Reading for pleasure when your child says they hate books

When a child says they hate reading, they usually mean they hate feeling slow. The goal is not a classic novel — it is any book they finish.

Match the difficulty, not the age

A child reading comfortably at age nine should read books aimed at nine-year-olds, even if they are twelve. Nothing kills the habit faster than a book just out of reach.

Offer formats

Comics, graphic novels, non-fiction, magazines, audio alongside text. Every one of these builds vocabulary and stamina.

Three reliable entry points

• Short and funny. Humour buys goodwill on hard pages.
• A series. Returning to familiar characters is easier than starting fresh.
• Chosen by them. Ten minutes in a bookshop is the best reading intervention there is.

Read aloud together at bedtime, at any age — it builds every single one of these skills.