Reading is an incredibly important skill, one that can affect almost every aspect of your life. Unfortunately, too many kids (and adults) don’t enjoy reading. Graphic novels and series by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter), Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events), and Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson, The Kaine Chronicles, and others), have certainly helped attract young readers. But not all kids are interested in adventure, magic, or mystery. Here are some books for kids with other interests, including travel, building, filmmaking, writing, and life itself.

Adventures with Zap (by Diane Landy, Illustrated by Allison Hershey)

Reading and writing go together, and kids who excel at one tend to do well at the other as well. This book is designed to help kids grow as writers by stimulating their creativity. Zap (a blue alien from the planet Vox Nova), Meow (a stowaway from planet Earth), and Gooey (an orange alien from Vox Nova) give young readers more than 100 creative prompts that usually start with getting the child to draw something (“pretend you and your family have the noses of hound dogs,” or “draw a picture of a time you fell down and got hurt”) and then ask the child to write about the drawing. It’s a smart, engaging way to build thinking and writing skills. For ages 4+. About $9.00 at https://www.amazon.com
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