(no subject)

[the_rck]

I'm looking for book recommendations for Delia. I'm making up her Christmas wishlist now, and I'd like to put a few books on it.

She loves the Harry Potter books and will read them voluntarily. So far, they're the only books that have gotten her that excited. Other books, she'll read a chapter of and give up. She's rejected the Oz books and the Chronicles of Narnia. She liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when we read it to her (she even read ahead) but didn't like Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. She likes Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume (the younger books) when we read the books to her but won't read them herself unless assigned them for school.

She doesn't deal well with books that have parents dying or appearing to die on screen. We couldn't read her The Secret Garden because of that (we haven't tried skipping the first chapter).

Delia seems to like the idea of reading better than actually reading. She checks out a lot of books from the library that she simply doesn't touch. She reads well but not fast.

Anyway, books like the Harry Potter books seem to be the way to go. What's out there to coax a reluctant reader?

Comments

[lauredhel]

Do they need to be novels? The Lad is very enamoured of the -Ology books. They lure the reluctant reader in with lots of bits and pieces (envelopes to open, fold-out bits, embedded dragon skin, and so on), but there is a fair bit of reading there that they can pick up bit by bit as well. Wizardology and Dragonology would be the obvious place to start, but there are plenty of others.

Also, you could try the How To Train Your Dragon series. Fast paced and plenty of illustrations.

Do you know what it is about the Harry Potter series that she particularly likes? The wizarding, the boarding school setting, something else?

[the_rck]

I'll see if the library has any of the -Ology books. I'm not sure whether or not they'd interest her. She seems to be after story.

She says she likes the adventure of the Harry Potter books.

[lauredhel]

I'm not sure how old she is/her reading level, but I just romped my way through Leviathan/Behemoth/Goliath, and loved it. I think the pacy adventure side of it would still work without much knowledge of the history (it's WWI alt-U). And it's got lots of glorious imaginary steampunk science!

[the_rck]

Delia is eight. I think Leviathan is still a bit beyond what I want to throw at her. Our library shelves it as a 'teen' book. I do have it on my list of things I plan to try myself.

[lauredhel]

Enjoy! The Lad is nine, and I'm thinking of giving it to him next birthday (his Xmas bookpile is faaaar too big already). Everyone knows their own child best.