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?

@stayingaliveisawayoflife

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.

We have some really old ones (Jungle of Peril is one) which he loves but I'll have a look out for the next level.

Any ideas to get him a tiny bit more stretched?

Carry on reading to him! I was still reading to my DD when she was a teenager though by then she'd got into reading some of the YA books like hunger games, and had read the Harry potters... not sure when she started those.

She did have, and enjoy, the Beano.
Also, does your DS enjoy any non fiction? Things with diagrams.

As to Shakespeare... they're plays, not books. Take him to the theatre if possible (there are often fun outdoors performances in summer).

Do you have a local comic book store? I ask our store for their recommendations and they’ve always been spot on. DS is now 10 but has worked his way through the amulet series, Newt, Capture Creatures, Ghostopolis. All great reads.

Percy Jackson stories are a recent favourite for DS so assuming they’ve stuck to the same story in the graphic novel they might be worth looking at.

Lastly, what about discworld graphic novels? Some of the jokes may be over his head but I loved Death and the luggage characters at a similarish age.

One more - my Dd is 8 and a more reluctant reader and doesn’t really do chapter books. She really enjoys The Week Junior - weekly subscription. Might also be worth a look. She flicks through and just read what grabs her eye at the time

We are definitely still reading to him Errol!
He has ADHD and doesn't have the attention span for a Shakespeare play but we see other plays sometimes too.

SUCCESS!
I found a book on the shelf from the I Hero series. We read it together. He wants more.

My DS, just turned 11, is like this. I agree with the graphic novels approach, which is essentially what Dog Man is. My son loves Dog Man, Cat Kid etc but tells me he hates reading. Other graphic novels that have been a success are the Amulet series. Expensive so reserve from the library! I also recently got Investi-gators for my younger son which looks similar to Dog Man. Both mentioned by pp. Will check out your I Hero recommendation!

He had Zombie Bunnies and now wants Killer Custard.
I'll look out for other graphic novels.

Great suggestions so far, my reluctant reader is 11 and many of these have been great for her, esp The Phoenix, and things like illustrated story of The Iliad/Odyssey. She’s now reading the graphic novel version of To Kill A Mockingbird, and able to focus in bigger chunks.

There are a few Zelda graphic novels too that have gone down well.

@drspouse do you live anywhere near london?

If so take him to the forbidden planet shop on Shaftesbury Avenue. It's essentially a comic.collectors shop. They have a whole section of younger graphic novels. They also often have a sale shelf.

I believe there are a few other branches in the country but this is the only one I've been to.

We don't sadly.

We've had some success getting a paperback and audiobook, and reading along with the audiobook.

13 Storey Treehouse is heavily illustrated and the audiobook is good. Maybe the combination would work for stretching him?

He's quite stubborn about listening to new audiobooks as well unfortunately.

How to Train your Dragon text also fairly well interspersed with illustrations, I seem to recall.