From a dad who has heard that line approximately 4,000 times.
My son announced last week that he hates reading, which is interesting because he was in the middle of a graphic novel at the time and had been laughing out loud for twenty minutes. What he actually hates is the idea of reading — the homework smell of it, the sitting-still requirement, the fact that everyone keeps telling him it's good for him like it's a vitamin. So here's what I've learned: you don't argue. You just leave certain books around the house like landmines. Short chapters. Lots of pictures. Jokes that land. A hero who does not want to read the assigned book either. These eight have survived contact with both my kids, including the one who swears reading is boring.
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A cop gets grafted onto a dog after an explosion and becomes a crime-fighting hero who still chases squirrels. Dav Pilkey draws this like a second-grader on purpose — wobbly lines, misspelled villain signs, flip-o-rama pages you actually flip. It's a gateway drug.
Pick this one if they think books are boring and serious.
Thirteen-year-old Jack survives the monster apocalypse by fortifying a tree house, driving a zombie-plowing car, and not doing homework because there are no more teachers. Brallier writes like a kid telling a story too fast, and every chapter has comic-style illustrations.
Pick this one if they want zombies, not feelings.
Li'l Petey starts a comic club for baby frogs who make their own terrible, wonderful comics inside the book you're reading. It's a book about making books, which somehow works, and the frogs' comics are genuinely funny-bad in the way kid art is.
Pick this one if they'd rather draw than read.
Robot wakes up on a wilderness island with no memory and no instructions. She learns to speak Goose, adopts an orphaned gosling, and survives a winter that should kill her. Peter Brown writes short chapters with huge stakes and illustrations every few pages.
Pick this one if they like robots more than people.
A narwhal and a jellyfish are best friends in the ocean. That's it. That's the whole elevator pitch. Ben Clanton draws them with maximum charm and minimal dialogue — this is a graphic novel for kids who don't want to read paragraphs yet.
Pick this one if they need a book with training wheels.
A silver-haired robot boy crashes into D.J.'s backyard with no memory and a monster problem. Judd Winick writes this like a Saturday morning cartoon — fast cuts, big action, funny enough that my son has reread it four times without being asked.
Pick this one if they want a comic that moves like a movie.
Jordan's the new kid at a fancy private school where he's one of the few Black students, and he just wants to draw comics and not code-switch every conversation. Jerry Craft draws this with warmth and zero preachiness — it's funny and real and my daughter read it in one sitting.
Pick this one if they'll read it if it's a graphic novel.
Brian Skerry spent his career photographing sharks underwater, and this book is two hundred pages of the evidence. Great whites breaching, hammerheads hunting, a two-page spread of a shark's open mouth. My son doesn't think he likes reading, but he'll read this for an hour.
Pick this one if they only read about things with teeth.
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Open the book finder →Millennial dad in the PNW. Reading aloud with my daughter (8) and son (4). Honest takes on the books we actually read at bedtime.
About me →And refuses to read anything else, ever.
No refunds. (Including one you've never heard of.)
On the hundredth reading of the week.
Yes, even the new episodes haven't been enough.
Every curated list in one place.
