My oldest just read what he wanted and didn’t participate in the reading program, which was really just a competition to see who could get an award plus some other rewards like a pizza party for reading the most books. The books he was reading would have landed him the top reader award by a wide margin, but he wasn’t reading for that. If I ask him, he will probably remember those books, which is more than I can say about the kids who are pressured to read age level books for the reading program.
Bingo! I like the kind that just say read so many minutes a day. That way the kid has some say in what they are going to read. Oops! I'm sliding again!