Q about encouraging reading

[mommyatty]

DS, when he finds a series he loves, devours books. Like he loved these books called Press Start in 2nd grade. Then he found Cat Ninja and would literally stalk Epic when a new one was to be released. Now he’s powering through Diary of a Wimpy Kid, reading a couple every week.

Between finding these gems, he’s highly resistant to reading. It’s like he thinks those books are the only books that will ever be worthy of his time. It took over a year, and frankly some seriously weird conditions, to get him to even try Diary of a Wimpy Kid. So with the speed at which he’s eating up this series, I’m wondering 1) what the next series will be, and 2) how to get him to try them.

He’s autistic with ADHD, which I’m sure affects all of this. But any ideas, I’m willing to try. And any books your pre-teen boys liked, I’d love to hear about. He gets really intimidated by super-thick books like Harry Potter, so those right now are a non-starter.

[slbride2003]

How old is he? DS sounds similar. He is a voracious reader but re-reads the same series over and over again it started with Dogman and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Spy School and Wings of Fire were next. Now he’s in 6th and it’s anything by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson), the Alex Rider series, and he’s re-reading all of the Spy Schools.

[mae0111]

Would it work if he had an audio book to listen along? My parents and I were always big readers, but my sisters weren't. My younger sister had some undiagnosed learning differences, so whenever she had to read a book for school, my parents bought and extra copy and would read aloud to her while she followed along. It eased her into a love of reading.

DD2 is reading a book for school called Restart. She seems to like it, but she's had so many activities after school and so much other homework that I finally got her a subscription to Audible so that she could listen to it while she was in the shower, or getting ready for bed, or even in bed. Her school does have a free audiobook library but all of the copies of the book were reserved, so we just went with Audible.

ETA for book recommendations... DD1 still loves Diary of a Wimpy Kid as an 8th grader.  She also loved Harry Potter (read each one more than 40 times, no exaggeration), but you said that might be intimidating for him.  She loved A Series Of Unfortunate Events.  DD2 loved the two series by Pseudonymous Bosch (the Secret Series and Bad Series).  I also really loved the Clementine series and Waylon series by Sara Pennypacker.  Waylon and Clementine are both neurodiverse, and the stories are told from their perspective.  It's not actually stated that they're neurodiverse, but Clementine has ADHD and Waylon is ASD/probably SPD.  They're both good, sensitive kids and the stories are nice, but full of misadventure and misunderstanding... similar to Ramona I guess?

[twinmomma]

DD1 is kind of like this. She picks a series, devours them all and will not deviate, and doesn't want to hear any recommendations from anyone. She has gone through all of Wings of Fire and is now working through Warriors (there are a bunch of names of the various story arcs, but it's about warrior cat clans). Both of those have quite a few books in them so they take a long time to get through. I think both of those series are pretty gender neutral. The "I Survived" series has also been a big hit for the girls and DS. They're super quick reads but there's a lot of those too. If he likes nonfiction, DS has liked the "Who Was" series. The girls just read the first Percy Jackson book in school and loved it, but those might be too long like Harry Potter for your DS right now.

[mommyatty]

slbride2003, he’s about to turn 10 and in 4th grade.

[waverly]

We liked the Magic Tree House and there is a ton but my kids were reading them in 1st grade so they are a bit lower level but might be good for someone intimidated by thicker books. My kids also liked Dogman and I Survived Series. They both loved Wings of Fire. I don't think it matters what reading level kids read at for fun, as long as they are reading and the content is appropriate.

We went to the library frequently at that age. I always had books lying around, so my kids either picked them out or randomly read a book we had brought home.

[rere]

Ds wasn't a big reader, but enjoyed it if it was something he liked. He really enjoyed the I Survived series. I actually found a few cleaning his closet the other day. Fiction children novels based on historical events where a child protagonist is placed in the event.

[vasc]

I was like this as a child. Very rigid about book choices and stuck to my regular series (Babysitters Club) with predictable themes and plots. I think it’s a manifestation of my anxiety and am still very picky about books I read and shows and movies I watch.

[sandandsea]

The Hilo series might be too easy for him but he might like it. Also The last kids on earth Or the I survived series and Wings of Fire.

Ds2 is flying through the same types of books and they are the only thing ds1 would begrudgingly read (he’s still just not a reader).

[sdlaura]

My 4th grade DS1 (who didn't learn to read until late because of COVID shutdowns/remote learning and mostly read graphic novels until recently) is currently into the Spy School series.

Does your DS go to the school library? DS's school librarian and his teacher handle recommending books to him that they'll think he will like, and the only time I get involved is if he asks me to find the next book in a series that the school library doesn't have.

[supertrooper1]

DS is 11, 5th grade. He loved the Mysterious Benedict Society that someone here recommended. They're long books and it took him a while to go through the series. I take him to the library, and he picks out 3 books each time. He doesn't like fantasy so occasionally he'll start one that he doesn't like and I don't make him finish it. He started Wings of Fire and only made it a chapter in and quit. But by picking two or three from the library, he can start one and stop if he doesn't like it.

[186momx]

The best way to get DD to try out new books is to have her try the audiobook first. If she likes the audiobook, then she is more open to trying the paper book. I also don't worry about her reading at her level and just let her read for enjoyment.

A Series of Unfortunate Events and then after he finishes a book watch the corresponding episode on Netflix.
Treasure Hunters
Wings of Fire
Anything by Rick Roirdan is DD's go to right now she has re-read them many times
Boxcar children
Kensy and Max
I got DD City Spies for Christmas and she still hasn't even opened the book.