favorite first read aloud chapter books?

[Mama2two]

At what age did you start reading chapter books to your kids?

I think my son (4.5 years) may be ready to start listening to some chapter books.

Anyone have any first favorites? My son loves anything animal or natural science related.

[JudoMom]

How about Mr. Popper's Penguins?

[Linda]

We loved, loved, LOVED Trumpet of the Swan as one of our first long read alouds.

We're currently reading Jeremy by Jan Karon, which is earning high praise in the form of "One more chapter! One more chapter!"

[TaraTheLiberator]

I started reading chapter books to my daughter when she was about three because she started asking me for more stories about the same characters. After we had read a bunch of series books, like Francis the Badger, I moved on to chapter books that were more "picaresque" (not "picturesque") in that each chapter was a little story of its own and my dd didn't necessarily need to follow a plot. I think the first chapter book I read to her was Thornton Burgess's Mother West Wind's Animal Friends. The Betsy books by Carolyn Haywood were also a hit.

By the time she was around four, she was ready to follow a plot more. Animal books have been big with us. I second the suggestion of Mr. Popper's Penguins. My kids have also loved Socks, by Beverly Cleary; The Cricket in Times Square and sequels by George Selden; Rabbit Hill and The Tough Winter, by Robert Lawson; The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White (my dd says this is her favorite book ever); My Father's Dragon and sequels by Ruth Stiles Gannet (although I only enjoyed the first one); any and all of the rest of Thornton Burgess's books; Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry; and Bunnicula by James Howe. In addition, the kids have really loved the Magic Treehouse book and a series of books called Tashi by Anna Fienberg.

My favorite resource for finding good read-alouds is the Charlotte Mason bookfinder (http://apps.simplycharlottemason.com/) at Simply Charlotte Mason.

[kalanamak]

I think my son (4.5 years) may be ready to start listening to some chapter books.

Anyone have any first favorites? My son loves anything animal or natural science related.

My Father's Dragon was a hit a that age.

[Tonia]

My Father's Dragon was a hit a that age.

:iagree: I'm reading it now with dd and she is really enjoying it.

[Lovedtodeath]

My Father's Dragon was a hit a that age.
My Father's Dragon and anything by Rudyard Kipling. And... please don't give up picture books!!!

Not... Ralph S. Mouse, Ginger Pye, Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan... they all bombed.

[woolybear]

Brambleberry Hedge series (kind of a chapter/picture book--good transition)

Gooseberry Park

Little House in the Big Woods

[prairiegirl]

I started reading chapter books to my oldest when she was 2. We still read picture books, though. My other two were about 4 when I started with them. We usually start with the Thornton Burgess books (The Adventures of Reddy Fox, etc.) and move on to Charlotte's Web and Winnie the Pooh.

[Penelope]

Earliest chapter books for my oldest boy: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and the other two in the series by Beverly Cleary. Beezus and Ramona, ad Ramona the Pest. Charlotte's Web, My Father's Dragon, Capyboppy (by Bill Peet); Old Mother West Wind (Burgess), the two Winnie the Pooh books, and the Just So Stories are nice for beginning chapter books, because each chapter is a story unto itself.

[djbartch]

Believe it or not... our first chapter book was The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. He was about 4.5 when we read it. He did really well with it, although I did have to explain some things to him.

After that, we went to The Mouse and The Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, and Ralph S. Mouse. He enjoyed those as well, and it was nice to have something that didn't require so much explaining.

We have also done Mr. Popper's Penguins, Nim's Island, and James and the Giant Peach. My ds is not quite 5.5, so we've read all of the above in the last year.

HTH!

[Lovedtodeath]

DD loved the Twits by Roald Dahl. Any books by him aimed to the younger ones (James and the Giant Peach?) could be a hit.

We started some chapter books at three and a half. We have read very few. We much prefer picture books.

DD is reading some easy chapter books herself now. But for reading aloud we still prefer picture books.

[trisharog]

My six yr old dd loves the Mandie series.

[Ellie]

I never thought about "chapter books." In fact, I had never heard that term at all until I started hanging out on the Internet.:)

Anyway, I read "Wizard of Oz" to my dds when they were about 5yo. After that I just picked books I thought they would enjoy, such as the Little House books, or Mrs. Pigglewiggle.

[Jen in PA]

At 4, my dd really enjoyed hearing the first few Oz books, the first couple of Narnia books, the Jenny Linsky books (Jenny and the Cat Club, etc.) by Esther Averill, and the Catwings books by Ursula LeGuin. Right after she turned 5 we started on the Little House books, which she also enjoyed.

[Kayaking Mom]

And... please don't give up picture books!!!

Amen!! There are so many WONDERFUL, challenging, thought provoking picture books out there. Please don't miss them for the desire to get to chapter books.

[OhElizabeth]

My oldest is a girl, and we read lots of fairy tales, especially the Lang books. I don't know if boys like fairy tales. In any case, my best advice is to read to them and not worry about whether they understand it or are really listening. The Lang fairy tale books are VERY complex, but I would read them while she played at age 3 or 4 and it built her vocabulary. She enjoyed Kipling, the Little House series, Peter Pan, basically anything well-written. And don't forget books on tape. The Narnia series, Little House, Uncle Remus, lots of great stuff to be found. WTM has more suggestions on this in their early chapter.

[Emilylou]

My kids have enjoyed Mr Popper's Penguins and the Thorton Burgess Books, plus Little House in the Big Woods, so far since this fall.

All have been hits. My son loved Mr. Poppers Penguins.

[attachedto4]

At 4, my dd really enjoyed hearing the first few Oz books, the first couple of Narnia books, the Jenny Linsky books (Jenny and the Cat Club, etc.) by Esther Averill, and the Catwings books by Ursula LeGuin. Right after she turned 5 we started on the Little House books, which she also enjoyed.


These are exactly what I was going to suggest- Jenny and the Cat Club, Cat Wings, and the Wizard of Oz were all enjoyed early on here.

[MariaTX]

We read the Henry and Mudge chapter books and the Nate the Great series. My boys loved them.

[Mama2two]

Thanks for all the great suggestions, I will definitely get some of these!

And no, we definitely will not give oup our picture books!!!

[5Youngs]

Brambleberry Hedge series
Boxcar Children
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
The Lighthouse series by Cynthia Rylant

[3blessingmom]

Burgess Animals and Charlotte's Web have been favorites in our home. Ds5 REALLY likes the Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans (linked free from oldfashionededucation.com). They are short stories about ...famous Americans LOL! It's not really a chapterbook, but I recommend it anyway.

We also read long picture books like a chapter book, one section per day. I'm thinking of books like The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible that are meaty.

[Aurelia]

At what age did you start reading chapter books to your kids?

I think my son (4.5 years) may be ready to start listening to some chapter books.

Anyone have any first favorites? My son loves anything animal or natural science related.

I started reading chapter books around the time of Ariel's 4th birthday. Her favorites are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dr. Doolittle, and Ramona the Pest. I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. We mix them in with picture books, so we don't necessarily read the chapter book every night, but she remembers the story really well, so it works for us.

[Laura in STL]

My son enjoyed Paddington Bear at age 4, as well as many of the books already mentioned. Don't miss Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner. Those are still favorites at age 8.

[woolybear]

Wanted to add: Cynthia Rylant has some great books. Thimbleberry Stories is a nice transitional picture/chapter book. Also the Lighthouse series (not exactly sure of that title) looks fun though I haven't read it yet. I just got one from the library today. Also the Cobblestreet Cousins series is really sweet.