I know all about the cards and stickers, of course, and how rapturous children get about little Pikachu, but not books to read. I immediately bought the book she had been reading and placed it on my bookshelf. The first child who came through the door homed in on it like a radar beacon, and, although some of the words were a little tricky, knew all the names of the monsters and wanted to borrow it and read it that night. Motivation must be the solution to half of children's reading problems. We shall see You are on to something with the Pokemon books.
Motivation is the key here.
The material simply has to be good enough to be worth the effort of reading it. A pivotal series for our boy was Harry Potter. The birth of recreational reading for a kid that no one would have predicted him to be. It's great to hear of someone else making use of the Pokemon craze. We've got the monsters all round our room, and the children seem to be able to read every one of their names, as well as telling me which monster evolves into which.