How to hook in readers with short attention spans

Author and ex-teacher Kieran Larwood explains which features of books might appeal to readers with short attention spans. 

As an ex-primary school teacher, I have always been well aware of the gap in reading attainment between some children, particularly between boys and girls, and the difficulty of convincing reluctant readers to pick up a book. 

One of the main reasons I became a writer in the first place was in the hope of getting as many children as possible to enjoy reading for pleasure, rather than as a chore or academic task (to whichthe curriculum of recent years seems to have intentionally reduced it) and the hope of hooking in some of those reading-averse boys was the Holy Grail. 

When I sat down to write Dungeon Runners, this was high on my list, especially as the project began as a joint task with my son during Covid lockdown. At eight years old, he was a case-in-point for reluctant readers. Despite doing absolutely every recommendation that I could find to turn my child into an avid reader, I had failed to make books more appealing than YouTube and video games. 

And so, apart from getting him adopted, my only other option was to try and analyse why he felt that way, and to attempt to write something that would counter it. After observing him closely, I found that the things that captured his attention were: 

My other main conclusion was that childhood today is vastly different from when 

I grew up. The patience it takes to read a book with a slow build-up is gone. Everything is digital, everything is instant. Even the five or ten minute YouTube videos my eldest child grew up watching are too long. This is the TikTok generation of thirty second info blips. Instant downloads. Entire seasons of programmes available at the click of a button.  

But I thought– I hoped– there was a way to take the elements that drew his attention and transfer them to book form. As I wrote the book, I made sure to keep the chapters short and punchy, liberally dotted with cliffhangers. I made sure there were risks and rewards for the characters: elements of levelling up, including teams, competitions and league points. I used humour he would find appealing, ‘boss monster’ type battles and loot that the heroes collected to level themselves up. 

Basically, I turned the book into a video game that you had to read. 

And then, once the team at Nosy Crow got hold of it, the real hooks were put in: a carefully selected font that would enable easy reading, especially for dyslexic children, and the choice of an incredible illustrator in Joe Todd Stanton, whose drawings on almost every page turned the story into something between a book and a graphic novel. The cover, especially, was designed to grab attention from the shelf and to appeal to those who might already enjoy manga and anime. 

I think that, by including aspects of all these elements (and there are other books available that do this, too), it is possible to create a book that all readers will enjoy, but especially one that will draw in those reluctant boys. If they can just pick up a story like this, if they can begin to experience the joy of completing a book, of talking about it with their friends, of excitedly waiting for the next in the series to come out… then maybe they might be converted into lifetime readers and go on to access the thousands of amazing children’s books on the market. And then beyond.  

We all know reading fosters empathy, imagination, creativity, connections… it’s just a case of convincing them to put down the games controllers for long enough to find out. 

Dungeon Runners by Kieran Larwood, illustrated by Joe Todd Stanton, is available now.