Reluctant readers (Tamariki).

Struggling to get into reading? Check out this amazing selection of chapter books that is bound to turn the reluctant reader into a well renowned bibilophile!

Updated August 20, 2024
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The strange case of Origami Yoda
Angleberger, Tom.
Paper Book
In this funny, uncannily wise portrait of the dynamics of a sixth-grade class and of the greatness that sometimes comes in unlikely packages, Dwight, a loser, talks to his classmates via an origami finger puppet of Yoda. If that weren't strange enough, the puppet is uncannily wise and prescient....
The one and only Ivan
Applegate, K. A.
Paper Book
Bestselling Katherine Applegate, author of the popular Roscoe Riley Rules series, presents an unforgettable and uplifting tween animal fantasy that explores the power of friendship, art, and hope with humor and touching poignancy.
Tales of a fourth grade nothing
Blume, Judy
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestselling author's first book in her classic Fudge series. "As a kid, Judy Blume was my favorite author, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was my favorite book."--Jeff Kinney, author of the bestselling Wimpy Kid series ...
Invisible Stanley
Brown, Jeff
Paper Book
Stanley, flat again
Brown, Jeff
Paper Book
Is Stanley flat again!? Stanley Lambchop has had his share of unusual adventures. But being flat was one thing he thought he was through with forever. Then one morning, he discovers he was wrong. Still, there is so much that a boy who is only one inch thick can do that a round...
Land of Stories: the Enchantress Returns
Colfer, Chris
Paper Book
After decades of hiding, the evil Enchantress who cursed Sleeping Beauty is back with a vengeance. Alex and Conner Bailey have not been back to the magical Land of Stories since their adventures in The Wishing Spell ended. But one night, they learn the famed Enchantress...
A Grimm warning
Colfer, Chris
Paper Book
In the third book in the New York Times bestselling series by Chris Colfer, the Brothers Grimm have a warning for the Land of Stories. Conner Bailey thinks his fairy-tale adventures are behind him--until he discovers a mysterious clue left by the famous Brothers Grimm....
The wishing spell
Colfer, Chris
Paper Book
The first book in Chris Colfer's #1 New York Times bestselling series The Land of Stories about two siblings who fall into a fairy-tale world! Alex and Conner Bailey's world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely combines our modern day world with...
Matilda
Dahl, Roald
Paper Book
The classic story from Roald Dahl, about an exceptional young girl with extraordinary powers. Adapted into a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and a Netflix film! Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be...
The twits
Dahl, Roald
Paper Book
"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it looks so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it." How do you outwit a Twit? Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the smelliest, ugliest...
Bink & Gollie, best friends forever
DiCamillo, Kate.
Paper Book
All righty, then! Celebrate the tall and short of a marvelous friendship with this Bink and Gollie adventure. Gollie is quite sure she has royal blood in her veins, but can Bink survive her friend's queenly airs -- especially if pancakes are not part of the deal? Bink wonders...
Bink and Gollie
DiCamillo, Kate.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award! In a brilliant collaboration, best-selling authors Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, along with acclaimed illustrator Tony Fucile, introduce an outrageously funny pair of friends. Meet Bink and Gollie, two precocious little girls --...
Even weirder!
Do, Anh
Paper Book
From bestselling author Anh Do comes the hilarious hit chapter book series, WeirDo. These illustrated books will keep readers laughing as Weir and his friends navigate the trials of elementary school.Weir's back and even weirder!But it's not just Weir who's weird, it's his whole family. Not...
WeirDo
Do, Anh
Paper Book
From bestselling author Anh Do comes the hilarious hit chapter book series, WeirDo. These illustrated books will keep readers laughing as Weir and his friends navigate the trials of elementary school.Meet Weir Do.No, that's not a typo, that's his name!Weir Do's the new kid in school. With an...
Harriet the spy
Fitzhugh, Louise
CD
It's no secret that Harriet the Spy is a timeless classic that kids will love! Every day can be an adventure if you just look carefully enough! Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best...
Fortunately, the milk
Gaiman, Neil
Paper Book
An absolute delight of a madcap story for the young (and young-at-heart) by New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with equal parts pirates and piranhas, adventure and aliens, oddity and love. "I bought the milk," said my father. "I walked out of the corner shop...
The 13-story treehouse
Griffiths, Andy
Paper Book
Andy and Terry live in a treehouse. But it's not just any old treehouse, it's the most amazing treehouse in the world! This treehouse has thirteen stories, a bowling alley, a see-through swimming pool, a secret underground laboratory, and a marshmallow machine that follows you around...
The 26-story treehouse
Griffiths, Andy
Paper Book
Andy and Terry live in a 26-story treehouse. (It used to be 13 stories, but they've expanded.) It has a bumper car rink, a skate ramp, an antigravity chamber, an ice cream parlor with 78 flavors, and the Maze of Doom--a maze so complicated that nobody who has gone in has ever come out again. Well...
Diary of a wimpy kid : Greg Heffley's journal
Kinney, Jeff
Paper Book
Boys don't keep diaries--or do they? The launch of an exciting and innovatively illustrated new series narrated by an unforgettable kid every family can relate to It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where...
Double down
Kinney, Jeff
Paper Book
The pressure's really piling up on Greg Heffley. His mom thinks video games are turning his brain to mush, so she wants her son to put down the controller and explore his "creative side."   As if that's not scary enough, Halloween's just around the corner and the...
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Konigsburg, E. L.
Paper Book
When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation.  And she would live in comfort-at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  She invited her brother Jamie to go, too, mostly because he was a miser and would...
Stink : the incredible shrinking kid
McDonald, Megan.
Paper Book
In honor of Judy Moody's younger "bother," the creators of the award-winning series have put themselves in a very Stink-y mood — proving, once and for all, that you're only as short as you feel. Shrink, shrank, shrunk! Every morning, Judy Moody measures Stink...
Dinosaurs before dark
Osborne, Mary Pope
Paper Book
Where did the magic tree house come from? Before Jack and Anie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them back to the prehistoric past. Now can they do it before dark... or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?
Mummies in the morning
Osborne, Mary Pope.
Paper Book
Jack and Annie find themselves whisked away to ancient Egypt, where they come face to face with a dead queen--and her 1,000-year-old mummy!
Wonder
Palacio, R. J
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Millions of people have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face--who shows us that kindness brings us together no matter how far apart we are. Read the book that inspired the Choose Kind...
Big Nate : in a class by himself
Peirce, Lincoln.
Paper Book
Now an animated series from Paramount + & Nickelodeon! For fans of the hilarious Diary of a Wimpy Kid series: Get ready to meet Big Nate! In the very first novel in the New York Times bestselling series, Big Nate is in a class by himself! Nate knows he's meant for big...
Big Nate strikes again
Peirce, Lincoln.
Paper Book
Now an animated series from Paramount + & Nickelodeon! For fans of Jeff Kinney and Raina Telgemeier, here comes the second novel in the New York Times bestselling Big Nate series.  BIG NATE will surpass all others! But it won't be easy. He's stuck with Gina,...
The brilliant world of Tom Gates : read it and go ha! ha! ha!
Pichon, L.
Paper Book
Meet Tom Gates -- a master of excuses, an expert doodler, a comic story writer extraordinaire, and the bane of his teacher's existence! In this recent recipient of the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Prize, readers will find an honest, silly and laugh-out-loud book in the format of Tom...
Everything's amazing (sort of)
Pichon, L.
Paper Book
Tom Gates is back and things are better than ever! Well, sort of . . . Back to school, but it's not all bad. Sports Day, the school fair, and Tom's birthday are all coming up. And even better, his awful big sister Delia won't be at any of those events! On the downside, Granny Mavis is...
Excellent excuses (and other good stuff)
Pichon, L.
Paper Book
Tom Gates, master of excuses, expert doodler and hilarious story writer is back -- and making the most of his holiday! No school for two whole weeks leaves Tom with tons of time for the important things in life. He can forget all about school and the irritating Marcus Meldrew...
Where the red fern grows
Rawls, Wilson
CD
A beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man's best friend.   Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he's finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own--Old Dan and Little Ann--he's ecstatic. It doesn't...
You're a bad man, Mr. Gum!
Stanton, Andy.
Paper Book
Mr. Gum may be the nastiest man on Earth, but he has the tidiest, greeniest, floweriest, gardeniest garden in the world...that is, until a giant whopper of a dog named Jake destroys it in a fit of doggy joy. In retaliation, Mr. Gum hatches one of his astonishingly evil plots, involving some...
Cat and mouse in a haunted house
Stilton, Geronimo
Paper Book
Enter the world of Geronimo Stilton, where another funny adventure is always right around the corner. Each book is a fast-paced adventure with lively art and a unique format kids 7-10 will love.I was lost in a dark, spooky forest! Until I stumbled upon Curlypaw Cannycat's Castle. The castle was...
The curse of the cheese pyramid
Stilton, Geronimo
Paper Book
Enter the world of Geronimo Stilton, where another funny adventure is always right around the corner. Each book is a fast-paced adventure with lively art and a unique format kids 7-10 will loveI'm off to Egypt! I climbed onboard a crabby old camel that would take me across the desert to the Great...
Lost treasure of the emerald eye
Stilton, Geronimo
Paper Book
Re-enter the world of Geronimo Stilton, where another funny adventure is always right around the corner. Each book is a fast-paced adventure with lively art and a unique format kids 7-10 will loveWho Is Geronimo Stilton?That's me! I run a newspaper, but my true passion is writing tales of adventure....
The world's worst children
Walliams, David
Paper Book
From the world's favourite author, David Walliams - ten cautionary tales and a delightfully dreadful cast of characters; all in a gorgeously gifty FULL COLOUR format! Are you ready to meet the World's Worst Children? Five beastly boys and five gruesome girls! ...

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