MOOK: "Non-scary" chapter books?

[dr.girlfriend]

My son is 6, and we do the thing where he reads to us for 15 minutes at bedtime and then we read to him for 15 minutes.  His favorite books are "Encyclopedia" types -- like the Marvel encyclopedia of superheroes, How to Train Your Dragon book of dragons, LEGO Star Wars encyclopedias, etc.  I wanted to give him more exposure to chapter books, where he'd have to imagine the story in his head and follow it from night to night, rather than these books that are just recitation of facts.  We tried Harry Potter, but two chapters in and he thinks it's too scary (granted, it does start out with a lot of discussion about Harry's parents being killed).  Any other suggestions for chapter books that might hold his interest without a lot of death or scary "bad guys"?  I hear a lot about the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series -- would that be appropriate?

[zeewifeandmama]

We've done Roald Dhal and the Magic Treehouse series

[barefootcontessa]

I am not a huge fan of the Wimpy Kids books. My kids love the Boxcar Children series. Has an element of suspense without being scary.

[imojoebunny]

My kids really like the Guinea Dog books. They are cheap on Scholastic usually.

They are reading Diary of a wimpy kid now. It is not scary.

I like this list...

c-t-l.org/kids-recommend/

[h]

My kids have enjoyed the Superfudge series by Judy Blume and the Ramona, Henry Huggins, and Mouse and the Motorcycle books by Beverly Clearly, and none of them are scary. They like Magic Treehouse books, too.

We have enjoyed some Roald Dahl, but I think they can be a little dark.

My kids' absolute favorite chapter books are the My Weird School series and the Captain Underpants series. Not my personal favorites and lacking in literary value, but at the end of the day, I am happy to see my kids excited about reading regardless, and they are not scary.

[cjeanette]

Junie B Jones

[WillabyWallabyWu]

I read the Magic Treehouse series aloud to my kinders and they love it.

[smock]

I haven't read them myself, but I've heard good things about the Hank the Cowdog series.

[savan]

DS loves Magic Tree House and My Weird School. I also read him the Boxcar Children.

[savan]

Oh, and there is a Flat Stanley chapter book series that is a big hit.

[elocrates]

Favorites at our house:

Magic Treehouse series
A to Z Mysteries series
Geronimo Stilton series

James and the Giant Peach
Dr. Doolittle

[lauralala]

DS just started the Magic Treehouse series, and we've read Charlie and the Chocolate factory as well. I will be following this thread to write down all the great suggestions.

On a related note, what was your approach when your kid started to read this kind of book? DS can absolutely read them on his own, but he tells me that they "have too many words." Right now we are alternating pages - he reads one then I read one. I think I remember @mrswindycity saying that they alternate chapters. Is that the standard approach? Is there some other way to just encourage him to read the longer books (not that he has to all of the time, of course - just that he CAN do it, if that makes sense).

[InBetweenDays]

Boxcar Children
Magic Treehouse
Magic Schoolbus
Ballpark Mysteries

[h]

Mar 25, 2015 12:22:36 GMT -5 lauralala said:

DS just started the Magic Treehouse series, and we've read Charlie and the Chocolate factory as well. I will be following this thread to write down all the great suggestions.

On a related note, what was your approach when your kid started to read this kind of book? DS can absolutely read them on his own, but he tells me that they "have too many words." Right now we are alternating pages - he reads one then I read one. I think I remember @mrswindycity saying that they alternate chapters. Is that the standard approach? Is there some other way to just encourage him to read the longer books (not that he has to all of the time, of course - just that he CAN do it, if that makes sense).

When we first started chapter books, I would have DS read little portions (a couple paragraphs, the first page of a chapter). As his confidence built, I had him read more until we got to "you read 5 pages, then I'll read 5 pages" or "you read a chapter l, then I'll read a chapter." Then we started doing stuff like having him read a chapter of Magic Treehouse, then I would read a chapter of something harder, like Harry Potter. I don't think there is any one right way--whatever gets them reading and builds their confidence.

[lauralala]

Mar 25, 2015 12:32:48 GMT -5 @mrswindycity said:

lauralala We alternate pages of non-chapter books (or sometimes he reads them entirely) but with chapter books usually H or I just read to him. He will often re-read the same chapters the next day or occasionally get ahead (like the one time he spoiled a book for me, lol), but at his current age and where he is with reading I think he tends to concentrate on the reading or the comprehension, and not necessarily both at the same time. He is getting better and in a few months we may switch to alternating, but for now we do this. He is still really interested in reading them himself, though, because he will often spend Saturday/Sunday mornings just reading in his bed.

Thanks for this breakdown. DS is just a few months older than your DS1 - he's not in kindergarten yet either. I don't want to feel like I'm pushing him; I just don't know where to go with this, since he is so far ahead of a lot of other kids. They sound a lot alike with the reading in bed.

[mie]

Magic Treehouse
Geronimo Stilton

[rootbeerfloat]

Jigsaw Jones

[qcinoct]

ditto to Magic Treehouse and Geronimo Stilton books. DS1 (he's 5) loves them

[lilles]

DD1 loves the Rainbow Magic series.
She also liked the first two of the new Frozen chapter book series.
She liked the Flat Stanley chapter books and has read a lot of the Junie B Jones that they have in her classroom. Nancy Clancy and Critter Club are two other series that she likes. She has read some of the Magic tree house series as well.

[hermione]

How about the How to Train your Dragon series since there is already some familiarity?

Other options:
Magic Tree House
Geronimo Stilton
Stuart Little
The Mouse Books from Beverly Cleary
My Father's Dragon series
The Chocolate Touch
The Year of Billy Miller
The Tale of Despereaux
The Stink series (Stink is Judy Moody's little brother)
Indian in the Cupboard
Freckle Juice
Bunnicula
A to Z Mysteries
Encyclopedia Brown
Captain Underpants
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
The Time Warp Trio

[SpartanGirl]

So many good books listed in this post.

Some that I haven't seen mentioned yet that I have read with my kids:

The Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe (this could be scary I think, but my kiddos were okay with it)
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (one of my all time favorites)
Oliver Moon series
Roscoe Riley Rules series
Ready Freddy series
The Magician's Boy
The Hundred Dresses
Flora & Ulysses
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
The Best Loved Doll
The Kids of Polk Street School
Freckle Juice
Half Magic

And my kids absolutely adore the Captain Underpants books. I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but my kids laugh so hard at them.

[gibbinator]

One of my favourite books was "Gom on Windy Mountain". I think I was more like 8 when my mom read it to us, but my sister would have been 6ish.
I don't remember the first book being scary, but the sequel is more intense. It's got a couple sad parts. Maybe something for a slightly older kid, but keep it in your back pocket.

[pippa]

I also loved the Boxcar children. The books are my first memory of chapter books. My mom would read them to my brother and me and I'll always think of them as a special thing.

[darnkatz]

My Father's Dragon trilogy
Magic Tree House series
Amelia Bedelia series
Araminta Spookie series (does deal with things like vampires, ghosts, but my six year old says they aren't that scary)
Clarice Bean series
Nancy Clancy series 
Critter Club series
Disney Fairies: Never Girl series 
Lulu and the Brontosaurus 
Tumtum and Nutmeg series
Thea Stilton series
Geronimo Stilton series
Pippi Longstocking
Junie B. Jones series
The Magic School House series 
Catwing series
Ivy & Bean series
The Borrowers series
Rainbow Magic series

Some of these might be too girl-centric for your son, but I suggested them anyway. 

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 25, 2015 19:21:45 GMT -5 darnkatz said:

My Father's Dragon trilogy
Magic Tree House series
Amelia Bedelia series
Araminta Spookie series (does deal with things like vampires, ghosts, but my six year old says they aren't that scary)
Clarice Bean series
Nancy Clancy series 
Critter Club series
Disney Fairies: Never Girl series 
Lulu and the Brontosaurus 
Tumtum and Nutmeg series
Thea Stilton series
Geronimo Stilton series
Pippi Longstocking
Junie B. Jones series
The Magic School House series 
Catwing series
Ivy & Bean series
The Borrowers series
Rainbow Magic series

Some of these might be too girl-centric for your son, but I suggested them anyway. 

I'm all for strong female protagonists!

[pacificrules]

I haven't read the responses, so I apologize if this is a repeat. I highly suggest the Calendar Mysteries series. They're mysteries but are silly, not scary.

The Mercy Watson series books are really short, but are a great read also.

[Deleted]

We're reading the magic treehouse series to our (almost 3yr old) DD and I don't think they are scary.

They are definitely appropriate for his age, I think they are RL 3

[lilles]

Here is another early chapter book series that DD1 likes. There are three books: Claude in the city, Claude at the circus and Claude at the Beach.
They are written by Alex T. Smith