Any tips for making non-readers into readers?

[rifling]

Reading is very important to me and both DH and I read a lot. My elder DS also reads a lot. My younger pre-teens don[t read at all! We live abroad and English is a second language to them although they are fluent when speaking. However, I would say that their reading skills are probably below average for their age in both languages. They both say that they hate reading and that it is boring. My elder ds has a much wider vocabulary and can express himself better and I really feel that reading would help them. Developing a love of reading would be even better! And yes, I did read to them a LOT when they were younger. Any tips for children this age?

(Mumsnet - since the update I can[t do apostrophes!! Why?)

There is a series like goosebumps but aimed a bit older called point horror. I read them as a child. A bit more mature/teen like storylines but the same very very easy to read format.

I remember those! Are they still in print? I can still remember a few of the plot lines too so they clearly made an impression on me.

Darren Shan was the kiddy horror writer that got mine started. It made my hair curl, but he loved it.

@DifficultBloodyWoman

Well they’re not really in print any more I don’t think! But I remembered them (they were sort of a forerunner to Stephen King for me as a child) and I found a few secondhand on Amazon for my son who has the same sort of reading taste as me! I was really surprised how physically tiny they are. I didn’t remember them being smaller than the average book. When I was young I remember finding them in charity shops, and sometimes they would come in an omnibus of three of them in one book.

But I think they’re good sort of easy reading for a child who likes a real scare! They’re not the best written books in the world but they’re enjoyable.

Mine liked Darren Shan too. I liked the cirque du freak books. Really morbid! And the later ones actually have a really good and interesting storyline but are still easy to actually read and understand. I got the full set for ds (I think at TK Max) when he was younger and I was so annoyed after the third one when he said mum I’ll read the rest by myself I can read these. I had to read them in the evenings to find out what happened to Darren and Mr Crepsley.

My daughter likes the Lemony Snicket books too. Again, I think they’re quite ‘easy reading’ because every book follows a slightly formulaic storyline. Plus a lot of difficult words are explained. They’re quite good books.

Harry Potter was what worked for mine! Just left it lying around, it got picked up and devoured! 😊

We read every single night to dd from tiny toddler to about 12 or 13 & we read all sorts including Harry potter & The Hobbit etc
We all loved it & dd was a voracious reader herself. Then teen years started & she got a phone & her reading trailed off. I stressed about it a lot but then realised that it can ebb & flow & her reading ability is far more advanced than her years & I trust she will rekindle her love of reading when the time is right
She sees me & dh reading all the time & the house is full of books

My DD is not a reader either. Although she comes from a family of readers, My entire side of my family reads but on her father's side none of them read. It makes me sad as one of my favorite memories was of me and my family sitting around on a weekend with our noses in a book. But DD wasn't even interested in childrens stories when she was little. I will say that she doesn't have the broadest vocabulary, but she did extremely well in school and is successful in her career.

I just had to accept that not everyone is interested in reading. She prefers to do activities instead, we are all different.

Read to them and have buy good books that are at an easy reading level so they don't have to struggle to get through them.

They don't need to be clones of their parents!

Not everyone enjoys reading. Let them do what they enjoy and don't try and push your hobbies on them.

(And that's said as someone who was always happily engrossed in a book as a child.)

a series about a boy who discovers a parallel world of 'fairies'. Not cute ones, scary ones. I can't remember the name of author- it was Irish spelling.

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.

At 12 I liked re-written fairytales, things like Ella Enchanted or I Was a Rat. I didn't exactly know what would happen, but I liked it being vaguely familiar.

A combination of a book that hooks them (for my less enthusiastic reader 11yo it was the Warrior's series by Erin Hunter that did the trick), and just practice practice practice. They won't enjoy it if they can't do it well or build up the stamina/perseverance. I am mean and assign reading.

I also still read aloud to them most days too so we can enjoy stories as a shared experience (youngest is nearly 9). Audio books on car trips work well for this too.