Our top five types of books for struggling readers
Our top five types of books for struggling readers
When you find something particularly challenging, it can be hard to keep up with motivation to try and try again. The same can be said for little ones on their reading journey. While reading widely to and with your child is key, choosing texts that focus on their interests and passions, there are also some particularly great texts that work well for little ones struggling to decode and segment new words. In this post, we’re breaking down the best books for dyslexic children - to uplift and bring confidence to readers who may find their favourite books harder.
Barrington Stoke Books
Barrington Stoke is a fantastic publisher specialising in producing dyslexia friendly children’s books. Their slogan ‘every child can be a reader’ really summarises their mission: to publish engaging books in a format that makes reading more accessible and digestible for children who struggle with traditional texts. Barrington Stoke books avoid white paper with overt contrast as well as using a specially designed, dyslexia friendly font, to maximise the reading potential of its customers. We’ve spotted many familiar traditional stories like Little Women, as well as texts from a variety of different genres. You are sure to find a book that suits the taste of the growing reader in your life!
Red Squirrel Picture Books
Picture books are a wonderful tool for children of all abilities - but richly illustrated books featuring diverse characters can be brilliant for younger readers. Red Squirrel Picture Books are a subset of Barrington Stoke, and cover texts with well laid out fonts and illustrations. These not only support dyslexic children but also dyslexic parents who may need a more easily accessible text without complicated fonts or illustrations covering up wording. All I Said Was by Michael Mopurgo and Ross Collins is a great example here.
Highly illustrated books for older readers
For some developing readers, a blank page of text can feel incredibly daunting. With that in mind, many children love getting into heavily illustrated books that are still aimed at older children. A few good examples include the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney and the Tom Gates series by Liz Pichon - who is dyslexic herself.
Books with dyslexic protagonists
Sometimes seeing yourself in the pages of a book does far more than any set storyline could! We love seeing books written for children with a dyslexic main character to normalise this very common specific learning difficulty. For younger children, Aaron Slater, Illustrator by David Roberts should go down a storm. Dr Dyslexia Dude by Dr Shawn Robinson will work well for graphic novel lovers, while Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff and Percy Jackson by Rick Riorden will do well for older children and teens.
Non fiction books about dyslexia
Developing readers might enjoy reading more in depth about their learning differences to help inform them and give them self knowledge - whether they have undertaken a dyslexia assessment or dyslexia test, or not. Xtraordinary People: Made by Dyslexia by Kate Griggs and Steven Woods would work well here, while The Map Challenge: A Book About Dyslexia by Tracy Packiam Alloway and Ana Sanfelippo is a lovely picture book for younger readers.
