Chapter books for the younger kids
February 22, 2010
Reading chapter books to your 3-8 year olds is a great way to get them to use their imaginations and to more advanced vocabulary. But with the advanced vocab, can sometimes come advanced content (sorry…I am not interested in emotionally scarring my 4 year olds by reading about vampires) or they simply have plots that can’t capture the attention of preschool age kids. Sometimes it’s a matter of not having enough pictures intertwined in the chapters to keep them turning pages with you.
So, thank you so much for your recommendations! We have read some of these, and can attest to our children being completely interested even though they are considered for Middle Grade Readers.
I have learned to never underestimate the reading comprehension of your children! Just last night, my just turned 4 year old…who has such a hard time sitting down to read…was completely wrapped up in Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder…and even went to dress for the part of the hunter boys to get in the mood. I watched his eyes widen as he listened (there weren’t any pictures to look at) and felt like I was catching a magical moment where he was making the connection between the words and the images in his own mind. Pure Magic!
So….here folks is the list you put together! Feel free to add to it, and I’ll edit them in.
CHAPTER BOOKS FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN (Ages 3-8 for read-aloud)
The mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Ramona Books by Beverly Cleary
Emily’s Runaway Imagination Beverly Cleary
Ralf S. Mouse books by Beverly Cleary
Mercy Watson series by kate dicamillo
Tale of Despereaux by Kate dicamillo
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate dicamillo
Because of Wynn Dixie byKate Dicamillo
Catwings books by Ursula K. LeGuin
Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black
Just So Storiesby Rudyard Kipling
The Henry books by DB Johnson
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Halibut Jackson by David Lucas.
Paddington Bear by Michael Bond
The Adventures of Olga da Polga By Michael Bond
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine
Freddy Anniversary Collection by WalterBrooks
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Matilda Ronald Dahl
James and the Giant Peach by Ronald Dahl
The Ordinary Princess By M.M. Kaye
Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum
Junie B Jones Series by Barbara Park
Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey
The Cricket in Times Square George Seldon
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Grandma’s Attic by Arleta Richardson
The Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet
No Flying in the House by Betty Brock
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
The Littles by John Peterson
Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren
The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warner
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Swiss Family Robinson Johann D. Wyss
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
Winnie the Pooh A.A. Milne
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs
Elves and Fairies Annie R. Rentoul and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite
Peter Pan J.M. barry
Alice in wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Famous Five by Enid Blyton
Secret Seven by Enid Blyton
Anything by Thornton BURGESS
Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker
Milly-Molly-Mandy Joyce Lankester Brisley
The Alfie Books by Shirley Hughes
Jip and Janneke by Annie M.G. Schmidt
The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail(and an Even Smaller Ant) by Avi
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweilerby E.L. Konigsburg
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Grayson by Lynne Cox
Half Magic by Edward Eager.
Indian in the Cupboard series by Lynn Reid Banks
The Trumpet of the Swanby E.B. White.
A Necklace of Raindropsby Joan Aiken
The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong
I don’t know about you…but I’m heading to the Library today! Enjoy!
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Wonderful list! I’m going to ditto the Mercy Watson series! My children (4 and 3) absolutely adore them. We’ve just started Charlotte’s web and so far so good.
Thank you for this list! I’ve bookmarked it for future reference. I’ve reserved “Lady Lollipop” at the library for us thanks to your recommendation.
The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail (and an Even Smaller Ant) by Avi…..the illustrations by Tricia Tusa are an added treat.
Great list you have going!
Marissa just LOVES Heidi.
Thank you for sharing this list. I have a 6-year-old boy and we’re currently blowing through Beverly Cleary’s Henry Huggins books. I’m always looking for the next ones to start. This really helps.
Thank you, thank you! We actually checked-out Lady Lollipop yesterday, and I look forward to using your list for future library trips.
My three year old loves Junie B. Jones and they’re the perfect length for her attention and memory span. The first chapter book I remember my mom reading to me was From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg and it’s still one of my favorites. I also love vintage (not too scary) Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries.
Thanks so much for this list- we JUST started chapter books with my 3.5 year old. He LOVED EB White’s Stuart Little!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS! HEADING TO THE LIBRARY TOMORROW!
Great list! LOVED James and the Giant Peach and the Beverly Cleary books as a kid. Pretty much LOVED reading at all times
Every summer I read “The Chocolate Touch” by Patrick Skene Catling to my kids. They LOVE it! We eat chocolate together during the read. So fun.
wow! thanks so much for the list. it’s always GREAT to read a book that was recommended, rather than looking blindly.
Thank you SO much. I have been looking for a list like this for about a year now. I have another one–Grayson by Lynne Cox. True story and excellent (we are reading it for the 3rd time now).
Thank You!!! So fun!!!
Oh, don’t stop at the Wizard of Oz! ALL of Frank L Baum’s Oz books, and there are around a dozen, are FANTASTIC!
Great list!
Pippi Longstocking remains one of my favorites.:-)
God bless,
Susan
author of The Princess and the Pee
Please add one of my favorites “Half Magic” by Edward Eager.
I’d also add any book by Roald Dahl, Pippy Longstocking, Mr. Poppers, Bess and Tassy, The Melendy Quartet (4 books by Elisabeth Enright), and books by E Nesbit.
Wonderful list, thank you Sarah…
I love so many of these books, what a great list! As a young child I remember loving the Indian in the Cupboard series by Lynn Reid Banks. She also wrote a book called the Fairy Rebel which was a favorite!
Thanks for the list Sarah, I’d forgotten about the books by Arleta Richardson – I’ll look her up now.
On another note (thinking of Laura Ingalls Wilder): My girls and I have always enjoyed watching the Little House on the Prairie tv-show. Always held their attention and it was nice to watch something from a gentler time. We bought the DVD sets but I know the libraries sometime have them too.
Take care,
Sarah
We absolutely love “The Trumpet of the Swan” by E.B. White.
I am glad you mentioned a couple of Enid Blyton’s series, including The Famous Five. In fact, I have published a book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com).
Stephen Isabirye
What a fabulous list! If it weren’t for Wilbur, we wouldn’t have the word humble flying around our home so much; thank you Charlotte’s Web!
Thanks for the great list, Sarah!
You must not forget A Necklace of Raindrops by Joan Aiken. A timeless and magical collection of short stories!
“The Wheel on the School” by Meindert DeJong is an often over-looked Newbery Medal book that is charming! It is still my brother’s favorite book and, amazingly enough, he recently took it with him on his honeymoon!
Great list. Also…Pippi Longstocking is a FAV in our house.
Sheryl
Sarah, thanks! This is SO PERFECT for our little family right now. Our library will certainly be getting a visit from us tomorrow. I’m linking this list to my blog to share.
Dear sweet Sarah! Thank you for this list! My son is currently working his way through the “Nate the Great” books by Marjorie Sharmat. Your little guys might enjoy those too.
Perfect, Sarah Jane!! That’s so funny that we were doing the same thing right at the same time!!
Congratulations on the new house!!! I hope that you are having tons of fun moving in and getting settled!!!
What a wonderful list of books! So many are ones that I loved growing up and would no doubt have fun reading to my little girls. Your blog and Etsy site are just awesome. I absolutely love your artwork and have been trying to decide what is my favorite to buy. I love the simplicity of your work. You are one talented lady. Thank you for sharing. : ) Trisha in Alaska
Sarah–I was thinking about this post and all the recommendations I wanted to make, of course getting around to post with twins underfoot is never an easy task. I checked out your list and saw some great books listed, but not my all-time favorites–so I am so excited to share them with you–The Moffats by Eleanor Estes. She also wrote The Hundred Dresses–another great, more serious book. You and your children will adore the stories–sweet, innocent, and funny–very refreshing! Oh, and Fig Pudding by Ralph Fletcher is another great read–and all the Judy Blume Fudge books, of course! Love that Dog and Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech are fantastic, too!! And for great picture books you must check out Cynthia Rylant and Patricia Polacco. And for poetry try Kristine O’Connell George and Georgia Heard. I hope you read this!!
Happy Reading!
Valerie
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett is a wonderful early read aloud! I read it to my daughter when she was 5 and I’m planning on reading it with my 4.5 y.o son this summer. It is first in a series of 3 books, and while the first is my favorite, they are all good.
Thanks for this great list! My 5 year-old has read many of these, and I think I’ve read most of them in my time, but it’s good to have a working list to expand on. We’re off to the library for some new reads!
Thank you so much, this is a great list!
I was so excited that Design Mom linked to this today! I have a son in kindergarten who is learning to read. Just last week I was thinking it would be fun to start reading chapter books to him and his 4 year old brother. Thank you so much! I can’t wait to get started now that I have some recommendations.
Love your list!
Jamie and Angus stories (Anne Fine).
I just posted on my blog (Standing in the Shadows) an essay about having an emerging reader–& my affection for Nate the Great.
http://www.valleyadvocate.com/blogs/home.cfm?uid=92
What a fantastic list. We will be adding these to our list to check out at our weekly library trip. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
LOVING this list!! thanks for sharing!
thank you for this wonderful list! we are reading henry huggins now but i know we need to branch out soon!!
Wonderful list! Thank you so much for this, it is just what I’ve been needing. My 4 year old loves to be read to and wants us to read him chapter books, but it is so hard to find ones appropriate for his age. I’ll be checking some of these out on our next library trip.
We read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Beautiful story but do be warned, there will be tears. Perhaps not theirs but definitely yours.
We are huge fans of the Mercy Watson series too. So much fun and the books are simply gorgeous.
Reading it I believed it was highly enlightening. I actually value you taking the time and energy to put this article along. Again I find myself shelling out way too much time both reading and also placing comments. However so what, it was still of great benefit!
thats great list wow i enjoy the reading
Thank you for including, “My Father’s Dragon.” There are even two more books! This was one of my favorite stories when I was young. It’s such a fantastic story.
One that I see very rarely. In fact, I don’t know if I’ve seen copies other than my brothers’ from the 70s. But, the “Great Brain” books by John D. Fitzgerald are fantastic. John is the younger brother to the “Brain.” The scrapes they get into and lessons they learn are wonderful.
The Penderwicks and A Mouse Called Wolf
also Richard Peck wrote A Long Way From Chicago and A Year Down Yonder that we’ve read aloud as a family and really enjoyed.
Do you mind if I quote your writing in my monthly newsletter? I think your writing would suit my readers perfectly. Well, thanks for writing this.
What a great list! I will use it as I add to the libraries of my grandaughter and future grandkids. Here are my contributions, I hope you and your readers enjoy them. I loved this book as a child:
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, And Me, Elizabeth (Newbery Honor Book) E.L. Konigsburg (Author)
and enjoyed reading it to my own children.
I also loved reading this series to my children, which solved a few problems along the way:
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle [Hardcover]
Betty Macdonald (Author),
My Father’s Dragon is my favorite book of all time. My boys love it (read it more than once!). We are in the middle of The Indian in the Cupboard. Can’t wait to try your other suggestions.
Charlotte’s Web…
Also, my children LOVE when I read them non-fiction books at bedtime. Fiction they can do themselves, but they have trouble with some of the words in informational books. My children are 8,9, and 10 and we recently read Anne Frank. I had to edit parts of it, but it was a good way to introduce them to that part of history and make it personal without having to go into all of the gory/scary detail just yet.
This is a wonderful list! Thank you!
Oh… if you haven’t heard of them, the Bad Kitty chapter books by Nick Bruel (e.g., Bad Kitty Gets a Bath)are fantastic too (especially for reluctant boy readers).
although I love this list, there are quite a few titles on here that I would NOT recommend for 3 year olds…at that age, longer picture books are better and more developmentally appropriate…
Thank you! I love reading with my people (6, 5, 2 and new) and sometimes I’m at a bit of a loss in terms of *what* to read. I’m looking forward to working through this list!
I loved The Black Stallion books – I think they would be great for adventuresome youngsters. My girls are also enjoying 50 Famous Stories Retold by James Baldwin. It retells some of the most famous legends from the Greeks on up. Saint George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges isn’t a chapter book, but it was a big hit at our house. I would offer a blanket recommendation on anything by EB White. The Chronicles of Narnia is great for the 5 and up set. Any of James Herriot’s adventures as a country veterinarian in England are wonderful. There is a beautifully illustrated collection called “James Herriot’s Treasury for Children” that my oldest (7-1/2) is enjoying on her own. My younger ones like it as a read-aloud, but I find constantly showing the pictures to be distracting when I’m reading to them..
Love the list…don’t forget The Adventures of TumTum & Nutmeg! I have 3 boys ages 5-11 and it’s truly a bedtime favorite for all!
This list is exactly what I’ve been thinking about putting together for my children! You just took the work out of it. Thank-you!! A couple of books I would add: The Goose Girl and The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards is another lesser known, but great read. Also I LOVE Frances Hodgson Burnett: A Little Princess, Secret Garden, and The Lost Prince. I can remember feeling magic when I read those with my mom as a little girl. Mark Twain wrote some fabulous books as well, including Tom Sawyer and Huckelberry Finn. Thanks again!
Loved this list, you included many of my favorites, but pointed me to some new ones to reserve at the library. Thanks!
So glad I stumbled across this through Pinterest – can’t wait to share some of these with my daughter!
The Mary Poppins books and the whole Wizard of Oz series are amazing! Great list!
The first chapter book my son fell in love with was Mr. Poppers Penguins… he asks for it repeatedly still!
FTR we were very disappointed in the movie. It strayed very far from the book storyline.
Thank you for this wonderful list! It brought back many memories of all the wonderful books I read a young girl and I can’t wait to read them with my daughter.
Another series that I loved and my aunt would always read to me when we visited was the “Amelia Bedelia” books by Peggy Parish. And I also have to mention “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” by the Grimm brothers, especially the edition by Janet Lunn and Laszlo Gal.
Thank you for taking the time to put together this list!
I wanted to add The Doll People books by Ann Martin and Laura Godwin. Also, I don’t think anyone mentioned Rainbow Magic Fairies by Daisy Meadows. So far, the original series of seven has been the best.
For more reading ideas, check out What the Dormouse Said: Lessons for Grownups from Children’s Books, collected by Amy Gash. It’s a book of quotations and they’re fun to read, but also there’s a great index of all the books in the back!
Thank you for this wonderful list! It brought back so many wonderful memories from my childhood. My brother and I are both avid readers and I can remember many a late nite spent reading under the covers at bedtime with a flashlight after my parents had gone to bed.
I have read many of the books in your list and am planning on a trip to the library to find the rest. My boys are 5 and just-about 4.
A few more I would add to your list:
Island of the Blue Dolphins (this is still one of my very favorite books)
Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher
Velveteen Rabbit
Witch of Blackbird Pond
The last one is maybe not for the quite so young, though it isn’t scary just maybe too emotional for them at times. It remains one of my favorites.
Thanks again!
Great list but you’re missing one of the best ever — ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ — for the older kids. Possibly one of the best children’s books ever full of wordplay and a great story to boot.
Betsy Tacy books are wholesome, good writing, and wonderful. They focus on the friendship of three girls. They start when the girls are 5 years old and go all the way until marriage. I only read the first four which stops with the girls at age 12ish. I read them to my 5/6 year old.
Great list! I would add Carolyn Haywood’s Betsy series, begining with “‘B’ Is For Betsy.” We tried a number of chapter books with my three-year-old and none captured her attention until the Betsy books.
We have a lot of overlap on our book lists! I would add Dr. Doolittle- my kids and I loved it as well as the Indian in the Cupboard series. My 4 year old son was completely in love with this series!
Thanks so much for this list!! I found it off of pinterest. We are currently finishing up the Laura Ingalls books with our 6, 5, 3, and 2 year old. I was wondering what we would read next!
Thank you for this list! My almost 4 year old surprised me when she asked to read Charlotte’s Web, because the Kindergardeners in her class are reading it. I had to change some of the words and recap every time we start reading, but she loves it and wants to read more chapter books. I have been asking around for suggestions for age appropriate content, and people look at me like I am crazy for wanting to read my 3 year old chapter books. So I greatly appreciate this list, and to know that other people read these books to their young children.
Great list. Another good series is Geronimo Stilton. My nephew loves it and there is nothing scary in it at all.
The American Girl series; The Happy Hollisters are also great. We have to get The Happy Hollisters through inter-library loan.
Very nice list.
Please be advised that the author’s name is “ROALD DAHL,” not “RONALD.”
“Danny, the Champion of the World” and “James and the Giant Peach” are two of Roald Dahl’s works listed.
Fabulous list! One thats not mentioned is Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series of books. Those were some of my favorites growing up. Funny and great life lessons!
Ralph S. Mouse books by Beverly Cleary:
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Runaway Ralph
Ralph S Mouse
The Fudge Books by Judy Blume:
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great
SuperFudge
Fudge-A-Mania
Double Fudge
My favorites!!
Ps.. We love Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle as well!
Love this list…I also loved Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink when I was growing up, especially for those of you who enjoyed the Laura Ingalls Series with your kiddos! Going to start reading chapter books with my 3 year old and almost 2 year old soon!
A book that is good to introduce history to younger kids is Number the Stars. By lois lowry. I read it to my fourth graders last year and they loved it! !