To think that the Wimpy Kid books are pure shite?

As others have said, reading the easily digestible drivel gets them into the habit and love of reading and the rest will follow. My teen was obsessed with the middle school series of books at one point but now he’s at a delightful stage of beginning to devour adult fiction (sci-fi a favourite at the moment) and actually asking for recommendations from DH and I, and oh, how his reading world is opening up! So wonderful to see. They do come through the drivel stage as we all came through the Enid blyton and then babysitters club or sweet valley high stage…

My 11 year old refuses to read anything published before 2000. He’s missing out on so much! He did tolerate me reading him some of the Nicholas stories mentioned above though.

Yes, I think it’s the illustrations that draw the children. They are used to Quentin Blake illustrations through the Roald Dahl books.
Dc read Mr Stink. I wasn’t sure what to make of it but I guess we got to talk about things like homelessness.

Some books just feel like junk food - they're designed to be quickly shoveled down but don't offer any 'nutrition'! It just feels like kids being dumbed down and then they can't handle anything with more substance. I'm definitely seeing this with one of my teens and it's such a bloody shame as she's missing out, I wish I'd been firmer with not having so much drivel in the house!

Oh I’ve got a very soft spot for the wimpy kid books, I really enjoy reading them aloud! The younger kid gets the new one in his stocking each Christmas and even the teen still enjoys reading them. I far prefer them to Captain underpants and Tom gates, or god forbid, the treehouse books.

When my child first picked DoW he didn’t get into them. This year he had them in his classroom library/ shelf and as his friends were reading them he gave them another go and now loves them. He asked for all them and has been reading one every two days, alongside his school book. He also picked Barry Loser from the local library as it seemed similar to DOW and read it all in one day. I thought that is much worse, from the bits I got to hear, so didn’t try and get him more of those…

He wrote a few stories inspired by DoW and dressed up as Greg for book day, so all good (he hates dressing up usually).

I remember thinking similar as you about another series - the Beast Quest books. I found them very distasteful, violent and gory for six/ seven year olds. But luckily my son didn’t get properly into them.

He loved DogMan and has read all of them at least once and as a parent I wasn’t sure that’s a good idea because of all the bad spelling (on purpose) and some bigger ideas that were a bit hard to explain but he laughed so much at them!

The other series he read super fast as he loved, even though he wouldn’t admit to his friends, was The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blythe.

We read Mr Penguin books aloud and I enjoy them too. We are also about to start Harry Potter.

Ugh i know Beast Quest is boring but it doesn’t present bullying as normal/funny like wimpy kid. Barry Loser, by the same author I think, has an absolutely awful story where a kid who noone likes, and who sounds like he is autistic , has a birthday party and noone wants to go. I was expecting a positive ending but no - the kids ruin the party and the boy has a meltdown and its meant to be funny.

Argh my DD used to love those and the bloody Rainbow magic fairy books! Absolute tripe but I would never discourage any reading or being read to. It’s a phase you have to tolerate towards the bigger picture I’m afraid😂
Shes past the reading to stage now and I miss reading Roald Dahl, Anne fine, Michael morpurgo.

Three words: Lottie Fucking Brooks. Horrendous.

DD1 is 6 and she’s really enjoyed the Mummy Fairy series by Sophie Kinsella and the Isadora Moon books recently. Hotel Flamingo is fun too.

Goosebumps- yes. A "cliffhanger" every second page, and then you turn over and it was just the neighbour's cat's shadow or something.

I must have had 40 of them. And about a hundred babysitters club, all extremely formulaic and BSC was committee written AFAIK. explains a lot to be fair. I wasted good years on them when I could have been reading something better, but people see you like a thing, and that's your Christmas present for six years running. Still grateful though, Mum 🥰

was anyone else here of an age to have avidly read goosebumps books one after the other as a child? That was definitely my book fair purchase of choice and my mum definitely would’ve refused to read them to me as well! 😂

Definitely for kids to read to themselves! Ditto bunny vs monkey, Tom gates, pizzazz, Loki etc etc. I won’t read them aloud lol, they’re older now so I generally just say no pictures and that rules out most guff 😂

I agree, DGS8 brought it round but he doesn’t understand the Americanisms, the obsessive focus on girls, the humour just seems a world away from anything he can relate to.

I got him Dermot O’Leary’s Toto the ninja cat book, which was recommended elsewhere, and the language in that is way beyond him too, though. He’s not a keen reader, but enjoys being read to.

Yes I think so!

Are they the ones that the film "Le petit Nicolas" is based on?

Does anyone know the 'Nicholas ' books by Goscinny and Sempe (sempe is the illustrator). Originally in French, about a schoolboy, Nicholas, and his gang.
They are really funny and my DD and DS loved them at around junior school age. There's one book when he goes away to camp and makes a new group of friends.(Nicholas on holiday).

Agree on the Walliam’s books. Some really unpleasant undertones. However, they really got my young son into reading. Too young to pick up the messages in the book. Loves the illustrations and the alternating crashes into sewers and blasting into outer space.

Look up the Branching Out lists to print - ‘If you like (Eg Wimpy Kid), try these’ - the idea is you start with the books children are hooked on like Wimpy Kid, Rainbow Fairies, Walliams, Dogman etc and if gives alternative suggestions of similar but sometimes lesser known titles to move them on to. https://www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/branching-out/

I think the Wimpy Kid books are really funny! I identify strongly with the Mom.

I really disliked the Walliams books though. Tried to be Roald Dahl but came out just nasty.

My son had a phase of loving Wimpy Kid too but he was easily reading them by himself by that age - why isn’t your kid reading himself?

Another one With a boy who loves to read Bunny v Monkey and Beast Quest (I read these to his younger brother as well who is too lazy to read them himself).

Both my DS’s absolutely loved the Wimpy Kid books. I wasn’t really feeling the love but thankfully DS1 read them himself and DS2 liked listening to the audiobooks. He would laugh his head off and just hearing that made me laugh too😆 I figured I was just too old to appreciate them. I used to read the Mr Gum books to DS2 and I could barely get the words out I was laughing so much. DP was the same when he read them. I have given away so many old books, but the Mr Gum books are staying put. I would totally recommend them!

I’m glad it’s not just me who has found the DW books obnoxiously bad! I got rid of the ones we had except Little Monsters which is slightly more tolerable and has illustrations that aren’t a pure Quentin Blake ripoff.

Not to hijack OP but could anyone recommend some books for my DD, reception age? She started wanting only “chapter books” lately after finding a copy of Fantastic Mr Fox. We have read through that twice, plus George’s Marvellous Medicine, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, James & The Giant Peach and The Worst Witch. She loved the latter, we will keep an eye out for more of those in the charity shops.

Appreciating most novels are aimed at little older, any good ones past or present to introduce? I feel like I struggle to remember which ones are most appropriate to the youngest readers!

Ah yes my boys both went through wimpy kid phase. They did mostly read them tho so I was saved (but not from the films!) And DD is now in rainbow fairy stage @TheaBrandt1although to be fair they aren’t the worst so I don’t mind - DD is 7 and she still likes me to read with her even though she can read perfectly fine so we do a page each.