Books To Encourage Reluctant And Less Confident Readers aged 6-8+

When your child first learns to read it's easy to become excited about all of the books you can share with them, but some children take longer than others to become confident readers. It can easily be a couple of years before you move from books which are mainly illustration with a few words on each page, through to big books with pages entirely full of text.

While one of my younger boys leapt off into the world of books, his younger brother just hasn't had that confidence. I've put together a few ideas for anyone who wants to encourage their children through this stage and build their skills and speed without making reading become a chore.

Monstar Makes A Wish

We love the Orion Books Early Readers, and I can proudly say they have helped my 6 year old learn to read, and my 4 year old is now beginning to join in with looking at the words and deciphering a few for himself.

Monstar Makes A Wish is the 3rd Monstar book we've read, and it's another fun story featuring the two children Jon and Jen, and their fluffy pet Monstar. Written by Steve Cole and illustrated by Pete Williamson, it's light-hearted and exciting, and has more than a little dash of fantasy and ridiculousness.

Horrid Henry's Christmas Lunch Review

Sadly this isn't a review of a Christmas dinner, although I'm sure a lot of you would be delighted at the prospect of not having to cook one! Horrid Henry's Christmas Lunch, as written by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross, is one of the latest releases from Orion books.

Horrid Henry's Christmas Lunch is a Red Band Early Reader, and ideal for those who are starting to read independently. My 6 year old can just about read this to himself, and the format is perfect for him with wide spacing, easy and repetitive langauge, and plenty of great illustrations.

Algy's Amazing Adventures In Space from Orion Children's Books (Early Reader)

Algy's Amazing Adventures In Space is written by Kaye Umansky and illustrated by Richard Watson, and  is one of the latest releases from Orion Children's Books. It's an Early Reader in the Red Band, suitable for children who are beginning to try and work out trickier words. 

This isn't our first book about Algy and his friends Cherry and Brad, we read Algy's Amazing Adventures at Sea last month, and when my 4 and 5 year old boys saw this book they were really excited. Algy has very good adventures. 

This child chose his own bedding. He's colour-blind, he likes patterns!

Algy is a regular boy living an ordinary life and the book starts with his Mum trying to get him to clean his room. It's only when he goes down to his shed and moved the loose plank at the back that it all changes....

Behind the loose plank lies another world, and but what world they will find is always a surprise for Algy, Cherry and Brad. This is very 'Mr Ben with a shed'. It has a familiar, nostalgic feel. The illustrations are friendly and modern and in fact I like them more than the previous book, they're more settled and natural.

This time they find space behind the loose plank - a distant strange world and they float out to explore. We were unsure where their helmets came from - and if they'd explode with the pressure because they were wearing regular clothes. There's lots to talk about and much discussion to be had around this book.

This is a proper book with 74 pages split into 6 chapters. The chapters are fairly short and just the right size for a new reader to read before they begin to flag. It has challenging words and my Reception Class 5 year old would be too frustrated to read it alone, although after a read through with me he is happy to re-read by himself.

The text is large and well-spaced out, with not too many lines on a page. It's not an intimidating book and I think makes an excellent addition to the Orion Children's Books Early Reader range. Algy is very likeable, his adventures are fun, and my boys would be more than happy to find out where he and his friends go next!

Algy's Amazing Adventures In Space has an RRP of £4.99, and is available at a bookshop near you.

We've been lucky enough to review a few Early Readers and other children's stories for Orion Books. All of my reviews can be found here on this page.

We were sent our copy of Algy's Amazing Adventures In Space for review.

Lottie And Dottie Sow Carrots Early Reader Book Review

Lottie And Dottie Sow Carrots is our latest from the Orion Books Early Readers in the blue band. The Early Readers are available in two bands. Blue band is for children who are ready to join in reading and following words with another person, and red band is for children who are more confident to read alone.

Lottie And Dottie Sow Carrots is written by Claire Burgess (of the fabulous gardening blog Claire's Allotment) and illustrated by Marijke van Veldhoven. I wasn't sure from the title how my 4 and 5 year old boys would react.

Actually, it turns out this is possibly our favourite book so far! It has mild peril and excitement and it's written mainly in dialogue between the 2 sisters, which means reading is really exciting with all the intonation and animation in the voices.

The story is the tale of 2 sisters who sow some carrots, but it's so beautifully written and informative that it genuinely fascinated my little boys. The illustrations are lovely and the characters have very sweet expressive faces, with the little sister always looking inquisitive and a little worried until the end.

This is a great book, and afterwards your child will understand a lot more about gardening and growing plants, or they will have had that knowledge reinforced without even realising. I'd heartily recommend it.

Lottie And Dottie Sow Carrots has an RRP of £4.99 and is published by Orion Books.

All of my book reviews can be found here.

We were sent our Lottie and Dottie book for review.

Monstar Finds A Home Early Reader Book Review

Monstar Finds A Home is this month's new release from Orion Books in the red Early Reader range for children aged around 5+. Written by Steve Cole and illustrated by Pete Williamson, it's a 72 page story about a fluffy green pet belonging to 2 children called Jon and Jen.

The red Early Readers are designed especially for children who might still want to read with someone else, but are beginning to feel confident and can work out words alone. They're the next step along from blue Early Reader books which are designed to be read together with a brand new reader.

My son is 5 1/2 and he's pretty good with the blue band books now and can work out most of the text that he hasn't already learnt, so the obvious step is to try red band.

The obvious differences are that this red Early Reader is laid out more like a standard book with chapters, there is more text on each page and longer and trickier words throughout, with less repetition than is found in blue Early Readers.

My son spotted the difference immediately and was a bit daunted by this book at first, but after we'd sat and read a page or two he was happier when his turn came to read as he'd realised it's just the same as his other books, only slightly more of it.

The story is a simple and fairly daft one. The two children Jon and Jen have mad scientist parents who have promised they can have a pet, so they make them one - Monstar.

Somewhat as you'd expect things don't entirely go to plan and it's Monstar who saves the day.

My 4 and 5 year old boys enjoyed this story and thought it was very funny. They liked the character Monstar - although they were stunned when they fond out she was female, which led to a big discussion about monsters and aliens not always being boys! .

Monstar Finds A Home is published by Orion Books and has an RRP of £4.99, Monstar The Superhero is also available.

Chocolate Porridge from Orion Books Early Readers.

We really do love these Early Readers from Orion Books. It's lovely watching my 5 year old gain confidence as he progresses each month. The stories are lovely and interesting and the layout is incredibly user-friendly for a new reader.

This month we're reviewing Chocolate Porridge, which is a Blue Early Reader for reading together, written by Margaret Mahy and illustrated by Terry Milne. My reception class 5 year old is now at the stage where we can both read as a team, and by half way through this book he could certainly recognise the word 'chocolate' without any help!

The story is a very sweet one about a younger brother who wants to join in helping his Mum and big sisters in the kitchen, but he is packed off to play alone and he does his baking with mud outside. My children are delighted with this book as it's a funny story and the characters look like people in our family - it's amused them greatly!

As with all of the Early Readers there is a lot of repetition of words and sounds, and the language is clear and simple. This book actually has quite a few tricky words and a couple of unfamiliar phrases, so it stretches your child's vocabulary as well as helping them learn to read.

Chocolate Porridge is a proper book with 60 pages. It has a recommended retail price of £4.99.

We've reviewed some other Early Readers from Orion Books and the reviews can be found by clicking the following links:

Horrid Henry's Christmas Play and Horrid Henry's Royal Riot
The Little Nut Tree
Mondays At Monster School
The Dragon's Dentist

The Dragon's Dentist from Orion Books Early Readers

The Dragon's Dentist is an Early Reader from Orion Books. It's in the Blue Band, so it's designed for reading together with your child with lots of repetition and short sentences. Written by John McLay, it's illustrated by Martin Brown, who also illustrates Horrible Histories books.

This is a proper book with chapters and 76 full colour pages. The illustrations are great with plenty of facial expression.

It tells the story of Harry, who is the smallest in his family and the only one who isn't a knight. He wants to be a knight and prove himself, so he sets off with his horse 'Oats' to slay a dragon.

The story really appeals to youngsters because they feel they can relate to the characters. It's a great little tale and my boys really enjoyed it. My 5 year old really did 'read it with me'. He also read it in bed to himself  for a while and the next day when we read at bedtime he proudly told me all the words he'd been able to work out for himself.

The Dragon's Dentist is published by Orion Books
and has a recommended retail price of £4.99.

We were sent our copy of the book to review.

Half Term Holiday Activities To Keep Children's Brains Active

I think younger children who attend school and nursery really benefit from being encouraged to carry on reading and writing during the holidays because they're at the age where a week off is a very long time and can put them a step back.

We've 4 boys, and we've 3 girls - when they were younger the girls would happily colour and write and draw, whereas the boys think of the whole thing as 'work' and none of them, however different they are, have ever really taken joy from sitting for long with workbooks. It's always a challenge to find things that they're happy to do to keep them on track through the holidays, so here are a few of my ideas.

Printables

Holiday Cottages have a 3 free printable games that you can use to keep the kids entertained whether at home or out and about - Roadside Bingo, a Countryside Treasure Hunt and a Beach Treasure Hunt. You can download them here.

Tiny Me, the people who made our lovely wall stickers, have a great range of free printable activities for any occasion, and can certainly give your children a few hours entertainment making masks and door hangers and all kinds of things. Their printables can be found here. 

Games and Puzzles

Spending time playing games with your children is an excellent way to bond and make memories as well as reinforce learning about numbers and counting, turn-taking, being a good loser and honing fine motor skills. I very well remember playing Monopoly with my Father when he was off work and hopefully my children will remember playing games with me. 

Some of our most favourite games for younger children are Orchard Toys games, with Round And Round (age 3+) and Counting Caterpillars (age 3+) being great examples. For older children we like Drumond Parks Wordsearch Junior (4+) and The Magic Tooth Fairy Game (5+).

Reading Books Together

There is no better way to get a child interested in reading than to read with them and it doesn't have to be a purely bedtime activity. When your children are driving you bats, fighting or tearing about the house like madmen, 10 minutes quiet reading time can make all the difference. We love the Early Readers from Orion Books because it really is a team effort to read along with my 5 year old, with my 3 year old watching, listening and learning.

Cooking And Baking

All children love baking with adults, and it can be a super simple no bake like our Rocky Road, or something more complex like making their own pizzas for tea. Of course cookies and cakes are always popular too. It's fantastic for learning about all kinds of things - nutrition, science, weights and measurements, colour mixing, different cultures and even history. There are loads of excellent ideas on the Pinterest UK Official Cooking With Kids board.

Museums And Libraries 

 Libraries and most museums are free to visit and they're absolutely crammed full of interesting stuff to stimulate children and adults. They go to huge effort to lay on extra activities during the school holidays. We recently visited the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, who have a week of activities around Spies, Disguise and Ways To Hide - with a special focus on animals role in war time.

Screen Time

Screen time doesn't have to be mindlessly beating up aliens or racing round a track, it can be a fantastic tool for learning and keeping your brain working, and it's a brilliant reward or a break for a child who has been a star.

Heroes Of The City

Books that have accompanying apps. like Heroes Of The City (age 2+) or Robotslayer (age 5+) encourage reading and puzzle solving. Heroes Of The City has free levels and films to watch and The Robotslayer app. is totally free for half term week on IOS - you can download it here.

Online educational products are fun as well as teaching tools and your child will be learning without even realising as they play games and solve puzzles. We're particularly fond of Reading Eggs and there is a code for a free 4 week trial on my review page.

Lego

Build something together. Start a project. Stretch your own and your child's imagination. Build on fine motor skills and design ideas, problem-solving and logic skills. Create something you can be proud of. Playing isn't just for kids, adults need a break too....

Enjoy your break, and enjoy spending quality time with your children....

I was not paid to promote any of these things, I do so because I feel they have value. I did not accept payment for reviews or links, although I may have previously received an item or experience free for review.

The Little Nut Tree ~ An Early Reader from Orion Books

The Little Nut Tree by Sally Gardner is the latest in the Blue Early Readers series from Orion Books - for sharing and reading together.

Based on the nursery rhyme of the same name, it tells the story of a young girl who receives the tree for her birthday. The tree bears fruit and when word gets out about her amazing plant even royalty want to come and see it.

When we first started reviewing the Orion Books Early Readers a couple of months ago our reception class 5 year old could only pick out a few words,  but now he can really make a good effort to read them together with me.

There is a lot of repetition, few words on each page and the illustrations are really depictive, so The Little Nut Tree isn't intimidating for a newer reader.

I really like the quirkiness of this book. The starring character has her hair in a crazy Bjork style and seems to skip everywhere. The King Of Spain's Daughter wears a stunning little frock and every character has a different shape of nose. Nothing is boring about this book and it held the attention of my 3 year old throughout.

The Little Nut Tree is published by Orion Books and has 62 pages. It has an RRP of £4.99. Orion Books have a large range of Blue Early Readers for reading together, and Red Early Readers for a child ready to move on to the next step of reading the book without needing much help.

We were sent this book for review.