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Original poster

books to encourage nearly 7 year old ds to read by himself?

33 replies

elliott · 29/09/2008 21:31

because I think it is high time he started to!
I think he could cope with short chapter books, but am struggling to find things he will willingly read himself. Just bought a Beast Quest which he is enjoying, but keeps asking me to read to him rather than do it himself. He CAN manage it, but obviously its much harder work by himself and some words catch him out.
Any other ideas? He is reasonably typically into boys stuff, with a leanings towards outdoor adventures/animals. I would prefer something more thoughtful than lavatorial (hate horrid henry, and found the Beast Quest a rather suspectly sexist...)

OP posts:
Original poster
elliott · 29/09/2008 21:49

I've tried non fiction, again he doesn't really want to READ stuff. The problem with picture books is that he will look at them for ages, but I suspect he is not actually reading them.
ChasingSquirrels, yes you have a point, but it helps if I enjoy them if I'm going to have to read half of them to him anyway! (I was kind of annoyed by the female sidekick role in the Beast Quest story)
tintin and asterix might be worth a try - we have one tintin book that he used to be obsessed by - before he could read at all, so now he might actually want to figure it out. probably a bit too complicated for him at present though.
We do quite a lot of taking in turns. I suspect also that he is often too tired at bedtime and just wants a story, so maybe I need to work at encouraging him to read by himself at other times (when? perhaps we'll stop doing his homework )

OP posts:
singersgirl · 29/09/2008 21:46

DS2 was 7 in August and is a great reader, but he still spends a lot of his reading time dipping into bits and pieces, rather than reading his current novel. We like the pop-up Perfect Punctuation and Great Grammar series as well - he's been reading the geography one this week.

mabanana · 29/09/2008 21:44

And yes, you reading to him is more important IMO than his reading independently. What child would prefer to read alone if it means losing cuddly time at the end of the day drifting off while being read to! I tend to read to my son, then leave him with a pile of books about dinosaurs or joke books, or whatever.

slayerette · 29/09/2008 21:43

I have been reading Famous Five to DS(5) and sometimes he is so desperate to find out what happens next that he will read a page or so himself. He is a little young to cope with it for more than a page, but maybe your DS would enjoy that.

mabanana · 29/09/2008 21:42

Yes agree, joke books, books of funny poems, fact books (the See Inside range is great, books about their passions (dinosaurs, cars, Ancient Egypt, dogs, whatever) with lots of pictures and short boxes of information etc are all better introductions to independent reading for many boys than novels.
I think six is very, very young for boys to start reading fiction independently. Even bright boys.

ChasingSquirrels · 29/09/2008 21:41

Oh yes comics - ds1 loves his Lego mag (free subscription) and NG Kids (I was really impressed with that, got him a subscription through tesco clubcard points).

ChasingSquirrels · 29/09/2008 21:40

hum - I was going to suggest horrid henry and captain underpants....
actually, I am anyway - does it matter what YOU would prefer? He has to enjoy reading them, not you.
What about Flat Stanley, Roald Dahl (Fantastic Mr Fox, Danny Champion of the World etc), Dick King Smith, non-fiction books.
What about reading together - he does a page, you do a page?
My ds can and does read to himself, he still loves me to read to him at bedtime though - is your son reading at other times and doesn't want to lose this contact?

singersgirl · 29/09/2008 21:40

Does he like comics? WE get through lots of comics here, from The Beano to NGKids, The Simpsons and DK Find Out.

Lots of children, when they're first ready to read alone, feel put off by blocks of text. Books with lots of pictures work well, and non-fiction books are great eg we have various 'look inside' type books (castles, Ancient Rome) with flaps and great illustrations and sciency books.

Both mine have really liked Tintin and DS1 also Asterix - lots of pictures, but surprisingly challenging text.