Recently Rob and I have noticed that our once keen 8 year old reader Daisy had started getting lazy. She was spending more time watching Merlin, than reading about him. Asking for picture books before bed rather than chapter books and generally just showing a lack of interest. For book lovers like us, it’s been hard to hear things like “reading is BORING” and “I hate reading” so I did what any Mum would do, I freaked out, panicked, overthought it while trying to act cool on the outside trying not to make a deal out of it. I also contacted my friend Megan from Children’s Book Daily for some help. I wanted to know if it was normal and for some suggestions to get back into the swing of things. She has delivered! For us all. Timely too given it’s Book Week. I can’t wait to get my paws on some of these for Daise and get that fire back in her literary belly. Thank you SO much Megan.
Happy Book Week readers! Beth and I were chatting recently about children’s book which is my favourite topic of conversation with anyone who will stand still long enough. She was asking for some book suggestions for Daisy, who is a keen reader of nonfiction. I work as a teacher librarian in a beautiful girls school (I often say I work in school heaven) and my 9-11 year old readers are the ones I find I have to keep the closest eye on. Life gets busy for our young people with homework and after school activities and around this middle/upper primary age group, reading for pleasure often declines.
It is also a really tricky age in terms of book choices as children begin their transition from younger reader books to more young adult books. I love it when the girls at school say to me ‘it’s such a shame you won’t have such-and-such a book in the library Mrs Daley, because you know we can cope with the ADULT CONTENT’. Some ten year old girls are still very happy reading the horrific colourful fairy books which I shall not name, while some young readers are really wanting to move into young adult literature with its mature themes– so there is a wide variety of reading ages and stages around the upper primary years.
I bore my students on a weekly basis with the importance of having a balanced literary diet and reading widely from a range of genres – even those they don’t necessarily enjoy at this stage. There is much research which tells us that children who read do better at school academically and socially. Fostering a lifelong love of reading is the number one way parents can support their children academically and while it’s not always an easy task, it pays dividends. Creating a home library of beautiful books for young readers, modelling a love of reading yourself, and even bribing your children to read (oh yes I said it) can keep reading momentum going when life starts to get busy and a little stressful for our young people.
If you do find that you have a child who has really stalled with their reading, I would highly recommend you try some of the following;
Sign them up to an online reading challenge like the MS Readathon or the Premier’s Reading Challenges in your state – there is nothing like a bit of pressure to read and the lure of a certificate and/or prizes;
Offer new books as a reward for tasks done or as end of school term gifts;
Browse blogs and book catalogues and let your child choose their reading material –then make a list and check them off. Everyone loves a list. Or is that just me?
Attend book launches, local library events, children’s literature festivals and book shops (which preferably also have good coffee). There is nothing like meeting an author to inspire reading. The power of literary events to improve reading interest blows me away time and time again.
Join a book club! I run a bookclub for 11 year old girls and their mum, grandma, aunt or older sister at my school. I run it like an adult bookclub – just without the wine. We read two novels per term, chosen because I know will be adored by the girls and their mothers. For many of my participants, it’s their favourite co-curricular activity (I have this vague idea to set up an online reading bookclub for young readers – but time and a safe online environment are hampering me!).
Some of these ideas might seem forced, even onerous, but if your child connects with some books they adore then they will be off and flying with their reading again. I promise you.
Below I’ve compiled some of my absolute favourite books of the past year for readers from 8/9-12 years old – I cannot recommend them highly enough. You can click through from title links to purchase from Booktopia*. There is enough here to see many readers through the next six to nine months!
Historical Australian Fiction
Historical fiction allows young readers to discover history through the eyes of (fictional) characters who lived it. Bringing history to life is the surest way to engage children in stories of the past; allowing them to experience the sights, sounds, tastes, smells and experiences of children just like them, but who lived in times long past. I have learnt more about history, particularly Australian history, from reading books aimed at ten year olds than I did in all my years at primary school. By glory – I even cried about Captain Cook’s goat – such is the power of Jackie French and her writing!
‘Our Australian Girl’ series
‘A New Australian’ series including ‘Bridget’, ‘Kerenza’ and ‘Sian’
‘My Australian Story’ series including ‘Surviving Sydney Cove’, ‘Escape from Cockatoo Island’ and ‘Convict Girl’
‘Birrung the Secret Friend’
The ‘Animals Stars’ series including ‘The Goat Who Sailed the World’ and ‘The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded’
Nonfiction
I am a huge fan of children reading for meaning and nonfiction texts are a sure-fire way to achieve this goal and they are an oft-forgotten part of a balanced literary diet. If you want to cook and eat, craft, garden, find a place on a map – you have to read the text kiddo. Have a child who’s a bit of a foodie? You can’t go past ‘Alice’s Food A-Z’. I know Beth is a huge fan of kids craft (she says tongue in cheek) – and I’m pretty sure the girls need ‘Create Your Dream Room’ as glitter, bunting and craft glue abound). Alternatively, save the morning hair battles and get your child ‘Hair Romance’ so they can learn to do their own hair (I live in hope). If you have a child who loves the outdoors, I love ‘Terrariums’ for creating miniature gardens or the fabulous ‘Chook Book’ for chicken families. Our feathered friends (the Mavis’s) were recently taken by a fox and ChickPea, four, is very much enjoying loudly announcing to people in the supermarket that are our chickens are DEAD and the fox left their feathers EVERYWHERE. Sigh. In 30 years of chook ownership I’ve never had a massacre like it. It’s also so great to introduce young readers to biographies and autobiographies at this age and the best one I’ve read of late is ‘Ugly’ by Robert Hoge – every child should read it!
‘Alice’s Food A-Z’
‘Hair Romance’
‘The Chook Book’
‘Create Your Dream Room’
‘Ugly’
Realistic Fiction
My favourite genre! Realistic fiction helps our young people to make connections with characters just like themselves, with stories which mirror their own or open their eyes to the myriad of people and experiences in the world. Meeting like-minded characters in books helps young people to feel not so alone in the world, and can help them to navigate their way through life – through watching the failures and successes of fictional characters who pave the way for them.
The ‘Kingdom of Silk’ series
‘The Worry Tree’
‘The New Boy’
‘Figgy in the World’
Samantha Wheeler books, particularly ‘Smooch and Rose’
‘Anti-Princess Club’ series
‘Plenty’
Humour
Too often adults dismiss humorous books as not quite as worthy as more ‘highbrow’ literary choices. Literaryt is great but, so is page after page of laughter over witty writing and words which make young souls smile from the inside out. Writers like Griffiths and Walliams, and many others throughout the history of children’s literature, have used their wit to entertain, heal with laughter, educate and turn young people into lifelong readers. I’ve written more about this here.
‘Gangsta Granny’
‘Demon Dentist’
’Treehouse’ series
‘Weirdo’ series
‘Eric Vale’ series
Fantasy
Escaping into an alternate universe, flying with fairies, sleeping with dragons and talking with elves. We all need to escape reality at times and the world of fantasy writing is a beautiful place to inhabit. We encourage our very young children to dream of fairies and slay dragons in picture books – yet as they hit the pre-teen years, many well-meaning adults shun fantasy for the young readers in their lives. The very complex worlds created by the best fantasy authors, the moral dilemmas, the characters who explore good and evil in the world; fantasy writing should not be passed over and indeed should be encouraged.
‘Star of Deltora’ series
‘The Key to Rondo’ series
‘The Red Wind’
‘The Impossible Quest’ series
‘The Locket of Dreams’
Mystery
My ideal Friday night is spent watching ABC Crime – Phryne Fischer, Miss Marple, Silent Witness…anything but Midsummer Murders. I’m no crime buff…I leave that to my dad who’s a professor in violent extremism and he knows who committed the crime pretty much before the show even starts. So fun to watch crime shows with dad #saidnooneever. Like many of us, children enjoy the escapism of mystery and crime fighting and there have been some fabulous books in this genre published in the last two years.
‘Kizmet’ series
‘Withering-by-Sea’
‘Alice Miranda’ series
‘Friday Barnes’ series
‘Truly Tan’ series
‘Daisy Malone and the Blue Glowing Stone’
Verse Novels
I’d love to say I’m a poetry buff – it adds a certain air of authority to one’s character does it not? Sadly I am not – in fact I struggle greatly with poetry. However – give me a verse novel and I’m a very happy little poetry buff indeed! Verse novels are a series of free verse poems which, when combined in order, create a narrative. Sounds bizarre – is brilliant and a very non-confronting way to introduce young readers to poetry. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I adore all the verse novels below. Each and every one is a work of art and have reduced me to tears.
‘Bully on the Bus’
‘Roses are Blue’
‘Toppling’
‘Do Wrong Ron’
‘Pookie Aleera is Not my Boyfriend’
Picture Books for Older Readers and Graphic Novels
These books use words and images to tell a story and in a world which is full of visual images, picture books and graphic novels should not be underestimated. They are a powerful tool for teaching our young people visual literacy skills and should be included in all reading piles. Picture books aren’t like the ones you and I read as children – they are now complex reads requiring an eager and switched on little mind. Graphic novels in particular have had a phenomenal rise in popularity and oh my glory – I just received ‘The BabySitters Club’ books as graphic novels – I KNOW!I can hardly contain my excitement.
‘The Nelly Gang’
‘The Unlikely Story of Bennelong and Phillip’
‘The Beach They Called Gallipoli’
‘Digger’
‘The Secret Lives of Princesses’ (not princess at all!)
‘Eerie Dearies’ 26 excuses to not go to school
*I support my local Indie bookshops where possible and use Booktopia for all online sales as it is 100% Australian owned and a member of the Australian Booksellers Association – tis like an Indie bookshop online. Purchases clicked through from affiliate links result in a small commission which is used in part to maintain Children’s Books Daily and then to support community groups which connect children with books such as the MS Readathon, Indigenous Literacy Foundation and World Vision.
Is this not THE best no nonsense and practical guide for books within this pre-teen age group? Share away friends – this is going to be my Birthday/Christmas list to pass on to all the Grandmas! Thank you SO much Megan for this epic answer and of course to know that this is a common problem for kids this age. Megan’s blog is an excellent resource for all things kids books make sure you check it out!
Happy Book Week everyone!
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