Most vital for any book is that it has a fantastic tale. Humor is a plus. So is excitement. If it makes the kids laugh or weep or sit on the edge of their seat begging for time to read a few more pages before bed. So is genre … my kids read mostly fantasy, mysteries, and realistic fiction (not that I’ll never get them a book from another genre, but that’s mostly what I get because those are their favorites). So is reading level if it’s a book they’ll be reading to themselves (most of the time I try to match a book with the level my child is reading at or slightly challenged by, though of course sometimes I’ll choose an simpler one, too); I look for even more challenging books if I’m going to read out loud. So is maturity level … some themes I find inappropriate for that age group even though books at their reading level may contain those themes (my kids read above grade level but I really don’t reckon books about dating and adolescent issues are appropriate for 3rd graders….).

I want my kids, above all, to learn that reading is a fun, exciting, and pleasurable activity. Beyond that, I want them gaining vocabulary and learning about the world through all the different tales they read.

I would have like to have seen (maybe an thought for you) a fun book that maybe has a page here and there that is scripted instead of written like a book so we could have acted it out instead of just reading it.

Excellent Luck

Mog the cat – it’s written all about the cat and it’s thoughts and i reckon they like to read about things that are even more helpless thean they are and it empowers them

amusing bones – bold colours and ryhming, kids like it when if they can’t read very well but they can anticipate the end of the line cos it ryhms with the last

Cat in the hat for the same reason plus its really amusing and nonsence

charlie and lola books- cos they are about very simple things and are about kids like them. Also very amusing

roald dahl – any of his books, cos they are very amusing and silly, sometimes a bit rude and yucky. lots of opertunity for silly voices, especially when growm ups read them

they like twists at the end
they like it when there is i dilema and they can reckon about how it might end, what might happen

comics – even oldr kids like books that have more pictures than words
books that have small but very punchy and memorable desrictions go down better than ones that are too waffly
kids have very small attention spans and their minds wander easily then they forget what it was all about

small tales for older kids
me and my son have ADHD and are less tempted to skim read if the tales are small and compact

themes/ characters etc….. children,animals, everyday life, things they worry about (with pleased endings) childrens/animals imaginations/dreams

got to go may come back an edit to add more thoughts later! sorry ADHD and dyslexic and in a rush so hard to know but Like books

EDIT ADDITION,
Hairy McClary from Donaldsons dairy
Spot, though its a pre school book,
postman pat,
thomas the tank engine,
my naughty small sister anything Shirly Huges.

The books I have mentioned are all huge favourites at school.

They also like shiny or furry pages.
My sons (he’s ten but we read this two years ago) favourite is most definately not a childrens book! It is hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. My boy loved the language, and the some bits with concepts that didn’t make sense and had his brain had to do somersaults to try and work them out(he loved that). He likes the bit’s that stop him in his tracks to talk to me about or question a question, for example what does that mean? – then find the word later on in the book and know what it means. And bits that are so ridiculous that it makes him shout out ‘WHAT!!’

I reckon if a tale is well written and the child or the person reading out aloud if thats the case has a excellent imagination to express the emotion and excitement in a tale then pictures are not necessary.
For a child to read alone – pictures are needed or prefered and for younger ones they like a book that they can delight in even when an adult isn’t available to read the words (the pictures tell the tale) but words there for when an adult can.

Have you seen Quentin Blakes ‘the clown’ this has no words.

this is the bear is excellent for being able to work out the tale without reading

I like my child/chilren in class to read tales with lots of examples of children making excellent choices about how to behave, politeness, kindness, safety, respectfullness. there are far too many negative influences allready.

I don’t buy books from book shops, we get ours from car boot sales and charity shops. Except for non-fiction books for Christmas. We tend to buy books that we’ve heard about from people who have loved them.
At school there are certain books that are chosen from the shelf regularyly and theses are the ones that are still being printed today.

EDITED AGAIN
My boy likes books tha have cool covers. He has a book called the Dream Merchant which he begged me to buy from the school book club because it looks ancient and is a stout book (like excellent grown up books). He likes people to see that he is reading something meaty and mysterious. It’s a shame he hasn’t got the necessary attention span to read beyond the first chapter. But the point being, the cover was a selling point! If the content was better, or he didn’t have ADHD maybe he’d be buying more in the series(i don’t know if the author made more though).
Roald Dahl’s books,
Calvin and Hobbes comic strip books,
Spud Murphey by Eoin Colfer, (he likes the bit where the boy gets a barbie stamper stamped on his hand nad it wont wash off)
Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones(because he already likes the film)
and Coraline by Neil Gaiman
are the only books he can be attentive to and has read alone beginning to end.

Excellent luck xx