Comic books for reluctant 9 year old

[drspouse]

DS has read Dog Man and Bunny vs Monkey about 300 times each.
He will not read anything with pages of words e.g. Tom Gates, Worst Witch, Dirty Bertie, not even Barrington Stoke.
I'm reading him Harry Potter and he can read it - just won't.
Any ideas to get him a tiny bit more stretched?

How about Asterix?

I was just about to say Asterix.

So funny

Why not subscribe to Phoenix magazine? Love of reading is more important than length of book. It gets ripped apart in our house on arrival.

Asterix did the trick for my reluctant reader, also the Beano magazine (subscription works out much cheaper than the shops if he likes it by the way).

There's another Dav Pilkey series - Captain Underpants - which is very funny and the same style as Dog Man.

And (sorry, just checking) you know there are loads of Dog Man books?

Mine is the same and I am trying really, really hard not to be judgemental about it. I don’t want him to be put off completely. His sister is an avid, to the point of obsessive, reader and I think he has built up a wall of indifference because he can’t/ won’t/ doesn’t want to ‘compete’.
Audiobooks are beneficial. DS listens to them at night and we all do in the car. Good opportunity to get the benefits of vocabulary, story language, imagination without having to ‘do’ the reading. DS still finds it quite hard (also 9, had a couple of bad school years, even before covid, so a bit ‘behind’ but getting there).
As I said, trying not to be judgmental - only makes it worse for him. I did buy a couple of new books for Christmas that I thought he’d like to read aloud - we do a page each alternately.

Maybe tin tin? And I hate say , but beast quest books really got mine into reading. They are all basically the same story with different characters, and once he had read about 50 he did get fed up with them! However, most we're borrowed from library. Now expanded his reading, so has now read narnia series, all of how to train your train, the wizards of once series and all harry potter. Also, quite a few David baddiel books. Now reading minecraft based stories on my kindle (dave the villager).

Some of the Spiderman comic books are aimed at young readers now and are pretty good. He might enjoy the Miles Morales Spiderman ones.

My DS likes:
Beano comics
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
The Misadventures of Max Crumbly
The Treehouse Series
Bunny vs Monkey
Grimwood

Zita the Spacegirl. It’s a graphic novel, so is long. But is about aliens and danger and rescuing someone.

@Chronicallymothering

Why not subscribe to Phoenix magazine? Love of reading is more important than length of book. It gets ripped apart in our house on arrival.

We had this but he only likes Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin. Some of the comic strips rely on knowing what secondary school is like.

@GoGoGretaDoll

And (sorry, just checking) you know there are loads of Dog Man books?

We have every one plus all the Cat Kids, he won't read Captain Underpants sadly.

Yes, a subscription to the Phoenix (which runs Bunny vs Monkey) would be ideal, they have a mix of comics and styles. Jamie Smart who writes BvM also has proper books out, the Flember series, which might be an 'in'?

Otherwise, he also writes the Looshkin comics which are similarly crazy.

If you want comic strips that are brilliantly funny and more thoughtful and articulate, buy some Calvin and Hobbes books?

I'd have a look at graphic novels too. You could take him to the library so he can see which he likes before buying.

Cross post on the Phoenix, that's a shame!

Calvin & Hobbes !!

He wouldn't read Beast Quest or Wimpy Kid or Treehouse. Too much text.
Basically anything where there is ever a whole page of text, or anything that looks like it (even half a page) is a NO.
At bedtime he will ask me to read Harry Potter and if I suggest him sharing reading another book he says no thanks, no story.
He has about 2 audio books he listens to on rotation.
He does read Beano, we'll try Asterix!

@lljkk

Calvin & Hobbes !!

Good call! Bonus, I love it.

If Asterix works, you can also try Tintin

Graphic novels are the way to go if you have a reluctant reader. Like comics but with full stories. My DD 12 won't read full pages of print , but devours graphic novels. Google them and see !

@ShippingNews

Graphic novels are the way to go if you have a reluctant reader. Like comics but with full stories. My DD 12 won't read full pages of print , but devours graphic novels. Google them and see !

I've looked at these online and in the library and they all seem a little old for him at 9. Do you have any specific recommendations?

Hilo the Boy who fell to earth
The Bad Guys
Investi-gators
There are Looshkin books
Beano albums from charity shops
Kitty Quest

My reluctant reader is 8 and they are all age appropriate and addictive.

Brilliant thanks!

You can get graphic novel versions of various books that are fairly popular with that age group. Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz, Percy Jackson books, Artemis Fowl etc.
There is also graphic novel versions of classics (like Dickens etc) and Shakespeare, Greek Legends and that sort of thing which are aimed at that age group.

Choose your own adventure books might work because it is a short piece of text then a choice. You can get ones for younger children which may appeal as a first try.