1st grader only wants to read dogman

[Anonymous]

My son was the same way!! Goal—keep his love of reading intact. He’s 10 now and reads EVERYTHING. Don’t stress.

[Anonymous]

Dogman, Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Jedi Academy were pretty much it for a while. He also wound up liking the Reina Telgemaier books (“Smile”) as a seven year old boy.

A lot of kids have troubles switching to books without accompanying images. For some reason, my son would read Roald Dahl.

Let him read what he enjoys.

[Anonymous]

Thats fine as long as he's reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dogman, Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Jedi Academy were pretty much it for a while. He also wound up liking the Reina Telgemaier books (“Smile”) as a seven year old boy.

A lot of kids have troubles switching to books without accompanying images. For some reason, my son would read Roald Dahl.

Let him read what he enjoys.

My DD, now fourth grade, was really into graphic novels until last year -- would hardly read anything with traditional text. It got to the point it concerned me, even though teachers said her reading level was good.

This year, it's like a switch flipped and big text-heavy books are no problem. She loved Land of Stories and the Candymakers and the Mysterious Benedict Society.

So another vote for just let them read what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader also reads well above grade level and loves reading Dogman books. They are below his reading level but these are the books that got him to voluntarily choose to read on his own, without any prompting from me and outside of designated reading time. He's always been a strong reader but I never saw him CHOOSE to reading as an activity to pass the time (rather than play) until we got these books. I am not about to discourage this by telling him he needs to be reading something else.

We read a wider variety of books together every night and I always choose books for him to read aloud that are a bit above his reading level so that he can continue improving.

Who assessed his reading level? Dogman is a DRA level 38. I doubt any teacher assessed him past that. They will usually only go to 28 max in 1st grade. Your own assessment doesn’t count.

[Anonymous]

Dog Man is excellent. They get more of the jokes every time they re-read it. Enjoy the quiet and let your child self-soothe in a healthy way.

[Anonymous]

You might try Geronimo Stilton. It also has lots of images.

My 1st grader loooooves Dragon Masters. It's a quick and easy read.

[Anonymous]

My 3rd grader was the same way at that age, with Dog Man. She still gravitates to mainly graphic novels, but has expanded. Let him read what he wants and don't stress. He enjoys reading and that's what's important. PPs have offered some similar series for branching out, but if he only wants to read Dog Man, so be it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't make this a thing unless you want to incite him to rebel against your reading suggestions. Let his reading be a personal choice just like yours is.

Exactly. I’m an elementary teacher and my son also only read Dog Man in 1st grade. Now in 2nd he keeps rereading the Diary of a Wimpy kid series over and over. He has access to a lot more books, but chooses those. I really don’t care because—he’s reading and he enjoys it. That’s the goal.

[Anonymous]

My DS is the same- I now have him read Dogman aloud to me at bedtime. They are pretty funny, and each time he reads he gets better inflection and enjoys them more.

They are like the comfort food of books for my boy.

[Anonymous]

My first grader and 3rd grader love DogMan. They are both strong readers but go back to DogMan over and over. I'd just let him read what he wants to read. My first grader only started reading novels on his own a few months ago, even though he has been a strong reader for over a year now. What worked with both of my kids at this age was to read to them a book that piques their interest so much that they want to "read ahead" of where we stopped together. For my oldest, the book that set her off on her reading journey was Bunnicula. For my youngest (current 1st grader) that book was Harry Potter.

[Anonymous]

PP here - by the way, Bunnicula is an amazing book. A favorite from my childhood - anyone else love this back as much as me (and my oldest, who had the biggest smile on her face when she finished it and said it was the best book she ever read - my heart exploded!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader also reads well above grade level and loves reading Dogman books. They are below his reading level but these are the books that got him to voluntarily choose to read on his own, without any prompting from me and outside of designated reading time. He's always been a strong reader but I never saw him CHOOSE to reading as an activity to pass the time (rather than play) until we got these books. I am not about to discourage this by telling him he needs to be reading something else.

We read a wider variety of books together every night and I always choose books for him to read aloud that are a bit above his reading level so that he can continue improving.

Who assessed his reading level? Dogman is a DRA level 38. I doubt any teacher assessed him past that. They will usually only go to 28 max in 1st grade. Your own assessment doesn’t count.

This is a strange point to focus on but if you must know his teachers assessed his reading level. I have no idea what level Dogman is but he can read all of them very easily. We read the entire series together and he he whipped right through them. When I said these books are below his reading level I simply meant they are too easy for him.

[Anonymous]

Librarian here. Read books TO him that are meaningful to you. And then let him read Dog Man. Have you read any of them? They’re very clever. There’s a moment in Lord of the Fleas that echoes the so-called Paradoxical Commandments https://www.paradoxicalcommandments.com/mother-teresa-connection/

“The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway... What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.”

[Anonymous]

Agree with 13 story treehouse