When I first became a Mom I had no expectations of who my child would become.
But I secretly hoped I would have a serious reader on my hands.
When he finds a book he loves, he dives in deep. But his personality most often has him reaching for silly comics, or books far below his reading level.
I know I should be happy that he wants to read at all, and I am, but I also want to see him push himself in this area because I know he can handle it and I know he would benefit from it.
Enter audio books.
We listen to them in the car, and this ensures a captive audience. We are reading titles that are long, and that might normally intimidate him in paperback. Plus, I love that we can enjoy them together. It has really changed his reading habits, and I am thankful that I can expose him to some different titles without making a huge deal out of it.
OUR FAVOURITES
We have a few series that we keep turning back to, despite the idiocy of Percy Jackson.
Percy Jackson - Greek mythology + teenagers. Oh man, Percy Jackson is a big dummy, and if it weren't for his clever (girl)friend, he would have died in book one. (Gee, why does that sound familiar...?....)
Harry Potter - Dude has watched the first three movies, but we just started the first book. And so far it's a hit!
Deltora Quest - We discovered this series a few years ago, and it was the first audiobook that Dude & I listened to together.
Rangers Apprentice - This is another series that we found a few years ago. The first few books were excellent, but we had to stop at #5 because the boring factor increased by eleventy billion. I found a "prequel" series that I am excited to try next.
Warriors - I grabbed this one for Dude one year because the characters are all cats, and he loves cats. These ones are his chosen picks for school reading, and he just blows through them.
If you too have a young reader in your life, I would love to hear about some of your favourites, either to read together, or titles that you think Dude might enjoy on his own.
xo
FURTHER READING
In my 2018 Book List, I have been specifically noting which audio books Lucas & I are reading together.
Be prepared for his reading to suddenly get super interesting. Middle School was where I found Morgan was asking for more suggestions and for me to make book lists. He loved feeling like he was reading things that he could have adult convos about.
ReplyDelete“Wonder” and “Augie and Me” both by R.J. Palacio are cool and reflective. Great conversations happened during reading.
Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, by Stephan PastIs - also cool. A graphic novel!
Tea soon?
Xo