How to get my nine-year-old to read more?

[Franny1]

Hello, just to be clear this is not a thread about a kid who HATES reading! When I've looked up similar questions before the answers always seem to divide into kids who love reading and read constantly, and kids who hate reading and never read! This is not us. Surely some kids are in the middle!

I have a nine year old who LOVES being read to (quite grown-up stuff, so we did all the Harry Potters but have now just done The Hobbit which he adored), and very occasionally gets into independently reading a fictional series that he loves (eg Daisy and the trouble with, The Treehouse books, Mr Gum, recently a kids' version of the Iliad (!)) - but the rest of the time will happily go without reading books by himself (unless he has to for school etc) for weeks/months. He loves comics/Dog Man etc and easier non fiction picture books, but seems to find pages of text daunting. Actually he has told me that, and I don't quite understand if he's just being a bit lazy about more text heavy books, or if he genuinely finds them significantly harder and whether there's something I can do to help with that. Or whether that will just come in time (coming on mumsnet sometimes it feels like if kids aren't massive bookworms by age 9 they'll never be!).

His spelling and comprehension seem v good/up to scratch (year 4) – but he is easily distracted (and has some other traits that have always made me wonder if he is neurodiverse in some way) to the point that we we did have him privately assessed for inattentive adhd at one point but were told he didn't fully match the criteria, particularly at school. Conscious that things like stealth dyslexia exist and am wondered if really this is a boy who loves stories but somehow can't quite get to the next level of reading by himself because he find dense text too challenging? Or maybe he just doesn't like reading as much as me (I LOVE reading) and I'm overthinking it!

I know some kids aren't readers, but I do find it weird when he seems to adore stories and being read to, and he is bright and can read well, and has always lived in a house with tons of books and reading.

Any thoughts? Would particularly love to hear from people whose kids either became bookworms later on, or whether people think there might be stealth neurodiversity issue here... Thanks!

Is it possible the books are slightly to difficult for his reading age? I've made that error before and my child wasn't interested but 6 months later couldn't put the same books down.

I mean I certainly wonder that but from what I can see by this age plenty of his peers seem to be fine with denser text (eg Percy Jackson, or How to Train Your Dragon) and my DS is very much still in the Mr Gum range (which have light text with lots of pics and are pitched at younger readers)

David Williams, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Look in charity shops and buy a range of books there. It doesn’t matter if they seem a little young for him. Take him to a big bookshop (eg Waterstones) and let him browse and pick.

Is it possible that the problem is that the books you're reading to him (eg The Hobbit) are too advanced for him to read on his own, but make the ones he would be capable of reading seem a bit too babyish in comparison? Maybe choose a simpler book for reading aloud and take it in turns (you read a chapter to him, he reads a chapter either aloud or to himself).

Yes @GiraffeTree I definitely wonder about this too. Would love to hear about what others have experienced with their own kids and what level they feel is quote unquote 'normal'?

Look for books formatted for dyslexics, there are less words per page and larger spaces between letters.

DD hates reading novels, loves playscripts and poetry generally both have more space on the page. Along with short stories opposed to long novels.

David Baddiels books are funny and fairly light. Percy Jackson is great. Secret Benedict society and Artemis fowl.

I also try and build reading time for al into the day / weekend - make a cup of tea, couple of biscuits and DD and I would sit in the living room to read with no interruptions

Do you and your partner read? I found my DD8 wanted to do what we were doing in the evening...snuggle up on the sofa with a good book!

Oh and she loves the Frost Heart book series at the moment!

This. And if he only wants to read a page or half a page solo himself then go with that. Build it up. “You read a bit, I’ll read a bit”

Thanks @MumonabikeE5 Yes will try this. We definitely do read at home a lot, although could probably do more of that in the evening instead of TV ( a lot of my reading is probably either when they're watching TV or when I'm in bed).

I'd still love love love to hear more about what others have experienced with their own kids, for reassurance! :)

My 9 year only really reads dogman. Finds the pages of text too boring. So I’ve just decided not to worry about it. Captain Underpants is good for a bit more text. Harry Potter is way too hard, even for me to read to him. Too many characters and inference.

Also he now likes Minecraft books coz I’ve just let him start having Minecraft

My dd didn't really read until she was bought a kindle - she said that making the text bigger made a really big difference.

My son was 8.5 and didn’t read at all at home. Which worried me. He read dog man books and phoenix comic. And then my teacher pal who was holidaying with us brought some books with her for my son to read when we were siesta-ing.

he read 4 books in a fortnight.
and since then he reads for hours.
at first I was worried by how quickly he was getting through novels, thinking he was skimming or not really reading them, but actually his comprehension and recall is great.

he went from zero to an hour + a night.

and now, at almost 10 he’s reading 2 books a week during term time and at half term he read 9 books, on what was also a busy and fun holiday.

I’ve never heard of stealth dyslexia, you are either dyslexic or not and it is a ND as the way your brain thinks is different and like all ND dyslexia presents differently. Dyslexia is separate to intelligence which is a prejudice a lot of dyslexic people face.

My DD is dyslexic and reads well. She does find it tiring and also uses a ruler as she struggles to track (can’t find the start of a new line easily). So cud try something like that. My DD does not have visual stress so does not need to use an coloured overlay but some dyslexic children do.

My DS is 10 and he mostly reads in bed as I don’t let them have electronics there. He also likes to read if he thinks he is getting to stay up late. Although he does seem to read a fair bit in the morning when he first wakes up.

He mostly reads football autobiographies, dogman and football magazines.

other options could be audio books, unless you specifically want him to read.

My DS is 10 and he mostly reads in bed as I don’t let them have electronics there. He also likes to read if he thinks he is getting to stay up late. Although he does seem to read a fair bit in the morning when he first wakes up

Yes, that's how we ring-fence it in our day too. Drawing is also allowed at bedtime, but nothing else. And if he chooses comics or easy books then that's absolutely fine, just keep providing a variety and try not to make it a chore by making your approval and disapproval of different choices known. He just read a kids version of the Iliad you say? Sounds like a 'relax and just keep doing what you're doing' situation!

Hurray, @MumonabikeE5 that's a cheering story! What do you think made the difference?

Yes @napody we don't allow electronics in bedroom either. We do allow TV every night for about 40 minutes, which is before we go up for bedtime routines, and am wondering whether even that is slightly getting in the way of a mental wind-down. Do you still read to your child at bedtime? We do every night and DS loves it but although he's allowed to read on after we've gone, he's usually tired and chooses not to. And when he's alone in his room eg first thing in the morning or after school sometimes, he will occasionally choose to read but usually chooses to play lego instead...

I guess I just feel like he's very very rarely choosing to read himself (so all the things that he got into, eg the Iliad, mr gum etc, are because I spent a LOT of time trying to figure out what he might like! The rhythm is that I do that a lot, occasionally something catches his attention, but it really feels like a slog!) He'll read Dog Man or The Phoenix lots of the time with no encouragement tho...

@Autumndayz77 Yes stealth dyslexia is real dyslexia, it's just a term used sometimes to refer to kids that were more difficult to diagnose, eg because they seemed to be good readers and their teachers hadn't spotted it. So that's why it's on my mind a bit, because DS mentioned finding the denser text a bit overwhelming

I don't think my DS is very swayed by the promise of getting to stay up late btw! I remember LOVING that option as a kid because I shared a room with my sister and reading late with a torch in bed felt super grown up. but DS isn't swayed, he likes his sleep! And in the morning he mostly prefers to play lego still...

It's hard to find books that span the transition from comics to chapter books- Tom gates was a good one for us. I think just keep putting different reading materials including magazines, in front of them and they will develop in their own time.

Does he enjoy fantasy? At that age I was reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. But he did write children's books too. Just get a variety of them that aren't too rude and let him have at it.

My approach with DS was to let him read whatever sparked his interest on his Kindle, even if it was rubbish meme books (he falls asleep reading every single night).

Another option is Audiobooks; as per PP suggestion, perhaps your child enjoys more complex stories, but wouldn't want to read them alone.

Audiobooks are also fantastic for long car journeys and they can work as a gateway for printed versions.

I have never heard of the term stealth dyslexia but 2 of my DC were diagnosed late because they were such keen readers. DD was 10 I think.

I remember someone telling me when my DC were young that a great way to encourage reading was to read yourselves and have books in the house.

Could you have some quiet time in the evening where you are reading your book and he is reading his?
Or you both are reading the same book to yourselves and then discuss-like a little bookclub?

I was also going to suggest audiobooks as PP have- you can alternate between reading a chapter and listening.

Ah yes- I definitely leverage his excitement at 'staying up late'. Also elder sister is a bookworm so he emulates that. But I think if your boy is reading, even comic style, you're onto a winner. A more challenging book might only grab him once in a while, but that's probably true of adults too? This has probably been suggested but regular library trips?

Hi Op, we're in the same boat here. 9 yr old daughter ,does have Aspergers so has social and communication challenges but academically is progressing well. Loves books and being read to. Will pick up books to read but rarely finishes them. She'll pick up a book and flick through it to decide by the text whether it's too much or not. She reads easy chapter books with pictures but has no reading stamina as it were. I read to her, currently harry potter and I agree with pp as does dd teacher hp is challenging text to read.
Yesterday funnily enough she picked up a bunny and monkey book that's been on her shelf for months and she was sooo excited by it, weirdly. She won't put it down. She couldn't finish the dogman books she tried last year so maybe this is a beginning? The dogman books do seem to be the in thing in her class so she may just be happy to be in with the in crowd.
I do make her read out to me most days from easy books with subjects she is showing interest in and again as her teacher says, she's an excellent reader with good comprehension. She's in the top reading group.
I feel your frustration, it's a bit confusing here too. I think we just have to trust that it will eventually click. I do make sure she has lots of non fiction around which is good for picking up and putting down.
She doesn't have a tablet or other tech, only tv and a yoto which she does enjoy listening to books on. I think it is the effort of the processing the reading itself which makes it hard work.
I don't have any suggestions I'm afraid as you sound like us in that you're doing everything possible to allow the reading to flourish when it can.