A Parent of a 10-Year-Old Shares Books Their Child Loves Right Now

Mother of two Jennifer shares what her oldest, Mikaela, is reading — and how graphic novels helped her daughter fall in love with reading.

Dec 13, 2021

Age

10

A Parent of a 10-Year-Old Shares Books Their Child Loves Right Now

Dec 13, 2021

Every morning before school, 10-year-old Mikaela and her younger brother Brady, 7, grab a book before sitting down for breakfast at their home just outside of New York City. The pair are voracious readers who feed off one another, says their mother, Jennifer, who always finds her children eating with a book in hand before heading off to school, and then again at the dinner table. 

“When there’s a new book that comes out that they get excited about, they’ll pick it up and read every minute they can until they’re done — and sometimes even at bed,” she says.

Jennifer often takes Mikaela to bookstores to browse the latest titles so she can pick out new books to take home. Mikaela also discovers new books through Scholastic Book Clubs, choosing from flyers her teachers send home. And of course, her friends, classmates, and teachers are always sharing and recommending new reading adventures for Mikaela to embark on.

“Mikaela has always really loved graphic novels,” says Jennifer. “That’s the thing that I think got her hooked out of the gate.”

Here are some of Mikaela’s favorite books right now.

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Character-driven stories for 10-year-olds

Mikaela is a huge fan of graphic novels that are a little scary. So, it’s no surprise that the soon-to-be 11-year-old fell in love with Goosebumps (which includes both chapter books and graphic novels) at a young age, fueling her passion for reading and leading her to discover new graphic novels with compelling characters she can relate to.

She especially loves the graphic novels by New York Times-bestselling author Raina Telgemeier, who eloquently illustrates stories from her own life to connect with children just like Mikaela.

“She kind of falls in love with the characters and she wants to keep going with it,” says Jennifer. “And I think that’s the magic of reading — that feeling that you’re not even reading.”

Graphic novels from the new The Baby-Sitters Club series are another favorite that really prove how magical reading can be for kids like Mikaela. She’s always quick to grab the latest release, but Mikaela hasn’t yet discovered the classic stories that were a favorite of her mother.

“The Baby-Sitters Club books were the ones I really loved as a kid,” says Jennifer. 

A series siblings love

While Mikaela also has a deep connection to characters from The Baby-Sitters Club, Invisible Emmie, and Adventures from the Land of Stories, there’s one character who has been a constant companion — Greg Heffley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

She’s even passed down her love for the series to her younger brother, Brady, who started flipping through the books on his own as a kindergartner. Now that he’s in second grade, he can’t put the books down, either.

“They have a certain ironic humor that hits on multiple levels,” says Jennifer. “They’re both getting different things out of the book, which is nice.”

But when they get their hands on a new release like Diary of a Wimpy Kid #16: Big Shot, there’s no sharing between the siblings.

“They had to have their own copies and were emphatic about it,” says Jennifer.

Encourage a love of reading with help from our guide, which includes book recommendations by interest, tips for getting your child to read for fun, story books to read for kids, and much more.

Shop more popular titles for ages 7-10 below! You can find all books and activities at The Scholastic Store.

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