Suggestions For 6 Year Old Boy Who Is Struggling To Read

[Leeds2]

Anyone got any suggestions for a series of books for a 6 year old boy? Just started Year 1, not really thriving in the classroom and I think being assessed for SEN. He enjoys being read to. His interests are cars, transport etc and superheroes.

My DS loved Captain Underpants at this age.

My son was v similar. We did the Reading Eggs programme which he enjoyed as it was online/ like a game. At that age he was still on floppy books and we used to take it in turns to read a page each. We carried that on for years, a page each, all the way to Michael Morpurgo in Y5/6! He did get better at reading eventually and really loved Alex Rider from about Y5. Even later, I would read the book he was reading so we could talk about them. It just helped his enjoyment to share books in this way and was also really bonding.

He did get extra time in exams for slow processing. He's probably dyslexic too but the assessment in his day (he's now 19!) were not as well designed so he just about passed. My sister is a dyslexia specialist and says it's changed now so hopefully your DS can get better help.

You can get simple Marvel books

David Walliams. I am not keen on the content, but they sparked an enthusiasm for reading.

Go to the library and pick out books with him. Just get a mixture and see what clicks.

Thanks all for your suggestions. It isn’t my DS so I can’t take him to the library. I am looking for something for his birthday.

What about fun picture books. My daughter has dyslexia and still enjoys good picture books now at 11

Dragon Stew is one I enjoy that is fun to read with lots.of rhymes and entertaining pictures.

Or some of the Julia Donaldson books like Smartest Giant in Town.

Or "You Choose" ? Our copy is very well worn and it sparks lots of conversations

Or the Usborne how things work type books?

There are definitely 'learn to read' versions of marvel and lego available. A good bookshop would be able to advise if you've one local to you?

Dog Man
InvestiGators
Bunny vs Monkey

The above are series of graphic novels which helped spark an interest in reading in DS when he was struggling at around 6-7 years old.

A book of children's poetry. Easy to digest and can build confidence with fluency.

10 little superheroes or 10 little dinosaurs , they can start with the noise sounds ( pow, whack etc and work up ).

Supertato for reading too them is a good one.

For them to read lol on Amazon at Julia Donaldson Oxford books ( it's a pack of books that are phonics based).

A subscription to a weekly or monthly comic.

Joke books can be good.
He'll only need to read a few sentences at a time and can then tell the jokes to others.

I would second the Investigators books. Colourful graphic novels with not many words per page (I think Captain Underpants has too many words for someone this age who is struggling to read). Colour is key I think, certainly is for my dyslexic son.

Or are you looking for books that someone else can read to him? It's not clear in the post. I would say Investigators for him to read, but some of the other suggestions would work if it's a book to be read to him.

I think the key is finding a topic they love. Even if it’s factual book like the Guiness Book of records or an Atlas with flaps.

If they know they can find out about things they love it will encourage them to read more.

My son wasn’t keen on reading at that age but loved factual books far more!