As far back as I can remember, I loved to read. I remember reading in Kindergarten, elementary school and beyond and just loving books. Judy Blume was my inappropriate author choice in elementary school and thanks to an older cousin, by middle school, I was reading Judith Krantz and Danielle Steel. (Probably with many a shocked look on my face at the R rated scenes!)
My reading choices weren’t always quality reading but reading was easy and I loved to do it.
This has not been the case with my 3rd grade son. From the time we started learning how to read, it’s been a frustration. While we’ve tested him and found he doesn’t have any particular challenge, he’s a left-brained analytical thinker who would rather build an incredible structure out of Legos than read a book.
But this fall, his teacher plotted out a chart for him that he has to fill out with 15 minutes of reading each night. He started off very begrudgingly. He’s not one to ever miss homework or anything a teacher says, so while he always did his 15 minutes, he didn’t enjoy it.
But recently, the tides have turned and he’s not only reading his 15 minutes – he asks to stay up later to finish books and he’s excited about what he’s reading.
Here’s 8books he’s read over the last few months that he’s loved. Not only does he love them but he then goes on to tell everyone all about them. Note the non-fiction theme. I think sometimes it’s a matter of finding what they love! I also think these Step 4 & 5 books are appealing to him because he can read them in a night. It’s like a little novella for him 😉
Would love to hear any other suggestions you guys out there might have!
Pompeii, Buried Alive! $3.52 on Amazon
Did you know they found fully intact eggs that were preserved by ash? (I found this out from Nate of course)
The Trojan Horse, $3.52 on Amazon
The Great Houdini, $3.79 on Amazon
Who was Babe Ruth, $4.49 on Amazon
Who was King Tut, $4.49 on Amazon
mom-mom says
February 22, 2013 at 7:54 amExciting to hear about LB’s newly discovered pleasure in reading- especially the non -fiction territory.
We had the Pompeii exhibit here at our museum a few months ago- too bad we could not have coodinated a visit.
Next time. They always have wonderful exhibits-currently the Dead Sea scrolls. Remarkable stuff.
When/if you are in Florida next, try to arrange a visit to NASA- since one of the books read was about the first trip to the moon!. . your local museums must have wonderful permanent collections and rotating exhibits to match books he has read or is reading currently as well- always fun this way to underrline the adventures read about.
Reading is so enjoyable- more than any tv or movie ,for sure!
Brenda says
February 22, 2013 at 9:03 amThat’s great to hear. I’ll bet he would love discs from Netflix that would interest him…Plenty of them available on Roman History, Pompeii, Historical heroes and so on!!!
ClassyMommy says
February 22, 2013 at 4:49 pmThese are awesome suggestions. Thank you! Kenzie love the facts book too – we have the Moon one but she will love some of the others on this list – I’m going to order Pompeii now!
Whitney Wingerd says
February 22, 2013 at 8:56 pmColleen – I got some of these ideas after I ordered the Bigfoot one you recommended! He still hasn’t read that one yet but it’s on his stack of to-be-read books! He LOVED the Pompeii one… the Trojan Horse one too~!
Amy from Resourceful Mommy says
February 25, 2013 at 9:25 amThank you for writing this! We’ve been getting Noah tons of sports magazines for kids and even allowing him to count reading stats on his NFL calendar as reading. We’re always looking for actual books that will draw him in. Love this!
Melanie says
September 16, 2016 at 2:27 pmInteresting post. My oldest son also wasn’t excited to read. Around the third grade we also discovered he liked fact books much more than fiction. We also had him tested by the school because reading was such a chore no matter how much daily practice he did. The school district found nothing in their testing but I knew something wasn’t right. I ended up getting private testing done and found out he had moderate to severe dyslexia. Now with the proper tutoring and accommodations my son is finally enjoying reading! I just throw this out there to let parents in similar situations know not to wait. If your child struggles with reading do some research on dyslexia and get them tested. 1 in 5 people have it.
Emily says
October 27, 2018 at 7:35 pmThank you so much for these suggestions. I have not been impressed with some of the books my 2nd grade son has brought home from the school library. It seems we are resorting to potty humor to get boys interested in reading. No thank you! I was just thinking I’d love to find some adventure books that would keep him interested & these look perfect! Thank you!