How to Choose Dyslexia-Friendly Books for Reluctant Readers (By Age & Reading Confidence)

Finding the right book for a child who finds reading tough can feel overwhelming, especially when every well-meaning recommendation misses the mark. Whether your child is a reluctant reader, has dyslexia, needs a little extra support, or simply hasn't found a bok they really want to read yet, this guide is here to help. I've broken it down by reading age and reading confidence. Sometimes kids can have have a reading age that is less than their actual age. 

All of the books featured here are from our dyslexia-friendly collection for kids, written by best-selling Irish author Elaine Heney, designed with accessible fonts, generous line spacing, short chapters, and layouts that reduce visual stress and make reading feel more manageable. Elaine started to publish dyslexia friendly books after talking to lots of parents at Irish country shows, who were struggling to encourage their kids to read. Elaine regularly gets letters & email from children all around the world who love her dyslexia friendly mystery books, and many times they are the first books they have read every page!

What Makes a Book Dyslexia-Friendly?

Before we dive into age groups, it helps to know what to look for. Dyslexia-friendly books typically feature:

• Specialist fonts, or sans-serif typefaces that reduce letter confusion, often printed on cream paper instead of white paper to reduce glare.
• Generous line spacing and wide margins, so lines of text don't blur together
• Short chapters, natural stopping points that build confidence and momentum
• High-interest, age-appropriate stories, so the reading level doesn't feel "babyish" even if the text is accessible. 
• Exciting adventures about topics your child loves, reading a book you can't put down, about a sport or hobby they love, is a brilliant way to encourage kids to read more books!

These features aren't just helpful for children with dyslexia, they support any child who finds reading a challenge and reluctant readers.

Reading age 6–9: Building independence, growing confidence

For children with a reading age of 6–9, this can be the stage when they start reading books by themselves. The stories should feel exciting, while the reading itself feels achievable. These books can also be suitable for children up to age 10 or 11 who need a more accessible read.

Reading differences often become more visible at this age, and children may begin to notice that they read differently from their classmates. The right book can make an enormous difference to their confidence. When choosing a book, look for:

• Characters the child can look up to. Children often enjoy reading “up” to a main character who is their age or slightly older.
• Short chapters. Even a chapter of three or four pages gives a child an achievable goal and a natural place to stop.
• A subject they already love. Whether it’s horses, farming, sport or another hobby, an interesting story gives them a reason to keep going.
• A series they can collect. Once a child loves the first book, picking up the next book in the series feels much less daunting.

The Blackthorn Stables Junior series is very popular for this age. There are 22 books in this series, covering a range of farming, sports, hobbies and the 7 days of the week. The books use a dyslexia friendly font, have an illustration on every page and leave generous space between the lines. This series is great to help kids build confidence and encourage them to read more books. Kids love to collect them all!

Reading age 8–11: Ready for the next adventure

After the Blackthorn Stables Junior series, many children are ready for longer books while still appreciating pages that feel comfortable to read. The goal at this stage is to keep that growing confidence going, with exciting books they want to finish!

• For kids who love ponies, there are four horse adventures books in the Saddlestone series (choose the dyslexia friendly editions).
• Children who enjoy solving mysteries can move on to the Blackthorn Stables Monthly Mysteries (choose the dyslexia friendly editions), with 12 adventures, one for each month of the year.
• For kids who love farming, there’s The Cattle Mart Mystery.

These books use a dyslexia friendly font and extra spacing between the lines, alongside fast-paced, exciting stories. They’re a natural next step for children with a reading age of 8-11, who enjoyed Blackthorn Stables Junior and are ready for their next (slightly longer) series.

Ages 9–14: Pony stories kids love

As children grow, they often want longer adventures and characters they can keep following from book to book. For horse lovers who enjoyed the Saddlestone series, these three horse adventure series offer a natural next step:

• The six-book Connemara Adventure series
• The six-book Coral Cove series
• The four-book Old Masters series

Each series offers more pony stories to get caught up in, with fast-paced adventures that encourage children to keep turning the pages. All of these books also include a lot of good horsemanship principals. Elaine Heney is an lifelong horse person. The books use a dyslexia friendly font and extra spacing between the lines, helping children focus on the story as they read.

Tips for Supporting a Reluctant Reader at Home

• Let them choose. Interest-led reading is always more powerful than assigned reading. If they love football, find football books. Kids who love farming often also love farming mysteries!
• Read together. Take turns with pages, or read aloud while they follow along. This reduces pressure and models fluency.
• Celebrate small wins. Finished a chapter? That's worth marking. Chose a book themselves? Even better.
• Don't compare. Every child's reading journey is different. The goal is a child who loves stories, however they access them.

Find the Right Book Today

Ready to find something your child will actually want to read? Browse our full range of dyslexia-friendly books for kids, organised to help you find the right match by age, interest, and reading confidence. Every book in our dyslexia friendly collection has been chosen with reluctant readers in mind: accessible formats, high-interest stories, and the kind of reading experience that builds confidence rather than denting it.

Is your child in between series?

I would recommend to choose one book from the younger series (Blackthorn Stables Junior) to get started. If they read it very quickly, that's great as it will help to build their confidence. For your next book, move up to a slightly older series. You want to avoid buying your child a book that is too tricky to avoid your child losing confidence.