What Else Can Kids Read? 7 Reading Ideas Beyond Chapter Books

Think beyond chapter books when asking your kids to read. Chapter books are just one of the many reading options. Here are seven more reading ideas to entice your kids into more and more reading.

7 Reading Ideas Beyond Chapter Books

1. Magazines

I’ve stopped all my magazine subscriptions just in time for my kids to ramp up. They love American Girl, Discovery Girls, Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse. One of their favorite things in magazines is to take the (totally ridiculous) quizzes. Reading is reading!

Discover the best magazine subscriptions for kids ages 3 to 13!

2. Nonfiction

When we saw the musical “Wicked” this summer, I bought the huge tome all about the production and the story. It’s already provided hours of reading engagement for my daughter.

Get fantastic nonfiction book ideas here.

3. Poetry

My kids LOVE the cat poetry book, I Could Pee on This : And Other Poems By Cats. (There are two questionable poems which they just skip over. They both know what is an isn’t appropriate for them.)

Also, try I’ve Lost My Hippopotamus by Jack Prelutsky Firefly July edited by Paul B. Janeczko, and Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.

Song lyrics count as poetry, too. Look up song lyrics — I guarantee they’re great conversation starters. (Or stoppers, depending!)

More poetry book suggestions here.

4. Graphic novels count, too!

We love graphic novels — how about your family?

Find graphic novel recommendations for kids here.

5. Picture Books

Most picture books (not all!) are written at an upper elementary level of vocabulary. Not only are picture books rich with word choice, but they’re also short gems filled with incredible stories and life lessons.

All picture book reviews here.

The funniest picture books here.

6. The Newspaper

Does anyone even get the newspaper anymore? Comment and let me know!

A few years ago, our daughter saw the headline about McDonald’s in the newspaper’s Op-Ed section, read the editorial, and had a lot of questions about it. I loved that she read a story that looked interesting to her and I especially loved that she wanted to understand it better.

We normally don’t get the paper but occasionally do. And leave it lying around for kid discovery. (Well, that wasn’t intentional but it’s a good idea for the future!)

Pull out the Arts & Entertainment, Sports, Comics, or Opinion sections for your kids. What will they like?

7. Activity books