Recommendations for a good book series for dyslexic 10 year old boy

[Samiam]

I'm wanting to get a few books in a series for my DS10, for Christmas.   I think if I can find a good interesting series, he may just find he enjoys reading.

 

Things to know:

-DS10 is dyslexic and in just the past year as become an official "reader".  He  is just now reading the Grade 2 Busy Times reader in the Pathway readers.  So he is FAR from grade level...but he's improving.  He's chugging right along and in just the last week, I've started requiring my boys to read on their own for 30 minutes, and he's capable of doing this.   He's gotten up to page 94 in that Busy Times book, just this past week, having started in on Monday.   But he's not a reader by choice..meaning he doesn't read for the love of it, or ever choose to pick up a book for fun.

 

-Though I am anti-twaddle, I also know sometimes it's the twaddle that can first get a child to enjoy reading...and eventually you can move them onto good books.   I also HATE Magic Tree House...please do not recommend them.

 

I think I may get the first 3-4 in the Imagination Series for DS7 (he's reading almost at the same level as DS10 and does read for fun quite often).   This would probably be along the same reading level that DS10 could do, but I want to get him a different series (of course, they will end up both reading all the books, but as a gift, I don't want to get them the same series and have fighting over who gets to read what first).

 

-We have the Diary of the Wimpy Kids (he tried to read that, and quickly got "tired"..I guess it was above him for now) and Rotten School series (I actually haven't offered him to try these..I may do that this week)....both twaddley, I know, but these are what turned my oldest child in to a reader back in his younger days, and I was able to get him into good books....so again, I don't mind the battle, when I know I can win the war :).  But I'd prefer non-twaddle with maybe some educational mixed in if possible.

 

Any other series you'd recommend? Adventure, mystery...something that makes you want to turn to the next page.  

 

 

[Jaybee]

My son really likes the Tintin books and Calvin and Hobbes. He is also 10. He usually goes through and looks at all the pictures, then goes back and reads them. The previewing can be a good strategy for dyslexics. He did not like Magic Schoolhouse or any other series books either, other than these. 

[mumto2]

My dc's both enjoyed The Secrets of Droon series. Libraries frequently have it.

[ChristineP]

BTDT... My recommendation is to also give books on cd to listen to. It helps immensely with vocabulary and reading comprehension. The cd books should be more advanced and fit with what he can intellectually handle. I used the beg reader recs from chinaberry for my dd when I was looking for reading ideas.

[OneStepAtATime]

Jean in Newcastle has been using the books from High Noon with her dyslexic sons quite successfully.  I haven't used them personally, yet, but I am planning on it.  We are remediating with Barton and even Susan Barton recommends using these books after a certain Level in her program.  They are written at a lower reading level but higher content level, if that makes any sense.  On the website you can see where a book might be for, say, a 5th grader but the reading level is 2nd grade.  The book would be readable for someone who struggles in this area, but the content wouldn't be babyish for an older reader.  There are several series.  I don't know anything about the actual content and whether you would consider it "twaddle", but you might just look at the titles and see if anything looks like it might work.  They also have a reading remediation program and a spelling remediation program you can follow for more explicit assistance in these areas.  The link is below.  Have you read The Dyslexic Advantage by Brock and Fernette Eide or Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz?  Or even the Dyslexia Empowerment Plan by Ben Foss?

 

http://www.highnoonbooks.com/index-hnb.tpl

 

Oh, and I wholeheartedly agree with ChrisineP that giving them exposure to richer content they can listen to through audio cd or even better, using an electronic device like a Kindle that will highlight the text while the words are spoken is also really helpful.  They can be exposed to content at or a little above their intellectual abilities instead of only being exposed to reading material below their intellectual abilities.  We just bought a Kindle Fire for this purpose.  Unfortunately, we bought the smaller one and it does not have Immersion Reading yet, but it DOES have a much improved version of Text to Speech.

[City Mouse]

The only chapter book that my DS11 has read independently is Captain Underpants series. It is definitely not quality literature but he did read it. We do Bookshare for any novels for independent reading.

The other book that he reads is an WWE wrestling, but it is not a novel. It is a nonfiction broke with lost of pictures and facts about WWE. He will open into random pages and read snippets about the wrestlers.

 

Other books we do as read alouds or read togethers.

[AimeeM]

Hank Zipzer series.

Specifically written for dyslexic children by Henry Winkler (The Fonz) who is, himself, dyslexic. High interest but easy to read and larger print. It's a series. We have several - they're hilarious.

 

My overall advice is not to force feed classics or "good literature". It backfired for me. Once I finally said "whatever" and handed her "twaddle", she TOOK OFF. She still doesn't care much for classics, but because I let her get her fill of the books she does enjoy, and still NEVER tell her she can't read her twaddle, she doesn't balk at her teacher assigning Tom Sawyer.

[amazzie]

My dyslexic ten year old son enjoyed Encyclopedia Brown. Each chapter is a short story, so it's quick and painless. I think he's reading at a third grade level, though, so I'm not sure if it might be a tiny bit too hard for your son.

[Samiam]

Hank Zipzer series.

Specifically written for dyslexic children by Henry Winkler (The Fonz) who is, himself, dyslexic. High interest but easy to read and larger print. It's a series. We have several - they're hilarious.

 

  

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone!    

 

We do the audio books quite often, and I read aloud as part of our day everyday.    We have audio books that we listen to together, during our day (sometimes I need a break from reading aloud),and then I load his iPad with audio books too.  He does enjoy that, and that gives him the chance to hear books that are above his reading level. 

 

I just had a question about this Hank Zipzer series.  I looked that one up online and saw the sample, and it looked like alot of small print on a page...I know DS10 will immediately balk at that.   Perhaps that was just the Kindle version though?  Are the actual print books the ones with larger print?

[Samiam]

Oh, now I see the sample of the paperback of Hank Zipzer and yep, larger print...looks perfect for him!  

[Kareni]

I have no experience with dyslexia, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt.

 

I second the Calvin and Hobbes suggestion.

 

For high interest, you might take a look at Oh, Yuck! The Encyclopedia of Everything Nasty by Joy Masoff.  Everyone in my family (parents included) found this weirdly appealing (and appalling!)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Lecka]

I would consider comic books that have larger print. Tiny Titans, some D.C. Super Friends, some Batman (a newer one with a tv show). I flip through looking for the size of the font and the amount of text.

 

For my son -- what has helped most is having other kids be reading a series and he wants to read it also. It is very motivating for him. That is the only way he will at-all push himself on his own.

 

I also will read him these series so he can keep up, but see if he can read here and there. Sometimes books are just still too hard, and I don't push that -- I have found it not to work coming from me.

 

At this point -- I have reading I require and will help him with. If I want him to pick up a book -- it has to be pretty easy to him, or it has to be a popular series.

 

So basically -- comics or story books that I have around for the younger kids.

 

For a possible series: Bad Kitty, Droon, Animorphs (my son loves these, I have read him the first 10 or so with him taking turns), My Weird School, the little chapter books of the "from the black lagoon" books... He takes turns with Geronimo Stilton but would not read them by himself, they are a little hard.

[AimeeM]

Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone!    

 

We do the audio books quite often, and I read aloud as part of our day everyday.    We have audio books that we listen to together, during our day (sometimes I need a break from reading aloud),and then I load his iPad with audio books too.  He does enjoy that, and that gives him the chance to hear books that are above his reading level. 

 

I just had a question about this Hank Zipzer series.  I looked that one up online and saw the sample, and it looked like alot of small print on a page...I know DS10 will immediately balk at that.   Perhaps that was just the Kindle version though?  Are the actual print books the ones with larger print?

 

Our paperback Hank Zipzer books have much larger print than her "regular" books - the words are spaced better as well (more white on the page). My dyslexic dd (12) can't stand small print or cluttered pages.

[Haiku]

My DS is 10 and has language/processing deficits. Calvin and Hobbes is what turned him into a reader. He hates reading fiction chapter books, but he likes non-fiction. I suggest a subscription to Kids Discover magazine. Also, Yesterday's Classics has a lot of books that are chapters about various things, not a continuous story. My son likes Fifty Famous Stories Retold and its sequel. Oh, and he also really enjoys Horrible History and Horrible Science.