Helping Reluctant Readers: What to Try When a Child Says They Hate Reading

“I hate reading” is one of the most worrying things a parent can hear, and one of the most common. It rarely means what it says. Usually it means “reading is hard for me right now,” or “the books I’ve been given are boring,” or “reading has become something I’m judged on.” Each of those has a different answer.

This guide is about working out which one you’re dealing with, and what to try next.

First, separate “won’t” from “can’t”

Some children can read well and simply prefer to do other things. Others avoid reading because it is genuinely difficult, and avoidance protects them from feeling bad. From the outside, the two can look the same: groaning, stalling, “losing” the library book.

A few gentle observations can help you tell them apart:

• Does the child enjoy being read to? A child who loves listening to stories but avoids reading alone may be struggling with the mechanics of reading rather than with books themselves.
• How do they handle text in daily life? Do they read signs, menus, game instructions, captions? Or do they ask others to read those for them?
• How does reading aloud sound? Is it slow and effortful? Do they guess at words from the first letter or the picture?
• Do they understand what they read? Ask casually afterwards: “What happened in that chapter?”
• What does the teacher see? A child’s teacher sees them read in a different setting, alongside other children their age.

If a child reads comfortably but doesn’t choose to, the rest of this guide — choice, interest, pressure — is where to focus. If reading itself seems hard, keep reading this guide too, but also read the section below on talking to the school.

Hand over the choice

Children who have little say in what they read often decide they don’t like reading. Giving real choice — including choices an adult might not make — is one of the most reliable ways to change that.

• Let them pick at the library or bookstore, even if the pick seems too easy, too silly or not “real” reading.
• Start from their interests, not the book. A child obsessed with sharks, soccer, video games or detectives can almost always find a book about it. The book finder can help you search by topic.
• Let them abandon books. Adults stop reading books they don’t enjoy. Children should be allowed to, too. “This one isn’t for you right now? Let’s find another.”
• Offer a small menu. “Do you want to try this mystery, this funny one, or this one about basketball?” Choosing among three is easier than facing a whole shelf.

Formats that often win over reluctant readers

Graphic novels

Graphic novels are real reading. They demand that readers follow a story across words and pictures, track characters and infer what happens between panels. For many reluctant readers they are the door back in.

• Smile by Raina Telgemeier — the author’s own story of a sixth-grade dental accident, years of braces and shifting friendships — is one that many upper-elementary readers pass around and reread.
• New Kid by Jerry Craft follows a would-be art student through seventh grade at a mostly white private school; the jokes keep pages turning while the book says something real.
• El Deafo by Cece Bell turns a childhood hearing loss — and a bulky hearing aid she imagines as a superpower — into a funny, frank memoir.

See graphic novels for kids and the graphic novels topic page for many more.

Verse novels

Novels in verse have lots of white space on the page and move quickly. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander moves at the pace of a basketball game, and its rhythm often wins over sports fans who say they don’t like reading. Our guide to verse novels for young readers has more.

Humor

Funny books make reading feel like a treat rather than a task. For younger readers, My Friend Is Sad (an Elephant & Piggie book) is built from speech bubbles and can be read aloud in two voices. Mercy Watson to the Rescue — a toast-loving pig who saves the day by accident — reads fast, with short chapters and plenty of color illustrations. For older readers, Flora & Ulysses, with its comic-panel sections, and Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire, a light, funny mystery, are worth trying.

Series

A series removes the effort of starting over. Once a child knows the characters and the pattern, each new book feels easier. Dinosaurs Before Dark, the first Magic Tree House book, has helped many children become independent readers. If one book in a series lands, get the next one before the first is finished.

Nonfiction

Some children who resist stories love facts. Biographies, animal books, sports books, how-things-work books, record books — all of it counts. Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? is one entry in a long series of short, illustrated biographies that many children read on their own. See our nonfiction topic page.

Take the pressure down

Pressure is often the hidden reason a child stops reading for fun. Some changes that help:

• Separate pleasure reading from homework reading. If a school requires logs or minutes, try to keep a different time and space for reading that isn’t counted.
• Avoid using reading as punishment, or screens as the reward for reading. Both send the message that reading is the unpleasant thing.
• Keep reading aloud. Reading aloud to a reluctant reader keeps stories enjoyable while their own skills catch up. It also exposes them to books they couldn’t yet manage alone. A layered novel like Holes, with its interwoven timelines, can be a shared read even if a child wouldn’t tackle it independently.
• Try audiobooks. Listening to a book is a legitimate way to enjoy stories, and following along in a print copy at the same time works for some children.
• Notice and name progress without over-praising. “You read that whole chapter on your own” is better than an effusive reward that makes reading feel like a performance.

What to say when a child says “I hate reading”:

“That’s okay to feel. I think maybe we haven’t found the right books for you yet. What’s something you’d want to read about if you could pick anything?”

Or, for a child who seems to be struggling:

“Reading feels really hard sometimes, doesn’t it? That’s not because you’re not smart. Let’s figure out what would help.”

When to talk to the teacher

Talk to your child’s teacher if you’re unsure whether the reluctance is “won’t” or “can’t.” Useful questions:

• “How does my child’s reading compare with what you’d expect at this point in the year?”
• “What do you notice when they read aloud in class?”
• “Do they understand what they read?”
• “Is there anything we should do at home, or anything we should stop doing?”

Signs that a reading difficulty might be worth evaluating

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development lists possible signs of a reading disorder, including:

• problems sounding out words
• difficulty recognizing the sounds that letters make
• poor spelling
• slow reading
• trouble reading aloud with expression
• problems understanding what was just read

It notes that people often have different combinations of these. None of them alone means a child has a reading disorder — children learn at different rates — but persistent difficulty is worth raising.

Providers usually use a series of tests to diagnose a reading disorder. In the United States, parents have the right under federal special education law (IDEA) to ask the school to evaluate their child, and that evaluation is free. The Center for Parent Information and Resources offers a model letter for making the request, and each state has a Parent Training and Information Center that can help families understand the process.

If you have concerns, raise them early. Waiting to see whether a child “grows out of it” can mean months of discouragement.

A reading life is built slowly

Most reluctant readers don’t change overnight. What usually works is a steady combination: books they choose, formats that feel manageable, adults who keep reading aloud, and no shame about where they’re starting. For more ideas, see choosing just-right books, books for ages 6 to 8 and books for ages 9 to 12. Every child’s path is different, and what matters is that they keep finding reasons to come back to books.