7 Great Reads for Kids Who Love Video Games

Pokémon The Official Adventure Guide, by Simcha Whitehill
If you’re reading this, you can probably still remember when Pokémon first came to America. It was big then, and it’s huge now. The concept was first created for Nintendo, and with a TV show, plus cards and collectibles that let kids play along, the Pokémon experience feels more like living inside a video game. With 2016 being the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, there are lots of books to celebrate. This encyclopedia recaps Ash’s journey from the beginning to the present, detailing ALL his Pokémon and badges.

Plants vs. Zombies Official Guide to Protecting Your Brains, by Simon Swatman and Adam Howling
Isn’t protecting your kids’ brains what it’s all about? So what if you need to lean on the magnetic pull of dolphin zombies to do it? Fans of the Plants vs Zombies app will recognize their favorite characters in this book of zombie profiles. And tips on planting a garden with Fume-shrooms and Potato Mines will make readers even more successful when they return to playing the game.

I Love That Minifigure, by DK
Many video game lovers are also LEGO fans. This 208-page compendium celebrates all the details that make the LEGO minifigures as fun to play with as a video-game character. Encyclopedic in scope, there are fun facts like which LEGO minifigure was the first to have a double-sided head, and a stat-filled profile of a LEGO guy dressed as a hot dog. Random, rare, and amazing characters are all included in this collection.

Modding Minecraft, by Stephen Foster
Exclusive to Barnes & Noble, this book is perfect for gamers who want to customize their Minecraft experience. The book includes a 60-day trial of LearntoMod, which lets players code their own Minecraft worlds and create mini games. It expands on the open-ended beauty of Minecraft to transform the experience of playing the game into a learning experience that makes experimenting, coding, and modding feel like play. From the makers of the popular For Dummies series, this book is accessible to readers as young as seven years old.

Game On! 2016, by Games for Gamers
Books that come out every year, like The Guinness World Records, are some of the most popular titles with kids. And this book is just as fresh. It features all the latest video games, gives details on how they were developed, and includes tips and tricks that will help readers beat them the boss monsters. There are sales states and interviews with pro gamers. This book will have readers ready to DOMINATE when they get back to their games.

Tales of the Greek Heroes, by Roger Lancelyn Green
The cover of this book is a bit of a cheat, but that’s kind of the idea, right? The Puffin Pixels series features Minecraft-inspired covers that will attract gamers and geeks to classic stories. This title includes the adventures of Jason and the Argonauts, the story of Perseus, the classic tale of Heracles pushing the boulder uphill, and more. An introduction by the ever-popular Rick Riordan compares the ancient Greek heroes to more modern heroes like Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, and Batman. If that doesn’t spark a family book-club discussion, I don’t know what will.

Choose Your Own Adventure Box Set, by R.A. Montgomery
Every book in this classic series starts with the instruction “YOU choose what happens next!” Just like a video game, these books put readers in control of what happens—and tumbling off the side of a mountain to your fictional death is a real risk. Reluctant readers will gobble up adventures like Journey Under the Sea, The Abominable Snowman, and Space and Beyond. Younger readers can play along with the titles like Your Very Own Robot in the Choose Your Own Adventure Dragonlark series.
What books do your young gamers love?