[octobus2021]

Don't know why this is on HN but anyways.

My youngest will be 9 soon. Finding books for him is pain. I started trying more in the last few weeks, grabbing more or less random things from my local library (beginning chapter books, chapter books). Most of them are series, he liked a few (Galaxy Zack, Time Jumpers, Desmond Cole books), did not like others (Magic Tree House, something called Byte, Code Breakers, and really anything else I gave him). He mostly outgrew Geronimo Stilton books.

They do have book fairs at school and we always go, but we rarely buy anything as it's mostly gifts. We're trying to get book from libraries as opposed to buy them.

They do have an awesome library at school and he spends a few hours per week there and I see that he's taking some books from there, but it's mostly Captain Underpants, Stick Dog, and other comics.

I absolutely DESPISE Dan Pilkey's books (Captain Underpants and Stick Dog) as well as My Weird School (and other Dan Gutman's products), they really dumb things down and basically lead kids away from "regular" (ie long-form) books. I my opinion they can lead to behavior issues in kids, however it's possible that kids simply start reading them during that period when hormones start kicking in.

I have a bunch of books from DK Publishing (coffee table encyclopedias) and leave them an frequented areas of the house, and notice that kids check them up every once in a while, at least that's something. They are designed for people with decreased attention span, if you want to learn about a subject, you read a page or two and you're good.

My older kids stopped reading a lot around that time (~10yo), mostly after reading My Weird School and Captain Underpants and similar crap.

Older kids did go through the entire Lemony Snicket series though (way before NetFlix series came up) so that's something.

My 8yo has an iPad from school (we were forced to get one from school when he did kindergarten remote) but his time is very strictly controlled, and it's only for studying (no games). He does have access to an old XBox but only on weekends and for a limited time. He will not have a smart phone for a long time, that's where we lost our older kids (around 13).

So yeah, it's a major problem...

[coldtea]

>Don't know why this is on HN but anyways

Well, for starters because HN is not just for programming and startups, things are on HN because they're upvoted (or sometime because it's some YC promotion), and anything that tingles our intellectual curiosity will do (it's even in the site's guidelines).

[pomian]

From personal experience I think don't rush it and worry about it. Reading gets more fun - perhaps because it is more of an individual understanding - (you read alone and to yourself), after grade 4 even better - grade 5 and 6. I would suggest some 'classic' adventure stories: most books by Andre Norton - the time trader series for example; Jim kjergaard - Big Red, later on Zane Grey. Good luck. Have fun with those kids!

[octobus2021]

My 8yo partially dislikes Geronimo Stilton books because they're "too old" (they started in 2000s and are now mostly done publishing the new ones). The books you mentioned were from mid-20th century :)

[grepLeigh]

Some of these might be less interesting to a boy at that age, but here are the books/authors I loved around 9 (lots of talking animals, magic, and adventure/detective plots):

Garth Nix Sharon Creech Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Jane Yolan David Clement-Davies E. L. Konigsburg Louis Sachar Avi Brian Jacques Louise Erdich Edward Bloor Susan Fletcher "Reader Beware, You Choose the Scare" Goosebumps (like Choose Your Own Adventure but more modern at the time).

I grew into the kind of avid reader that still reads 50+ books a year. My Mom didn't try to control what I read, even if it was complete junk.

I also adored fact books like the coffee tables you mentioned. I remember having a pulpy "100,000 weird facts" book, both covers torn off because it was used so much. This was before Wikipedia.

[octobus2021]

(I'm going to assume you meant "interesting to a boy as opposed to a girl". If I'm incorrect my apologies).

I only have boys so do not have personal experience but I read/heard that girls do and will continue to read more than boys at any age, and the gap is getting worse starting around that time (7-8-9). I do think that some books are directed at girls, but I do see a lot of books directed at boys too (though not recently, Hardy Boys was a loooong time ago). It's just boys are less interested regardless. Not really sure what to do about that honestly...

[gwbas1c]

Consider an activity that requires reading. For example, my 8-year-old plays "Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom," which involves a lot of reading. She gets stuck and then Googles hints.

Remember: All children are different. I have 3 kids, and their interest level and approach to reading is very different. My oldest loved being read to starting around 6 months, and we started getting into chapter books when she was 5-6. My other two wouldn't sit still for books until around 18 months, and my almost-6-year-old doesn't have the attention span for a chapter book.

[wiredfool]

Look at Ursula Vernon/T Kingfisher (at least the kid/YA focused ones). Danny Dragonbreath might be the right age range for the youngest (text + cartoon), and Minor Mage, Illuminations and Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking would be slightly older (chapter book level).

I'd hold off on the fairy tale (dark. weird) and romance ones (paladins) for a few years yet...

Mine have gone through Paolini (Eragon), Sanderson (all of them. damn he writes a lot), Wings of Fire (Tui Sutherland -- Cute, chapters, skews younger)., Scott Westerfield (Leviathian).

[bart_spoon]

I think I got into reading the most when I hit about 3rd or 4th grade. I think 8-9 years is when the reading possibilities really open up for kids. Its around that time I and many of my friends got into Redwall and Animorphs, and within a few years Harry Potter and books like the Black Cauldron.

[hjej]

If it's painful to you, you're doing it wrong. At 8 you should get him to the library and let him chose himself what books he wants to read. Also, you don't have to like the books he choses. You despising his book choice is irrelevant.

[octobus2021]

If I just let him do what he wants he just plays on iPads or computers in the library (iPads have bunch of games installed, computers do not have games but you can obviously play Web-based stuff etc). He doesn't care much about books unfortunately. It's my job as a parent to make sure he does read something (I'm trying to find something he likes and something that's more of a long form as opposed to a comic). I do realize that the more I pressure him the less he likes it but I'm doing my best to find balance.

As for choice of books, both Dan Pilkey and Dan Gutman are considered controversial authors and a lot of parents feel uneasy about their kids reading their books. Check parents' reviews on goodreads or any other site, you'll find plenty of negative reviews, it's not just me.

[skeaker]

I won't stand for Pilkey slander. I have worked in education. His books are certainly silly, but they are indeed a very functional gateway to get kids to enjoy reading on their own. Yes, they are immature, they are for kids. No, they won't make your kids into delinquents, especially not if they get your kids to read a lot more than they would have. I think it's important to show kids that reading doesn't have to be all textbooks and dry academics, it can be fun and enjoyable, because why would they ever read of their own volition if by their perception it isn't fun at all?

[piva00]

From reading reviews of Dav Pilkey's books in Goodreads I didn't see anything like you describe, is it getting banned by the same fundamentalist Christian parents attacking public libraries in the USA or something?

Reviews are pretty good, most books hover on 4+ ratings.

[squigz]

> My older kids stopped reading a lot around that time (~10yo), mostly after reading My Weird School and Captain Underpants and similar crap.

Have you considered just being happy your kids are reading stuff they enjoy? If I picked up on this sort of thing from my parents, I probably would have been less inclined to read myself...

[tsycho]

I agree, and have the same problem.

What books did you end up liking for 9 year olds?

[octobus2021]

Just as I said, Galaxy Zack series (he must have been 7 at the time though), Time Jumpers (fairly recently, there's only 4 of them and I don't know if the author will write more), Desmond Cole (about ghosts). But that's pretty much all for the last 1+ years... I'm trying some of the "Scooby-Doo" books, not comics but regular chapter books, and he seems to read them at least. I'm going to try more "grown up" books (just picked up Class Dismissed, it's a winner of some prize or whatever), we'll see how it goes.

But it's honestly really frustrating. I'm older (grew up in the 80s) and we read MUCH more, and I think it's important.

Do you know of any resources/discussions I can look up/participate in?

[sn9]

Mensa surprisingly has some good age-appropriate book lists linked at the bottom of this page: https://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/

(At that age, I was a huge Animorphs fan, but some parents might not be comfortable with the violence and gore.)

[octobus2021]

I had no idea Mensa did this, I will give this a try. I'm not sure he's up to all of these, but we'll try and see.

[392]

When I was that age I read basically nothing but Hardy Boys books. Also Alex Rider books and Harry Potter, all out of order.