz]

My 8 yr old boy can read but is reluctant to do so, he enjoys being read to .I’m looking for books that will encourage him to voluntarily pick one up and dive in. We’ve read all Enid Blyton, some Ronald Dahl doesn’t like David Williams, we’ve read the Tree House series …..now I’d like to know where to go next, maybe comedy, magical, Detective or mild adventure not too violent.Thanks for help.

[Karamia]

Horrid Henry series is great for different ages. Has lots of alliteration in the humour.

[bednobs]

harry potter

[Canary42]

The Hobbit

[Canary42]

Wind in the Willows

[jno]

Harry Potter or even Lord of the Rings, if he's confident enough - dive into those and he'll be reading for weeks.

Slightly easier, Arthur Ransome?

[1ozzy]

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/lists/morris-gleitzman

[emmie]

i would go for the entire series of Harry Potter, these are great stories then he can progress to Lord of the Rings,

[davebro]

Robinson Crusoe
Short stories by Jack London
My nephew was keen on The Bionicles series.

[davebro]

I read probably all the Billy Bunter books - but they are of a different era.

[bobbinwales]

Maybe a non fiction book on a topic his interested in? Or a fiction book about something he likes. What interests has he got... dinasaurs? cars? Football? Space? Pokamon?... ect.

[1ozzy]

If he's not a keen reader, short stories that grab his imagination.

Illustrations will help.

Forget the hundreds of page tomes that drag on forever.

Good luck, it's a worthwhile cause.

[piggynose]

Excuse my ignorance but wasn't Enid Blyton written for girls.

[emmie]

no piggynose, they are for all young children.

[DTCwordfan]

swallows and amazons - Arthur Ransome....wonderful books and a hint of adventure and 'crime'....

[DTCwordfan]

start with reading it to him at bedtime and I bet he 'grabs' it once he gets into the story.

[emmie]

she wrote 762 books, quite an achievement...

[tiggerblue10]

My son is the same but he loved Dogman and Catkid, Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid comic books etc. Maybe try those to start with and then move on to more classical literature.

[naomi24]

I definitely wouldn't recommend Lord of the Rings for an eight year old. It's a huge book and quite complex. It took me, a grown up, a whole year to read it. I had to keep going back to remind myself who was who and where was where.

I would start with the first two Harry Potter books. The rest, due to their increasingly dark content, might be shelved for later.

[Maydup]

I’d try something shorter than the epics to start with.

How about a more recent book such as Boot by Shane Hegarty. It’s about a robot made from junk.

[Ken4155]

I am surprised no-one's mentioned The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, (and the other Narnia books) surely a staple diet of a read for any child. Of all the books i read as a child, that was the only one i have re-read as an adult.
Try reading your son the first couple of chapters then tell him he must read the rest himself.