When connecting with books, most kids look for a character they identify with or aim to be. Images help to tell the stories, and so does the first-person point of view. Reading a story from a child’s point of view makes kids feel a closer part of the book, and the fiction genre’s subcategory of Journal-themed books helps kids related on an even closer level: the narrator is bringing the reader their innermost thoughts and secrets.
Many of the books listed below mix reading and illustrations, some more heavily towards reading, others rely on images to tell the story. Most of the books are rated for elementary children, but be sure to note the recommended age prior to purchasing.
Note while nearly all of these books are available for digital download, not all books will work on every e-reader. We’re a family of Kindles and have found the books with more illustrations do not work well on the lesser Kindles. If you have a tablet-like reader (Kindle Fire, Nook HD, or a tablet like an iPad, Galaxy, Yoga, or others, with a reader-app), downloads should be fine. Of course, the hard- or paper-back book will always work well.)
A new genre that kids love reading: Journal-themed books
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
- The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
- The Notebook of Doom #1: Rise of the Balloon Goons
- Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (Dear Dumb Diary, No. 1)
- My Life as a Book
- Rumblewick’s Diary #1: My Unwilling Witch Goes to Ballet School
- Lucy Rose: Big on Plans
- Journal of a Schoolyard Bully: Cyberbully
- Big Nate: In a Class by Himself