Early Readers with brasher topics?

[Laura]

My 5yo isn’t really taking much interest in reading. Based on the BOB books he’s getting through, he’s probably a Lexile BR150 or so. Like the second set of BOB books (orange box). But things that interest him are historical wars (revolutionary, civil, etc), bad guys, superheroes, dangerous situations that kids get out of, super silly ridiculous situations, spooky stuff, explosions…. All the stereotypically-boy-stuff. Most of the books for this age are much softer topics/plots and he’s just bored. It’s blocking him from progressing in reading. Any book suggestions for us?

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Fantastic question! Thank you!

Battle Bunny isn't a leveled reader, but otherwise it's exactly what he's interested in.

I'm sure have seen leveled readers about sharks, gross stuff, superheroes, ghosts, and even historical wars but I don't remember them. You could do a catalog search for them, and also for the Mexican wrestlers, Lucha Libre. because they're trending in some libraries.

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

We recently had a theme of graphic novel fractured fairy tales and many of those are pretty easy, and quite ridiculous, with kids saving the day. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/.... From that discussion I discovered I like the boy-friendly silly adventures of the Far Out Fairy Tales series, especially, for example, Beauty and the Dreaded Sea Beast: A Graphic Novel and Rapunzel vs. Frankenstein: A Graphic Novel.

Here's a Listopia for Passport to Reading level 2, not sure if that's the right level but there are others you can search for easier ones. One of the titles on that list, maybe for when he's a bit older, involves Captain America in the Civil War. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Ok, here's PtR level 1, where transformers show up: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[QNPoohBear]

He sounds like nephew #1. His favorite topic is zombies.
Save Your Brains!

He's still not a reader and has trouble reading in middle school. I keep trying any zombie books I can find.

The Bad Guys: Episode 1 seemed to interest him as well. He said his school had that one in first grade.

HotDog! I think I tried this one too, which he said the school had in second grade.

He was into the Dogman series for awhile too.

I WISH he'd be interested in historical wars! A series to get when your son is older Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. I tried One Dead Spy last year (11th birthday) and that seemed to excite him. I don't think he ever read it though. They're geared towards middle school boys and there's a lot of emphasis on blowing things up and dumb humor. Not for me but if it got my nephew reading and learning something I'll buy it.

[Beverly, former Miscellaneous Club host]

Laura wrote: "My 5yo isn’t really taking much interest in reading. Based on the BOB books he’s getting through, he’s probably a Lexile BR150 or so. Like the second set of BOB books (orange box). But things that ..."

Maybe he would be more interested in non-fiction books at his reading level? From your post, it sounds like he likes books about wars. Ask your local librarian if they have easy reading books in their children's non-fiction shelves. If your local library uses the Dewey Decimal system, you can look for books about the US civil and revolutionary wars in the 970s, and the world wars will be in the 940s. Also, check whatever easy reading section your library has and let your son browse for books that might interest him.

[QNPoohBear]

Beverly wrote: "Maybe he would be more interested in non-fiction books at his reading level? From your post, it sounds like he likes books about wars."

I tried non-fiction with nephew #2. I found Ranger Rick and National Geographic leveled readers. I didn't see any specifically on wars but there is a series on who would win Hammerhead vs. Bull Shark
Nephew #2, the nerdy one, liked that too and so did my dad, Mr. ADHD!

[Mimi]

Scholastic has a bunch of early readers in different levels featuring DC heroes, like this one on Batman :
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Or Black manta
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Most Lego Batman books are also suitable for early readers like this one
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

There's the Dc superpets series (which is a bit more difficult than the previous)
https://www.goodreads.com/series/6548...

Mercer Mayer's series on little critter offers funny, easy to read stories, and the LC series is geared towards more advanced early readers.

The Magic Schoolbus series has several titles geared towards beginning readers.

I need to look through my shelves, but I think I might have some more suggestions.

Can you name a book the little one liked, for more tailored suggestions?

[Mimi]

In non fiction, the history of fun stuff series
https://www.goodreads.com/series/1895...

And the civil war colouring book, combines facts with colouring pages
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

And Random House's step into reading series has a plethora of books both fiction and non-fiction, and most are of decent quality
https://www.rhcbooks.com/series/subse...

[Cheryl, Host of Miscellaneous and Newbery Clubs]

Mimi, thanks, those sound like a good fit, or at least a good place to start!