Dyslexia friendly mainstream children's books

[Curlewwoohoo]

I'm after book suggestions for a 9yo who is likely to be dyslexic and also very fussy. She is getting beyond the 'rainbow magic' and 'isadora moon' books in terms of their length and I think she could do with something more involving. But she doesn't want anything in any way "scary" or with lots of suspense.

She does best with a book with accessible layout, something where the text is broken up, i.e. not a wall of dense writing in a small font. Any suggestions?

Daisy and the trouble with... These have been great but we've read most.

13 storey tree house were a hit and I've got more to explore here.

Barrington Stoke books she won't touch with a bargepole unfortunately. They seem to have a learn to read vibe she picks up on.

Have you read the Dogman books? That's all I've ever been able to get my DS with dyslexia to read himself. It's cartoon style. The author has adhd and has made it really accessible to read.

Also, the Rory Branagan books by Andrew Glover. Short sentences on most pages. But good stories. Series of about 6 I think.

Also, audiobooks work well for him. Katherine Rundell, Michael Morpurgo, Onjali Q Rauf.

Have you tried a coloured layer to support any text?

Coloured overlay doesn't seem to do much. Full dyslexia assessment booked for March.

My DD is dyslexic and she got into the Dork Diaries (but was probably a little bit older).

On a separate note, if a coloured overlay does work, consider getting coloured glasses (we found an optician that does it). Game changer for my daughter who was having trouble seeing/reading the board but had perfect vision. The words moved on the page, but obviously also on the board too!

Barrington Stoke is a publisher who specialist in dyslexic friendly books. Might be worth having a look at their website for ideas.

My dyslexic 9 year old is enjoying Loki at the moment. It's the first time he's chosen to read a novel to himself.

Dogman
Cat Kid Comic club
Diary of Wimpy Kid
Bunny vs Monkey
Aoife Dooley - Finding my Voice
Captain Underpants
Tom Gates

My 10 year old dyslexic enjoys the Tom Gates books and now Lottie Brooks. She also loves all the graphic novels by Raina Telgemeier (Drama, Sisters, Smile etc) and another graphic novel, Roller Girl.

When she was younger she read Ottoline, Cally and Jimmy, Claude and all the ones mentioned above. Orchard retold Shakespeare stories were good for her too.

Don't forget non-fiction - things like animal atlas, Nat Geo Infopedia, Usborne Ancient Rome/Greece, DK Find Out about the Human Body. These she can dip in and out of. They have loads of engaging pictures and photos.

She also didn't like any of the Barrington Stokes books. She hasn't been able to read any Harry Potter.

Reading with a ruler really helped my daughter.

Don't waste your money on any of that coloured glasses crap - Irene's syndrome was a pure invention, by a company that sold "diagnosis training" coloured glasses and coloured overlays - total out and out fraud.

if your child has visual stress, a cheap pair of mild sunglasses is fine, turn down the contrast and brightness on the screens, or pop the text into a plastic coloured wallet

As to what books are easy for a dyslexic child to read - sometimes all that is needed is a large print version, and if it is on dull paper, even better

My 9yo D has enjoyed the dork diaries she has also been reading the babysitter clubs graphic novels and The Guts/Smile series

Being graphic they have helped her breakdown the text but the stories are still slightly more grown up

We also have Beano subscription she enjoys

Andy Stanton's Mr Gumm books are laid out in a quirky way that means there are rarely any large blocks of text, but they look like standard paperbacks. Ie not infantile. The audiobooks are also good, as he reads them ina way that absolutely complements the text.

My daughter couldn't read the board and now she can read the board. We did try sunglasses to take the edge of the glare and see if that helped but it didn't. What has helped her is coloured lenses that match her overlay.

She's a teen so more than able to articulate what works and what doesn't. For her, coloured lenses have enabled her to read the classroom whiteboard/display (where she also has no control over the brightness/contrast settings).

Her coloured overlay stops text moving around on the page, so it makes sense to me that it would also work at a distance. If she says it works for her, I believe her.

If there are particular books she wants to read that her friends are reading, but that are written in too small/dense a font, then consider ordering large print versions from Custom Eyes. It's run by the Guide Dogs charity but open to those with dyslexia as well as visual impairments. You can order the books in the format specific to how your child finds it easiest to read - e.g., larger font, a particular font, more space between the lines, different paper, that sort of thing. Sometimes it's the spacing between the lines that helps more than anything. Because it's a charity, you then only have to pay the usual price for the standard book, rather than extra. They have a variety of titles including lots of the more popular ones (like Harry Potter) so she may be able to find things that her friends are reading, and enjoying books with friends is a good way to get dyslexic children reading more. If it's a long book like Harry Potter, it might come in multiple volumes!

https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/getting-support/help-for-children-and-families/living-independently/customeyes-books/

Visit your local library and they should have a selection. The librarians will also be able to advise of others that are on loan, and reservable.

whatever - as long as you are not being told she has irenes syndrome and conned out of a lot of money - irenes syndrome was a completely fraudulent invention but unfortunately still being perpetuated by some well meaning practitioners who never got the memo... but I doubt any qualified opticians were taken in, ever,

This is really fab, I've just written out a whole page of suggestions to order in to the library.

Do you put a book mark under the line she's reading to keep her eyes in the right lines? My DS11 is dyslexic but loves reading more challenging books, The Hobbit, 20,000 leagues under the sea but think it's the stories he loves, so we read to him at night and he'll read a few paragraphs so it's just smaller chinks of text. For his reading books at juniors he loved the ninja cat, bodkin one ear etc

Clarice Bean spells trouble (message is that spelling isn't that important) and the Stormy life of Scarlet Fife are both good