Help topic - a child who hates reading

Personalized books for a child who hates reading

For the child who shuts the book on page two, and the parent who has tried every reward chart going.

You cannot make a child enjoy reading. Teresa Cremin, Professor of Education at the Open University, puts it exactly: we cannot require young people to read in their leisure time nor insist they enjoy it - we can only invite, inspire and engage them in reading for their own purposes. Which sounds like a dead end until you notice what it rules out and what it leaves. It rules out the sticker chart. What it leaves is interest, because choice and reader interest significantly enhance intrinsic motivation and engagement - and there is no subject a five-year-old is more interested in than themselves. Separately, Cunningham and colleagues found children as young as four remember material better when they have encoded it in relation to themselves rather than to another child. Put those together and a book with your child in it is not a cure for reluctance. It is the book with the best odds of being finished, which after eleven abandoned ones is a different and more useful thing.

What to look for

The hook has to be on page one

A reluctant reader gives a book about ninety seconds. The titles here start with something happening, not with a description of a meadow.

Their interest beats your reading level

A book about the thing they are obsessed with, slightly too hard, beats a perfectly levelled book about nothing they care about.

Finishing one book is the whole goal

Not a habit, not a love of literature. One book they got to the end of, so that the next one starts from a different place.

6 stories in a child who hates reading

See the whole collection
Superhero - personalized children's book coverLeo the SuperheroLoved

Your child discovers an extraordinary power - and an even bigger heart.

Ages 4-8

From $14.90
Pirate Adventure - personalized children's book coverCaptain Sam

Your child sets sail in search of hidden treasure, with a clever parrot as first mate.

Ages 4-8

From $14.90
My Robot Friend - personalized children's book coverRyan and the Robot

Your child builds a clunky little robot that beeps to life and becomes the best friend a kid could invent.

Ages 2-8

From $14.90
The Case of the Missing Cookie - personalized children's book coverDetective Ada

Your child follows the clues to crack the town's trickiest mystery.

Ages 4-8

From $14.90
Free preview before you pay Reading level set to their age during setup Ships straight to their door

Common questions

What are the best books for kids who hate reading?

The ones about something they already care about, short enough to finish, and with something happening immediately. Length and reading level matter far less than interest - choice and interest are what the research links to intrinsic motivation. A book the child is in has an unfair advantage on all three counts.

My son will not read anything. Is a personalized book actually different?

Sometimes, and we would rather be straight about why. It is not magic - it is that the subject is one he is unusually motivated by, and children remember and attend to self-referential material better than material about someone else. That improves the odds. It does not guarantee the outcome, and any company telling you otherwise is selling you something.

He is seven and still hates it. Is something wrong?

Not necessarily - plenty of children who read fluently still dislike reading, and that is a motivation question rather than a skill one. But if you suspect the reading itself is hard rather than boring, that is worth raising with school, because reluctance and difficulty look identical from the sofa.

Should I bribe him?

Rewards tend to work while the reward lasts and stop when it does, which is the problem with them. The better lever is the one you control anyway: what the book is about.

Other help topics

bravery (28)kindness (9)big feelings (12)bedtime fears (5)gratitude (5)making friends (4)a busy brain (6)

Browse by theme instead

adventure books for kidsbooks about big feelingsbooks for childhood milestonesfantasy and magic books for kidsbooks for birthdays and holidaysbedtime books for kids

Will it actually look like them?

  • Reference portrait: Deep brown skin, tightly coiled hair, age 5The illustrated character kept from it: Deep brown skin, tightly coiled hairDeep brown skin, tightly coiled hair
  • Reference portrait: Fine, fair, barely-there hair, age 1The illustrated character kept from it: Fine, fair, barely-there hairFine, fair, barely-there hair
  • Reference portrait: Straight black hair with a fringe, age 7The illustrated character kept from it: Straight black hair with a fringeStraight black hair with a fringe
  • Reference portrait: Curly ginger hair and freckles, age 4The illustrated character kept from it: Curly ginger hair and frecklesCurly ginger hair and freckles
  • Reference portrait: Round glasses, age 6The illustrated character kept from it: Round glassesRound glasses
  • Reference portrait: Long braids with beads, age 8The illustrated character kept from it: Long braids with beadsLong braids with beads
  • Reference portrait: A visible hearing aid, age 5The illustrated character kept from it: A visible hearing aidA visible hearing aid
  • Reference portrait: A baby with no hair, 6 monthsThe illustrated character kept from it: A baby with no hairA baby with no hair

Skin tone, hair texture and freckles all carried through - including the cases most generators get wrong. See it up close

See inside a finished bookWhat happens to the photoHow we compare

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Make them the hero of the story.

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