How to encourage DS to stick with longer books he starts.

[Fuzzymum1]

My DS3 is about to turn 7 and is a capable reader. When he reads things like captain ruddy underpants he reads the whole book, but when he chooses to read something a bit longer and more wordy he tends to read a couple of chapters then move on to something else.

How (or indeed should) I be encouraging him to read a whole book before moving on? I've lost count of the number of books he's started then moved on to other things. These are all books he's chosen for himself, I'm not choosing them for him. It's things like the first harry potter, james and the giant peach, etc.

Should I be:

a) encouraging him to stick with the simpler books so he naturally reads the whole book,
b) letting him keep trying the harder books and insist he reads the whole thing before starting something else/reward him for seeing them through, or
c) leaving him to stop and start all over the place?
d) something I haven't thought of.

Not seeing the story to its conclusion seems like he won't be getting the benefits of learning about story construction for his own writing etc.

I'm not averse to offering him rewards but I'd rather reading and enjoying the story be its own reward. I know his teacher has no concerns about his reading at school as she often comments about how well he reads.

If he starts a harder book and gives up, could you read him another chapter of it at bedtime. That way he gets through the book a bit quicker, and probably onto a more exciting part of the story. He may want to read a bit more himself then?

He may stop because they are too hard.
However, maybe you could speed things up by reading the occasional chapter or two of the book to him to encourage him along.
Ask him what is happening every now and again in the harder books. If he struggles to recall you may have to take a step back with books.

Great minds MissGreen!

We always shared books - so at bedtime we would read some of it and then leave them for 15 mins or so to read a bit more before lights out. If it was getting a bit tedious, then would read a bit more to them. Always trying to swap just s something exciting is about to happen helps too!

I always started reading the book to Dc until it got interesting and the characters were established, which made it easier to encourage them to carry on by themselves.

There is quite a big gap between the dreaded underpants and Harry potter so firstly I would suggest a more gradual progression eg the SWITCH series, the middling to meatier sick king smiths, Michael morpurgo etc. you will just "waste" titles otherwise as he may be reluctant to return to "failures" later. Mix in quality "fun" books (mr gum, dragons of Waverley crescent etc) with chewier ones

Also, Lots of children hesitate on moving to the next stage of thickness of book or smallness of don't - don't underestimate the latter, and choose editions accordingly. I have found that a v good technique for making that transition is to read a chapter to him for every couple he does, if he seems to be flagging.

My DD did this and would have about 4 books on the go!

Sticker chart helped, a sticker for each book finished. I only had to do it for a few weeks but it helped enormously.

Also we mix longer books with shorter easier ones so not every book takes ages for her to read.

Like simpson's DD, my DD was exactly like this when aged 6 to 7. I left her to it and didn't/don't interfere with her reading. She will read a book to the end now if it interests her enough. Has started on the Harry Potter ones before xmas and is now on Book 5 (which I would imagine is waay too long for an 8 year old) but I will leave her to find her own way with it.

To disagree with other folk, I think the Captain Underpants series is brilliant fun for getting kids reading, very imaginative and some good vocabulary in there too.

Sorry - system was slow so I didn't see all the other reading aloud suggestions !

DD1 generally will stick a book out (with some persuasion sometimes) but we also alternate between longer harder ones and shorter easier ones.

Agree with others - dd is just 7, and a good reader but wilts at lengthy books (especially with no pictures). So we alternate those with shorter ones, and with long ones I will read a chapter after her, or we take turns with pages when she's really tired. Works wonders.

And as I have an older dd (just 10) over whom I used to worry in the self same way, I just look at her devouring full length novels and remind myself 7 is very, very little

Have you tried how to train a dragon series by Cressida cowell? Good quality , funny, and great illustrations

How to train your Dragon still quite hard.
Allow a bit of say dino cove which are easy chapter books and great fun.

The Dinosaur Cove books look great. I've added them to my wish list - thanks!

Oh good teafor1. My ds loved them.

Taking turns worked well with my DDs. Keeps the momentum of the story going. Used to read with them before bedtime, If she felt tired I would read a bit more. Every night was more or less see how it plans out. Dd used to have more than one book on the go. It is good to have a mix if easy and more challenging books on the go.

Oldest DD is now a one book at he time type reader. DD2 often had up to 4 on the go. Not sure how she can keep track and she does have a habit of finishing books.

We've tried taking turns but he just doesn't want to keep going. I think I'm going to try and steer him towards something slightly more wordy than captain underpants but less so that HP etc. Dinosaur cove sounds interesting as he's quite keen on dinosaurs at the moment.

If he likes dinosaurs has he tried Astrosaurs? (No idea how they compare to Captain Underpants, as not seen captain underpants books)

I think you can't force it. They are self-selecting as they don't have the maturity or stamina for the longer books yet. Well, that's my conclusion. DS does this, or did. Actually, he rarely reads fiction at the moment. He's just 7. However, he reads all the time and we read to him. He has a real love of reading. And before this non-fiction phase he read lots and lots of books for the 6-8 age group- Horrid Henry, Jeremy Strong (has your DS read these, they are really good for this age group), Magic Treehouse, Captain Underpants, quite a few classic fairytales etc. Some he read several times. I've bought him some new fiction books for Christmas to tempt him, but he'll come to them in his own time- things like Secret Seven and Wimpy Kid and Beast Quest.

I wouldn't interfere as long as a child has mastered the mechanics of reading and understanding the material, what they choose to read for pleasure (within limits) is their own business. To be honest there are occasional books and toys in our house which inexplicably go missing from time to time. But that's another story.