Chapter books to read to preschooler?

[kate1482]

Not sure how to word the tile! My dd is 4 and I’m looking for some new reading material. We just went through all the wellie wishers books and she enjoyed them so looking for chapter book recommendations. I remember my mom reading little house on the prairie series, Ramona books and roald Dahl to me at this age. (I even remember her skipping parts of the RD books and the others are problematic too) any suggestions?

Thanks!

[abs]

Mercy Watson, Princess in Black

[sillygoosegirl]

We've read:
Ramona books
Betsy-Tacy books
Little House books
The Birchbark House
Mouse and the Motorcycle
Sideways Stories from Wayside School

[countthestars]

Charlotte’s Web
Stuart Little*

*it has been 100 years since I read either of these so not entirely sure but I remember reading them with my mom

[abs]

May 13, 2019 20:02:43 GMT -5 countthestars said:

Charlotte’s Web
Stuart Little*

*it has been 100 years since I read either of these so not entirely sure but I remember reading them with my mom

DD did not enjoy Charlotte’s Web at all. She said it was way too sad. I was disappointed at her reaction! She did not like anything I liked as a kid in the way of chapter books.

[lolo]

For those suggesting Little House--are you all not seeing in the OP where she talks about them being problematic?

I loved them as a child too but rereading as an adult, the racism is appalling.

[kershnic]

Princess in Black is very simple and was an excellent bridge between picture books and chapter books. My kids absolutely loved them at 4.

I cannot say enough good things about the Zoey and Sassafras series. They’re simple enough for an early chapter book, and have great science concepts presented by a female protagonist who is drawn as a child of color. Plus my kids loved them!

We’ve read the first two Boxcar Children books, which have pretty simple and interesting plots for early chapter books. Outdated gender roles that we talked about a bit, and a few weird things that we just edited out as we read (even a fat man won the foot race once! Yeah, we skipped that.) *ETA: the second Boxcar Children book does have some stuff about “Indian” artifacts that you may find problematic.

My kids love the magic tree house books but I think they’re boring.

We’re reading Betsy Tacy now at almost 5.5. My kids are enjoying it, but I don’t think they would have 6 months ago.

[formerlyak]

DS just turned 5 and likes the Magic Treehouse books and Who Is books. We are reading Who Is Babe Ruth? right now.

[devonpow]

My Fathers Dragon is a great trilogy for early readers

[pinkyp]

We're currently on the first of The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton; the set contains 4 books. I had never heard of this author or this book series before now. DD, H and myself are all really enjoying.

After we're done with this series I plan to start on the Ramona books and work our way through all of Beverly Cleary's works.

[indifferentstars]

A second vote for the Mercy Watson series! My son loves them all (6 books I think?) and they have loads of color illustrations so they were easy for him to listen to even at 4 when we were just starting chapter books.

There's also a spin-off series, Tales from Deckawoo Drive, that has the same characters but expands beyond Mercy's adventures. They're meant for an older age range and have fewer illustrations and only in b&w but they're a good next step once you're already enamored with the characters.

[kershnic]

May 13, 2019 21:56:48 GMT -5 pinkyp said:

We're currently on the first of The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton; the set contains 4 books. I had never heard of this author or this book series before now. DD, H and myself are all really enjoying.

s.

Oh!! I had forgotten about these, but I absolutely loved them as a kid! Off to find out if my library has them...

[goldengirlz]

May 13, 2019 20:20:01 GMT -5 lolo said:

For those suggesting Little House--are you all not seeing in the OP where she talks about them being problematic?

I loved them as a child too but rereading as an adult, the racism is appalling.

I so agree about the racism. For my slightly older kid, we did have a conversation about the Europeans stealing the land from the indigenous tribes, but I don’t think I could have done that with the same level of nuance at 4.

[Deleted]

Zoey and Sassafrass is super cute, I even enjoy reading them lol. Mercy Watson. Magic Treehouse. Princess in Black. I don't read books out loud that I don't semi enjoy and all those are fine.

A lot of older chapter books I've found have problematic parts and are better for older kids so you can discuss it with them, so I generally stick to newer series.

[whitemerlot]

Princess Pulverizer

Loved Zoey and Sassafras and Princess in Black and Mercy Watson is our #1!

[gigem]

Katie Woo
Critter Club
Second vote as pp above for Zoey and Sassafras
Duck and goose
Ivy and Bean

[pinkyp]

May 13, 2019 22:10:03 GMT -5 kershnic said:

May 13, 2019 21:56:48 GMT -5 pinkyp said:

We're currently on the first of The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton; the set contains 4 books. I had never heard of this author or this book series before now. DD, H and myself are all really enjoying.

s.

Oh!! I had forgotten about these, but I absolutely loved them as a kid! Off to find out if my library has them...

It looks like they're being adapted into movies too. I keep telling H how much I can picture the different lands and characters in my head:) So it will be interesting to see how everything is portrayed on film.

[simpsongal]

Ds is 5, We’re reading popper’s penguins and dh just finished the lion, the witch and the wardrobe.

[boiler717]

My son has loved Mercy Watson since about 2.5 years. I haven’t found another good chapter book for him so I’m paying attention to this thread!

[magpie]

Mercy Watson and Princess in Black for sure! We liked the Ramona books too. Dahl was a bit too intense for my kid, but she's super sensitive. She loves the Junie B Jones books, but they do require a lot of conversation about some of the language (lots of "stupid" and "dumb"). They are hilarious though. She also loves Critter Club and DIY Club, Rainbow Magic and Magic Treehouse.

[Poppy]

My 4 year old loved the first magic treehouse book so I got the next two from the library. He said they were too scary and so didn't want to read any more, but we could read the first one again.

I mostly like Mercy Watson, though if I'm being picky, there are a few themes that I don't like (being afraid of the dark, a thief coming into the house, plus some traditional gender roles stuff that's annoying to me). My son does love them though, as well as the follow-on books. The same author wrote a short series called Bink and Gollie that is decent, too.

My friend's older daughter loved Zoey and Sassafras but I figured it was too old for DS yet. Thanks to this thread, I think I'll go ahead and get it. And check out some of the other recs.

[smock]

May 13, 2019 20:20:01 GMT -5 lolo said:

For those suggesting Little House--are you all not seeing in the OP where she talks about them being problematic?

I loved them as a child too but rereading as an adult, the racism is appalling.

I'm reading the Little House books to my 4 year old right now. I edited out some things in Little House on the Prairie (the references to savages, wild men, and Ma's super racist comments), and we've talked about it a lot. Like how it's wrong for the Ingalls to take that land, and how they think white people are better, which is also wrong.

It's hard for her to understand right now that people she likes could be "bad." But it's a great way to have those conversations. We also talk a lot about history and all the ways the 19th century was different from today. We've also talked about Columbus stealing land and slavery and white supremacy today.

So I do think there's a way to read the books with kids that age. I've noticed issues with pretty much all the books I loved as a kid (I love the Ramona books, and we read those, too, but the early one have some pretty 1950s gender roles). I'm also a historian, so I'm all about understanding things in their context. Which usually means having extra conversations about it, asking questions, and teaching critical reading.

[minzy]

If you did Wellie Wishers what about the regular American Girl books? Samantha and Molly, Addy, Kit, Julie, Melody, Kaya, et al. I started those around 4 with my older daughter and am working on them now with my younger one. I think the older, six pack books with the family/friend charts and chapter illustrations are helping with comprehension.

[lolo]

May 13, 2019 22:26:52 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

May 13, 2019 20:20:01 GMT -5 lolo said:

For those suggesting Little House--are you all not seeing in the OP where she talks about them being problematic?

I loved them as a child too but rereading as an adult, the racism is appalling.

I so agree about the racism. For my slightly older kid, we did have a conversation about the Europeans stealing the land from the indigenous tribes, but I don’t think I could have done that with the same level of nuance at 4.

Yes, I very much agree with this. Definitely my four year old and I discussed race and racism often. She knows about how Europeans took land that native Americans were using even. But everything I've read says that it's too much to expect them to understand how a beloved character can be also so very wrong and racist.

You might have seen this before, but this article offers a fairly nuanced discussion:
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/09/laura-ingalls-wilders-little-house/569629/?utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=2018-09-09T11%3A00%3A01&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social

I've also found Prairie Fire to be exceptionally useful for providing accurate historical context for Laura's writing, as well as more of her personal story.

[lolo]

May 14, 2019 8:02:30 GMT -5 smock said:

May 13, 2019 20:20:01 GMT -5 lolo said:

For those suggesting Little House--are you all not seeing in the OP where she talks about them being problematic?

I loved them as a child too but rereading as an adult, the racism is appalling.

I'm reading the Little House books to my 4 year old right now. I edited out some things in Little House on the Prairie (the references to savages, wild men, and Ma's super racist comments), and we've talked about it a lot. Like how it's wrong for the Ingalls to take that land, and how they think white people are better, which is also wrong.

It's hard for her to understand right now that people she likes could be "bad." But it's a great way to have those conversations. We also talk a lot about history and all the ways the 19th century was different from today. We've also talked about Columbus stealing land and slavery and white supremacy today.

So I do think there's a way to read the books with kids that age. I've noticed issues with pretty much all the books I loved as a kid (I love the Ramona books, and we read those, too, but the early one have some pretty 1950s gender roles). I'm also a historian, so I'm all about understanding things in their context. Which usually means having extra conversations about it, asking questions, and teaching critical reading.

Those are all great things to discuss. Most of what I've read about it suggests that this type of discussion is hard for kids so young to actually grasp. I think a lot of parents might be better off addressing racial issues in different ways, such as by introducing native authors. Eventually I absolutely believe this sort of critical reading is essential.

I suggested these to goldengirlz also, but you might enjoy Prairie Fire and this article as well: www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/09/laura-ingalls-wilders-little-house/569629/?utm_content=edit-promo&utm_term=2018-09-09T11%3A00%3A01&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_medium=social

[loira]

Following this thread. My DD is 3.5 and ready for stories that are a bit more complex. Something in between elaborate picture books and the Romona series.

[lolo]

May 14, 2019 9:20:14 GMT -5 loira said:

Following this thread. My DD is 3.5 and ready for stories that are a bit more complex. Something in between elaborate picture books and the Romona series.

Have you explored early readers, like Henry and Mudge?

[annieh22]

I’d add the Narwhal and Jelly books and Frog and Toad.
Go ask the children’s librarian at your local library. They are a great resource!

Personally, the themes of some books like any of Roald Dahl’s are too advanced for 4 year olds. While they might get the words, there are ideas and theme that are beyond their grasp.

[krystee]

I feel so behind. I hadn’t even thought of chapter books for my new 4-year-old yet! Making a big list now.

[cincodemayo]

I just picked up the Zoey and Sassafras books!

I will give a do not recommend- the Captain Underpants books. My DS loves them but I really really hate them. I think I won’t read anymore of them until he can read himself.