That was the only series that got my daughter interested in reading. Seriously, I couldn’t get her to do it until she found those books. She eventually discovered other books in all genres on her own. She’s 16 now and does well academically. Don’t worry about it.

My boys (7 and 10) absolutely adore Calvin & Hobbes. There’s actually some decent vocabulary in it and they will binge it with same enthusiasm as the younger does with My Weird School, etc.

The 10 year old got really into Harry Potter and then Percy Jackson and now reads anything he can get his hands on.

Cool pictures make a difference though — Harry Potter was better with the big, heavy, expensive (sorry), illustrated versions. And I truly think Calvin and Hobbes triggered for them because of the pictures.

I think you just foster the muscle until it clicks for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate it when teachers and other parents shrug it off "at least he's reading something." I mean, some of us want our children to strive for better things. I say this as the parent of a kid who only reads some other dumb book series. I feel ya, OP.

I’m with PP and regularly suggest things, but my kids only take the bait maybe 50% of the time. And I’m completely fine with that because they also request weekly trips to the library and regularly spend their own money on books. They’ll move past Big Nate eventually.

It’s a long game. I read plenty of garbage as a kid and ended up with a Master’s in English and published books.

Big deal