One of the top posts I see around the holidays are people asking for book recommendations for their kids. Anything from “something for my reluctant reader” to “something I can read to my five-year-old that isn’t as long as a dang Dr. Seuss book.”
Being a published author, I also get asked this question a lot in general for book recs for people’s kids and for themselves. Luckily not only do I read a lot, but I have two young kids who have given me the full, and sometimes gratifying experience, of weeding out the books I’m willing to read every night and the ones that end up in the donate pile.
- For the younger set. – Yummy, Yucky and Quiet, Loud by Leslie Patricelli.
I actually got these books as a baby shower gift from a writer group and they were some of the first things I started reading to my oldest daughter. With only about 12 pages total, they’re a quick read. Since they’re also really simple reads, both my children had these books memorized early on and were able to start reading them on their own to each other. This was a nice way to segue into them reading by themselves and getting into more complicated books.
- For the reluctant reader – Graphic novels
Graphic novels aren’t just the old X-men comic books that you would buy from the drugstore. Now they have them in all genres for all ages in full book format, not just a few pages of colorful illustrations. Though, they still have those, too!
But if you’re looking for something a little longer, start with the younger grade school set. My daughter who is in kindergarten started with the Bad Kitty books by Nick Bruel when she wanted to move onto chapter books. They’re not too long, the words aren’t too big, and there are lessons in each story that parents can subtly sneak into their kids.
For the grade school Scholastic book fair set, most kids want to spend all of their money their parents give them for books on pencils and posters. Instead of pointing them in the direction of the latest spy pens, show them the Captain Underpants and Babysitters Club graphic novels. They’re witty, funny, and short enough to still keep a kid’s attention.
As kids get older, and still reluctant, sometimes that takes a little bit more digging, especially the middle school and high school set. Luckily, a lot of my favorite fantasy novels, such as The Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown and the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordin, also now have graphic novel interpretations of their stories. You can convince your kids that if they read those books with you, then you can have a movie night catching up on the film adaptations.
Now that you’ve caught up, and they’re set with a book or two in their stockings, head over to maganvernon.com and check out some of my books to treat yourself: everything from free e-books, to $1.99 audiobooks, and even signed paperback orders.
Magan Vernon is the author of more than 20 novels, ranging from young adult fiction to contemporary romance. When not writing, she spends time with her kids in a suburb of Dallas, adopting too many dogs, and trying to read whenever she can.
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