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Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

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Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#11

Post by tsycho »

octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

I agree, and have the same problem.

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

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#12

Post by grepLeigh »

octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

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.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#13

Post by barfbagginus »

RecycledEle wrote: post #9

When you can read for fun, it's fun. When your teacher criticizes you for not reading the boring book he/she ordered you to read, you stop enjoying reading and stop reading. It's the teachers' faults.

Not sure about that. I would read for fun instead of reading the assigned reading. The teacher would get mad. I'd continue to ignore them and continue reading my book.

So you can't just blame the teacher. If the books give you something essential, you'll turn to them to escape a harsh reality.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#14

Post by octobus2021 »

tsycho wrote: post #11
octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

I agree, and have the same problem. What books did you end up liking for 9 year olds?

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?

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#15

Post by octobus2021 »

grepLeigh wrote: post #12
octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

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 You…

(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...

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#16

Post by octobus2021 »

animal531 wrote: post #3

I think the big problem with reading is that it's much slower compared to other media. Add in the fact that you can also only read for so long before your eyes get tired and then people just naturally veer away from it.

I disagree with "much slower" but I do agree that it's different. It's not about having tired eyes (what do you use to watch videos?), it's about shortening attention span (you get bored and want to switch to something else). Long attention span is good, short attention span is bad. This is why reading books (long form) is better than reading Twitter or Instagram (short form). And this is why getting kids to continue to read is important.

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#17

Post by pomian »

octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

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!

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#18

Post by octobus2021 »

pomian wrote: post #17
octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

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 k…

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 :)

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#19

Post by sn9 »

octobus2021 wrote: post #14
tsycho wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, and have the same problem. What books did you end up liking for 9 year olds?

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 (ju…

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.)

Re: Book people think they know why 9-year-olds stop reading for fun

#20

Post by squigz »

octobus2021 wrote: post #10

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 real…

> 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...

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