My 7 year old is a very reluctant reader. I have posted about her before. I have recently had a bit of success reading the Frog and Toad books together with her. The great thing about these books is that the reading level is appropriate for her skill but the stories are funny and not boring and babyish. She really gets the subltle humor and sarcasm. She is very bright and these stories don’t pander as so many others at this level do.
I looked it up and it seems that they are reading level “K” for what its worth. If you can suggest other books on this level that are fun, interesting, funny and might work for us, I would be very grateful.
Have you taken her to the bookstore or library to pick out books? At seven she should be involved in the picking process. ESPECIALLY if she is a reluctant reader.
We can all recommend titles or series - but it has to be attractive, intriguing and inviting to her!
Research does show that series are often successful with reluctant readers because they learn to know the characters and format of the books and don’t have to “relearn” that with each title they read.
All that said, I am a big fan of simple cookbooks for kids. It’s reading AND pictures AND an activity (cooking!).
When my D was that age, she was also a reluctant reader. She enjoyed The Magic Treehouse series, which is a bit of history and adventure. My reluctant reader sons enjoyed Captain Underpants, which is kind of gross, but it got them reading.
The thing that got my D reading was something that they probably don’t do anymore - reading groups. At the beginning of 3rd grade (she has a late birthday, so was still 7), she was placed in the lowest group. OMG! She was so offended that she went to the teacher and asked what she needed to do to be moved up. By her birthday in October, she was in the second highest group. The first group was her best friend alone, who ultimately got into an Ivy ED. Years later, the friend’s mom told me that they were rooting for D to be put in the group with her D, because her D was lonely with no reading buddies. That was on the teacher.
Good luck. As a mom of 5, only one of whom was an early reader (the oldest is hyperlexic and slightly on the spectrum), I feel your pain. I’m glad to say that all but one of mine (who’s severely dyslexic) are all good readers as adults.
I do take her to the library and the bookstore. She enthusiastically picks out books but does not want to read them. She also does not want me to read them to her. The problem has been that she is picking out books that are far above her ability. And she just doesn’t like to be read to. I will continue to take her the the library so that she can enjoy the environment of books, but it has seemed to work better if I put likely titles in her hands.
My kids enjoyed Frog and Toad too. Similar books in regards to reading level and humor are the Henry and Mudge series (Level 2) and Mr. Putter series both by Cynthia Rylant. They also enjoyed Detective Dinosaur (Level 2) by James Skofield, Zack’s Alligator (Level 2) by Shirley Mozelle and the Aunt Eater Loves a Mystery (Level 2) by Doug Cushman. I hope these help!
Our local library has volunteer therapy dogs that sit and listen to young kids reading to them. Having a non-judgmental listener and petting the dog seem to enhance the reading experience for reluctant readers and is soothing for them. The dogs are trained for this. Maybe your local library has something like this? One of our elementary schools also does this. They have a great big St. Bernard who is so incredibly gentle - the kids love him.
My D also liked the Magic Treehouse Series, but from what I recall I did more of the reading than she did at that age, but it helped develop a love of books.
Thanks @Dancingmom518 and @techmom99 My older girls loved magic treehouse, but it hasn’t been a hit with d3. I really thought she would enjoy it if I did all the reading, but no luck. She is a reluctant reader and gets no joy from being read to. Its a challenging combination. Luckily she will at least do assigned reading for class. I just wish I could find a way to help her actually enjoy it.
@swimmom1922 Thanks for the list. I’ll check it out!
Also for humor, the Captain Underpants series. Sophomoric and might be more appealing to boys, but you never know. My son and I laughed with these books more than any others.
Have you tried non-fiction with her? You will be able to find books for that age on anything that interests her—animals, nature, ocean, stars/planets, sports, etc. My kids also loved perusing the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe It or Not books at that age----it’s not reading a story, but certainly counts as reading. Good luck.
@gouf78 I have not tried audio books. Its a good idea. I was hoping that seeing the book and hearing me read would help, but maybe just getting her used to listening to stories instead of seeing them on TV or on the computer might be helpful.
If your daughter likes the Frog and Toad books, she might also enjoy the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems. My kids both liked the Amelia Bedelia books and my daughter was a huge fan of the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. These might be a little beyond your daughter’s reading level, but are really fun to read aloud.
If your daughter likes the “Frog and Toad” books, have you looked at James Marshall’s “George and Martha” books? Same sly sense of humor, a little droll, a little sarcastic too. The reading level may be a tad higher than the Frog and Toad series, but not by much.
Young Cam Jamsen books (mysteries with a girl detective) are at level J and K, regular Cam Jamsens are Level L. The Level L books where my older son’s favorites when he was beginning to read chapter books.
My D’s who loved Frog & Toad did also love George & Martha. One of the first bigger books D21 read on her own was Ivy & Bean (I guess we liked books with &'s??) It is a series and looks like it is guided reading Level M. Ramona books came soon after and both girls loved them. Oh - and Junie B. Jones books too!
I think the first bigger books my son read was the Wimpy Kid series? They all loved Magic Tree House but I read those to them at night until they were ready to read them on their own.
