BOYS READING: How to move them on from 5-8s books to more demanding novels?

[roisin]

OK, as many of you know I'm passionate about children's literature, and children reading.

Both boys became very fluent readers at a very early age. DS1 was precocious and read very advanced literature at a very young age (not necessarily an approach I would advocate.)

DS2 has equally precocious reading age scores, but is very reluctant to read novels full stop (reads endless non-fiction).

I am aware that he has not yet become a lifelong reader and IME if he doesn't get there soon society/culture will take over and he will not become one.

Atm he will not read anything more demanding than the likes of:
Horrid Henry
Astrosaurs
The Grk books
Cressida Cowell
Beast Quest
Ghosthunters

Nothing wrong with any of this I know, but how do we bridge the gap to Horowitz, Charlie Higson, Michelle Paver, Georgia Byng, Jenny Nimmo, etc?

Ha ha! Bink, yes. I bought him the Doctor Who books for his birthday - sure fire thing I thought. DS1 read them all pretty much instantly, and ds2 hasn't touched them

Maybe he is just being stubborn!

Ds1 at an earlier age but similar stage iyswim also read lots of pink sparkly girly books (his choice). But ds2 is far too aware of gender stereotypes to have ever looked at such things.

Perhaps you should make a big pile of all the books you would like him to read and say very firmly 'You are not quite old enough for these yet' and see what happens.

I'm not sure that preferences at 8 necessarily predict lifelong reading, either, thinking about it. I was much more willing to push myself at 8 than I am these days!

I'm thinking maybe what I need to do is some sort of incentive-scheme with him to get him to agree to tackle some of these books, to make him realise that they are not so demanding as he thinks, and that he will really enjoy them once he gets into them.

Bink - from earlier - I don't know Larklight. Off to look at it on Amazon now.

We have got the first of the Edge Chronicles, but for some reason it's one of the few ds1 has never gone for.

Great idea, slowreader!

Hmm. I'd be a bit reluctant to give incentives to read for pleasure, tbh.

slowreader - [snort] Do you know that is exactly the sort of thing that might just work for him.

I could write a list of books I want him to read and say those are the ones he can read when he's a bit older, and instead give him a list of easier books to work through, and see what he does!

I just remembered someone mentioned the Phantom Tollbooth much earlier on: what a peculiar book - ds1 adored it when he was tiny and has read it several times. I just thought it was bonkers. But then ds2 loves Lewis Carroll too - I never really got that.

Roisin you probably already do this, but I find with DD2 (7) who is not quite as fluent and voracious a reader as DD1 that if I have a book she doesn't want to read but which I think she will enjoy what I do is to read the first couple of chapters aloud to her and she will very often then just take the book and finish it off herself.

Would it be an utter and total disaster if he didn't become a lifelong reader? Or became a lifelong reader of graphic novels and non-fiction rather than long novels?

Scummymummy - the lifelong reader thing comes from seeing children at 11-13 at secondary school, who are fluent, capable, keen readers; but haven't ever read anything more demanding than ds2 has now - and it's very hard to get them to progress.

..Says she who at the grand old age of 38 spends more time reading children's/teenage novels than adult ones

Do have a look at the Deltora books too - you can read a good bit of the first one on the "search inside" function. Ds read it over my shoulder and I swear he stopped breathing till we got to the end of the excerpt.

Well do it cheaply. Go to the library. Select at least 8. Flick through them saying ' unsuitable, unsuitable AND rude, unsuitable AND rude AND scary' and leave them lying about.

Roddy Doyle has written 3 books for children,starting with The Giggler Treatment, which is funny and fab and available on audio book. My kids have listened to it loads and today i found a paberback copy in a charity shop so i bought it for my ds who is nearly 8 and reads very little, but listens endlessly to harry potter. anyway, he was enthralled to own it and immediately started reading it - unprecesdented - and now wants to read along as he listens. Very excited....

... and of course that (reading the excerpt on screen) made him desperate to know what happened next - so ready to fall on the book when it appeared. Clever marketing device, & poss quite useful in your case!

Yes- I know what you mean. i do worry about that too, especially with the son I mentioned earlier. i just wondered if you were projecting your own passions onto your boy a tiny bit (as we all do). Sorry if i was out of line.

Scummy - sorry crossed posts.
Yes in a word. There has been a lot of research coming out recently linking boys' success at school with their fiction reading habits.
It's also very much part of our family culture - I like to have times when we all just curl up with our books. And if ds2 isn't interested, and wants to play endless Gameboy or whatever, then ds1 wants to play computer too, and ...

Bink - do you know what the first Deltora book is called?

It's called The Forests of Silence.

Ha! Crossed again!
Yes, absolutely guilty of projecting passions - definitely.
I'm not as stressed/concerned about it as I may come across on here; I certainly don't spend time agonising about it.

But I do often wish he were a keener reader, and wonder why he isn't, and whether there is something I could do to change that.

Slowreader - you crack me up. I love your style. What psychology!
Are you a teacher?

I loved the phanotm tollbooth but I'm sure I was a lot older than 8 when I read it...