Reading age

[Anon9898]

Had parents evening yesterday for my 10 year old. The teacher told me his reading age was 15 years and 11 months.

I am so proud of him but my aunt loves to buy him books to read and given this wonderful score I don't know what to recommend. As he is only 10 I don't want it to be full of sex and violence.

Am I being I reasonable to ask for recommendations?

Thank you

It’s great news that your son is a fluent reader, but developmentally he’s ten years old, so perhaps a voucher would be good, then he can choose something he enjoys? Goodnight Mister Tom and Refugee Boy are usually taught in Year 8. He might like David Almond books too.

Meh. I was reading Sweet Valley High books by 10, sex and drugs and all, and I turned out alright. Ish.

What about Terry Pratchett? Might be a case of going for the actual kids books for right now (eg The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents) and then the full series as he gets older. Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, if he’s quite fantasy minded. I remember enjoying Adrian Mole at that age, though I’m a girl, and life was different 30 years ago.

Beyond that, ask DS what he likes to read. Ask his teacher what they recommend. To some extent “reading age” becomes a bit of an odd concept past a certain fluency, because it’s more about finding books which meet his level of social and emotional maturity, which might be lower than his actual age let alone his reading age, and which capture his own interests - if he likes and enjoys books aimed at a younger audience, that’s also perfectly okay! You want to keep him seeing reading as for pleasure, not as an intellectual challenge.

When I was at school a long time ago I was quite good at reading and so were my friends, and I think we just liked the concept of 'reading age' so we could feel a bit smug about it. I think we all used to compete to be the first to get through the Lord of the Rings, tedious dwarf poetry and all, because it seemed like the ultimate really long impressive book to have read. Anyway, if your DS likes fantasy, he might enjoy the Redwall books by Brian Jacques and the (frankly utterly terrifying) Deptford Mice trilogy by Robin Jarvis. I'm not sure why mice feature so heavily in children's fantasy.

And yes - let him choose his own books. I don't think my parents were involved in choosing books for me beyond very early primary years, they just let me loose in the library every Saturday.

Take him to the library and let him choose his own books.

The Librarian will be able to help recommend.

That’s what I would recommend too.

Let him choose. He should read what he wants to read-even if it’s technically “too young”for him. Reading isn’t like getting music exams-you don’t have to keep progressing.

But do be careful-there are some recommendations on here-David Almond for one-that I wouldn’t give a 10 year old. Not sure about Goodnight Mr Tom either. Important to choose for emotional maturity as well as reading age. Apart from anything else, it’s easy to spoil books by reading them too young.

From an educational point of view, it is beneficial for able readers to read challenging books, not just what they fancy even if it’s too easy (though of course there’s a place for that too!) In terms of developing vocabulary, and becoming a better writer, more advanced books are necessary - endless ‘diary of a wimpy kid’ type books won’t help push them.

It is a fine line though - as the OP has identified, books for teenagers may contain inappropriate content - sexual, scary, upsetting.

Books exist written specially for children who have eg dyslexia, which are aimed at older children who aren’t yet strong readers - easier words, sentences structure etc but topics aimed at eg 10 year olds. I always think the opposite needs to exist - books with content aimed at 10 year olds but written at a higher reading age to push them. Some good suggestions above eg Philip Pullman, Terry pratchett, lord of the rings, though all very fantasy based. I’d avoid goodnight mr Tom, there’s some quite upsetting bits in it.

I did say “typically taught in Year 8” and “developmentally ten years old” - although I read anything I could get my hands on at that age. I’ve seen The Graveyard Book taught in Year 6 and thought that was really scary. As is the author himself, it turns out.

What I would avoid is telling a ten year old that books are too young for him and trying to push him into reading the classics such as Homer. Unless he wants to.

Does Goosebumps still exist? Is it terribly dated?

I think being let loose at the library was how I ended up reading things like Sweet Valley High and the Weetzie Bat series probably earlier than I should! 😁 I also really enjoyed the Saddle Club, Babysitter’s Club, Ramona, and Anastasia series between the ages of 9-12 - which makes me reflect that there does seem to be something of an absence of books for teen and tween boys which are just “fairly normal boys doing fairly normal everyday boy stuff” in young people’s literature, in the way there is for girls and young women.

My daughter was the same at 10. I would be led by what he enjoys reading rather than worry about the reading age. The Percy Jackson series was a big hit in our house at 10 (and are all currently being reread!).

Watership Down
The Hobbit
Children of the Oregon Trail
I am David
Animal Farm
Truckers etc
The Chrysalids
Children of the Dust

I think my DN who is quite clever still likes the famous five at that age. And classic crime fiction like Agatha Christie might be quite good if he's into that sort of thing as they don't tend to be violent (beyond the actual murder) and they're definitely not sexy.

My able reader enjoyed Tunnels and Eragon. Both are meaty fantasy books with a series of less enjoyable sequels.

Books written in the past tend to be written in less accessible language: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. The Phoenix and the Carpet. The Railway Children.

But if you want him to keep reading, don't focus on the level. It's more important that he can understand and engage with the content. I've seen too many parents pushing their kids to read Dickens and George Eliot. The joy dies.

Firstly, Shakespeare's sonnets have a reading age of 10. So lets not get overexcited by trying to read stuff that can often be turgid (my PhD thesis has a reading age of 23 IIRC and I wouldn't suggest that as a fun read for anyone), which is really what 'reading age' is measuring, the length of the words and complexity of the sentences.

Secondly, avoid modern YA books aimed at older children and help him choose good quality children's books that are age-appropriate. If you want more sophisticated writing then go for classics like the Narnia books or Swallows and Amazons or Skellig or The Machine Gunners or Tom's Midnight Garden (best children's book ever). All completely age appropriate with no romance/sex. More modern writers like Rick Riordan and Katherine Rundell also write children's books that are age appropriate but have a bit more to them.

Take him to your local bookstore. I have done this for a number of years with DD. Her reading age is much higher than her actual age so I explain to the staff that she is very good at reading but stress her age means we always leave with really interesting, challenging and appropriate books. If you have an excellent library nearby you can do the same. People who love books love the challenge of finding books for children who love to read.

My DS is 10 and has about the same reading age. He loves:
The Redwall series by Brian Jaques
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (grim subject but brilliant books)
Lord of the Flies
All of the Phillip Pullman books
The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

https://www.booksfortopics.com/booklists/recommended-reads/year-6/

Let your child choose in a library. My eldest has a reading age above her actual age, and she likes a mix of adult detective novels (the cosy ones, not police ones!), young adults, and wimpy kid and other cartoon books! She seems to weed out for herself those that she's not ready for.

Having an early fluent reader could be difficult as regards finding material they might enjoy that is not too grown up for them. But never forget that just because they CAN read certain stuff, does not mean that they are interested in it - their interests and emotional development accord with their chronological age and they will enjoy reading what their peers are reading.

The desire to push them on into reading stuff that is within their technical grasp reading-wise is not necessarily a good thing.

Reading age and emotional age are two different things.

Thanks for all the recommendations. He doesn't really like fantasy but loves crime

Alex Rider might fit the bill.

Excellent recommendation

Also have a look at the Young Sherlock Holmes series. Even the original Conan Doyle books are reasonably readable.