Holden’s preschool started reading “chapter books” before naptime at the beginning of the school year. I wasn’t familiar with the term, but as a college-educated woman, I figured it out soon enough. A chapter book is a book with chapters and maybe some pages with no pictures at all.
Whoa. Harry Potter, here we come.
Our children’s books are filled with large color pictures (and many of them still rhyme). So, this was big news. I wondered if both Holden (4 and a half) and Milo (nearly 3) would willingly sit through longer stories at bedtime.
Until now, our ritual generally involves each boy choosing a short book followed by me choosing a “sleepytime” book. Unless we run out of time, in which case I scale back the volume.
As an experiment this past weekend at the library, I asked the librarian about chapter books. She was well prepared for me, and she readily busted out a list of recommendations for the pre-K crowd.
Though Holden was afraid of the title, she strongly recommended My Father’s Dragon as a good introductory chapter book. Having just initiated a Lord of the Rings movie binge myself (#geekyandlovingit), I had to take her word that the book was tame enough for my sensitive son.
I’m pleased to report, the experiment was a total success. We read two or three chapters each night and worked our way through the ten chapter book in four nights. Each night, the boys begged for “just one more chapter” (then, when I refused, “one more page” and even “one more word!”). When Holden flipped the page and pointed to a single word — “twisted” — I acquiesced and read it to him. Otherwise, I held a firm line.
We frequently referred to the map inside the cover to trace the heroes journey around the islands. Milo surprised me by being every bit as engaged in the story and map of the adventure.
Immediately following our reading time, I joined Alec for parts one and two of Lord of the Rings and am pleased to report I didn’t confuse any of my dragons, characters, or hand-drawn maps with the book.
It turns out that, like LOTR, My Father’s Dragon is also available as a trilogy. So I can’t make you any promises about keeping all the characters and stories straight once we finish all the movies and the books (but for now, I’m good)!
Before we check out the full series of Elmer’s tall tales, we’re going to start Holden’s true first choice, The Mouse and the Motorcycle (the book with the notso scary title).
Anyone else have any forays into longer stories to share?
Since my one-and-only is just 4 months old, we’ve stuck with board books. But I wanted to say that I LOVED the My Father’s Dragon series as a kid, and I was sad when I had read them all! Also, The Mouse and the Motorcycle is a great choice, because there are a ton of Beverly Cleary books you can try if you like that one. Happy reading (from a voracious reader and teacher)!
Heather – Charlie absolutely loved My Father’s Dragon as well as the next book, The Dragons of Blueland (I think that’s what it’s called). We also recently finished the Mouse and the Motorcycle trilogy, and Ralph S. Mouse and his adventures do not disappoint. Holden will love it. We are very into chapter books read in the morning with milk and breakfast and just this morning finished the second book in the Little House series. Others that have been very successful for us: The Wizard of Oz (it’s long and crazy and filled with so much more than the movie), the Ramona series (we’ve read this through three times now), Pipi Longstocking, and the first three books in the Ivy and Bean series. The longer Roald Dahl books are also a big hit; The Fantastic Mr. Fox, James & the Giant Peach, and of course, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!
I second all of Mindy’s suggestions! And if Ramona is a hit, don’t forget Henry Huggins. There are four books about toad brothers named Warton and Morton – they are wonderful. Start with “A Toad for Tuesday” (Russell Erickson). Some others your boys might like: “The Book of Three” (Lloyd), “Mr Popper’s Penguins” (Atwater), “The Half-a-Moon Inn” (Fleischman), “Mrs Piggle-Wiggle (MacDonald), “Five Children and It” (Nesbit), “The Borrowers” (Norton), “The Hoboken Chicken Emergency” (Pinkwater) and “Abel’s Island” (Steig).
Mr. Popper’s Penguins is great.
Charolette’s Web
There is a series my son enjoys listening to as he falls asleep…they are longer books on cd/tape..but not so long. He can listen to the whole story. They are Mercy Watson…by the author of Winn Dixie…Kate DeCamillo or something like that.
I think there’s a place on the reading continuum before chapter books where we have been resting. Early Readers is the heading on this shelf at the library. Frog and Toad and Amelia Bedelia both live there. As does Little Bear (so not scary or funny, it’s boring, but for some reason well-loved.) There are some pigs named Oliver and Amanda, too.
These are all series of soft-cover books that have stand alone 4-6 stories per book. Not exactly chapters. There is an illustration on each page. Maybe a good first step for those who are ready to venture out of picture books.
Thanks for all the great suggestions, guys! A lot of old favorites have popped up on this list along with some others that I’ve not heard of before. My 5yo really enjoys the Geronimo Stilton books and always pick a couple when we go to the library, but my husband and I find them torturous to read. I can’t wait to bring some of these home and dig in.
Mouse and the motorcycle was our first and a favourite. We read and listened too. It seemed to keep everyone happy.
I read a few of the smaller books we have as chapter books using Audacity. The boys could go and find which one to listen to and here me
We found the cartoon captain underpants series the baby one…..dh got that pleasure ( Potty humour)
We are now trying the Roald Dahl series- currently James and Giant peach.
We are huge fans of the “Rainbow Magic Fairy” series. I bought one about a guinea pig fairy for my daughter when she was about 4 because she loved fairies and guinea pigs. I thought she might be too young but she made me finish the entire book that night. We have since read every other one written and have moved on to some new series … “Ivy and Bean” and “Sister Magic”. And now my 3 year old insists on reading these chapter books with us a night instead of the usual picture books!
For the early reader, pseudo-chapter stories Whitney is referring to, we like the Poppleton books. Both of my kids also love Horrid Henry right now, although I think a lot of it is sailing over my 4-year-old’s head.
We started reading the I Can Read Books, levels of pre-reader and 1, at age 18 months when my aunt sent us a Little Bear Treasury. They have been great – usually three to four stories per book, though sometimes only one. He loves them and will have them memorized by the time he can read them.
I’m fascinated to see the Mouse and the Motorcycle, The Borrowers, and other classics listed (my 2nd grade teacher read us M&M, usually outside under a tree). I adored these books as a kid, but as a 5 – 8 year old (I had trouble learning to read). My son is 3 1/2 – too early or just right? We have read books #1 and #2 of the Magic Treehouse series and he loved them. We got #2 yesterday and read the whole thing with the last five chapters in one sitting.
My daughter, Emma, just turned 4 in December. We started with the Rainbow Magic series about 6 months ago. She really liked them. We were at Gramma’s one day and she wanted me to read a book she had found that had dolphins on it. It was a Magic Tree House book. Now she is hooked. We love to both read and listen to the books. We drove from Iowa to Arizona and back over the New Year and listened, almost non-stop, to some of the Magic Tree House books.
I’m posting a follow-up comment mostly in response to Julie wondering about classics and if her child is perhaps too young. First, full disclosure: I’m a teacher supervisor for a company that offers nationwide summer reading programs for children and adults of all ages. I’m commenting here as a private individual who loves books, loves kids and has spent a lot of time working with parents (and their children) on reading. I posted the titles I did specifically because “My Father’s Dragon” was the original book in question. Now I want to back up a little. Rule of thumb: read what you love / what they love. As long as you’re reading with them, you’re doing something amazing for them. Follow their lead but have some fun introducing them to things *you* loved as a kid. If they lose interest, put the book away and try again in a few months. Be ready for tons of re-reading as they decide on favorites – repetition is good. Watch your child’s story-stamina … if s/he’s 3-4 years old, has had a lot of exposure to books, is starting to re-tell stories and can stay focused for a while, by all means introduce early chapter books, like the Magic Treehouse series. However, for most children under 5, sticking to great picture books like Little Bear, Caps for Sale, Frog and Toad etc is appropriate. Reading should be a zero-pressure activity for everyone concerned.
Heather – My Father’s Dragon was our first chapter book too, at the suggestion of a dear friend. Patrick and I really enjoyed reading the stories each night together and I, too, was surprised that he didn’t miss the pictures. The other books in the trilogy are just as wonderful.
We’ve also enjoyed Frog & Toad series, and now he’s onto Magic Tree House books. It’s great to follow their lead in terms of interests – and fun to see where they take us.
Thank you Candice! I will try out some old favorites on him and look into the titles that aren’t familiar to me. We have now read eight of the Magic Tree House books and he loves them. He wants to read them in one sitting. However, it takes a lot of ‘work’ to have him tell me about what we just read.
Back on the story book front, but ones with a lot of words per page, my sister turned me on to Alfie and Annie Rose. Alfie is 4-5 and his sister Annie Rose is around 2. Great stuff for young ones with a little sibling. We have a compilation of several stories and several pages are 1/4 picture to 3/4 words.