<P> Development for both The Lightning Thief and the Percy Jackson series commenced when Rick Riordan began making stories for his son Haley Riordan , who had at the time been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia . His son , Haley , had been studying Greek mythology in second grade and requested that his father tell him bedtime stories based on Greek myths . When Riordan ran out of myths , his son suggested that he make up new stories using existing mythological characters and new ones . This led Riordan to create the fictional character of Percy Jackson and create the story of how he travels across the United States to recover Zeus 's lightning - bolt . Haley suggested that he should turn that story into a book , and Riordan wrote the book over the next year despite being busy at that time . </P>
what is the first book of percy jackson
The Lightning Thief