Wrangling Reluctant Readers--Part 3

Okay, so you have a child who is reluctant to read, and you've found some great resources to help them not HATE to read. That's certainly step one. The hard reality is that most required reading in school is fiction, and they have to read things they likely don't or won't want to read in order to get through the class. You need to get them to the point where they at least enjoy reading on some level in order for them to survive the required reading. So how do you bridge that gap?

For Reluctant Readers, the key is motivational material. I'm talking about books that are fun, quick, and sneakily get kids to read an actual chapter book, from beginning to end. The goal is to make readers comfortable and able to follow a narrative, understanding the critical steps that advance the plot, all without the readers realizing that's what they are doing. Here are some good examples of motivational books that are perfect for the 8-12 year age range--a critical time for sustaining good reading habits (and these are just a few!):

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Combination illustrated/chapter book)

The Magic Tree House

Dork Diaries (Combination illustrated/chapter book)

Junie B. Jones

Amulet (Graphic Novels)

39 Clues

Bad Guys

Infinity Ring

Goosebumps

Big Nate (Easy Reader, Chapter Book, Graphic Novel)

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Fancy Nancy

Nick & Tesla

Who Is...(Who Was... / Where Was… / What is…) (Nonfiction, biographies)*

I Survived...*

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales*

Note that the books I listed above are, for the most part, series books. Of course, there are motivational books that are stand-alone, such as Wonder, The Giver, and most anything by Judy Blume, Kate DiCamillo, Dan Gutman, and Beverly Cleary. I simply chose to go with these for this blog because most children get very attached to characters.

For those lovers of non-fiction that I mentioned earlier, the titles listed above that have an asterisk are good examples of either nonfiction books or fiction books based on real events or people. The I Survived... series is a fantastic example of one way that you can bridge the gap between fiction and non-fiction reading, and fits history in as well (your kids don’t have to know that!).

Okay. I'm going to deal with the elephant in the room right now.

Yes. Graphic novels and comic books are completely legitimate forms of reading and are an excellent choice for reluctant readers. They actually help readers become more comfortable with the very idea of chapter books and can encourage conversation about real-world experiences. They teach a reader how to follow a plotline from beginning to end, and they serve as a soft bridge into the world of chapter books by making books that are seemingly larger in size less intimidating by not having relentless pages of nothing but words (an important consideration for struggling readers). Additionally, graphic novels, while admittedly sitting at lower reading levels than chapter books, have been proven to contain approximately 70% more advanced vocabulary words than their chapter book counterparts. I will address this in more detail in a future post, but I'm going to leave it alone for now.

{Stepping down}

Other things to think about with reluctant readers--consider the format of the book you're asking your child to read. Books come in hardback, paperback, trade-paper (flexible covers that are larger than your traditional paperback books), digital (e-books), and audio formats. For reluctant readers, I highly recommend audiobooks and/or paperbacks.

Now, I know what you're going to say, and I feel you. I realize that kids are hard on books {Oof. That’s an understatement. A colleague on social media shared a picture she took of a returned book that had a taco-shaped grease stain in the middle of the book. Because the child who checked the book out of the school library had apparently decided to use a TACO for a BOOKMARK. True story.}

Yes, hardback books are more difficult to destroy than paperbacks (though neither form are going to withstand taco grease). However, the simple reality is that while hardback books are more resilient and do hold out longer, they are also more intimidating to reluctant readers. Kids who are already resistant to reading chapter books are going to have an easier time swallowing the idea of reading a thin, paperback copy of Mary Pope Osbourne's The Magic Treehouse series, than the much larger, though completely identical, hardback version. As a librarian, I'd rather have a shelf full of beat-up paperbacks than a bunch of hardbacks that are pristine and obviously untouched. Also, if it’s a series like The Magic Treehouse, then once the reader is invested in the series and sees that the hardback books are the exact same as the paperback, the fear has been overcome.

Books in audio formats are invaluable assets to those students who struggle with processing or cognitive disorders, visual disabilities (books in braille are difficult to come by for most libraries!), or students who just have a hard time navigating through words. I know at least four librarians who have dyslexia, and all of them have said the same thing about audiobooks. Listening to the book, while reading along with the audio, helps students follow along and become used to how words are ordered on the page. Plus, audiobooks are great options for long car rides!

So now it's your turn. What kind of things have you found to be helpful in encouraging reluctant readers?