Read Aloud Books as good as Dahl's Willy Wonka?

[Subhuti]

My kindergartner and I are enjoying reading aloud Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. While we read simpler books, she and especially I love more complicated chapter books that we can read over several nights.

Any suggestions?

We loved the Little House on the Prairie Series and Doctor Doolittle. I'm used to "editing on the fly" for stuff / words that are too complicated.

But Mom needs a more clever plot and better writing than some of the books geared to her age.

We took out James and the Giant Peach, looks a little darker ... will try that next. Any and all suggestions welcomed!

Are the Moomin (sp?) too complicated for her now??

Liz

[Daffodil]

I think the Moomin books would be a great choice. Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll are the first two. I don't think they're any more complicated than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Some other possibilities:
Ramona the Pest - Beverly Cleary
Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren
Emil in the Soup Tureen - Astrid Lindgren
The Children of Noisy Village - Astrid Lindgren
No Flying in the House - Betty Brock
The Five Sisters - Margaret Mahy
Charlotte's Web - E.B. White
Winnie-the-Pooh - A.A. Milne

[tinybutterfly]

The Neverending Story-Michael Ende
The Hobbit-J.R.R. Tolkien
The Borrowers-Mary Norton

[vbactivist]

A good resource for read aloud ideas is Jim Trelease's "REad Aloud Handbook"

http://www.amazon.com/Read-Aloud-Han.../dp/0143037390

[ollyoxenfree]

The Moomin books are a great choice.

Eva Ibbotson has some nice read-alouds, along the Roald Dahl-style. If she isn't disturbed by magical critters and a little adventure, try The Secret of Platform 13, and The Island of the Aunts.

[Thalia the Muse]

Misty of Chincoteague, Marguerite Henry
The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White
The Cricket in Times Square, by somebody or other -- George Selden?

And everything Daffodil mentioned!

[A&A]

We just read The Magician's Elephant out loud and all loved it.

[greenmom4]

The Phantom Tollbooth
Charlotte's Web
Fudge/Superfudge
The BFG (another Dahl book)
The One in the Middle is the Green Kangaroo

[sunnylady303]

We did Rats of NIMH and my girls loved it.

[fruitfulmomma]

Freddy the Pig series by Walter R. Brooks - an older series about talking farm animals and their adventures - my kids love these!

Just picked up a couple at the library that I am reading myself to see if they are okay 1)Nathanial Fludd: Beastoligist - The Flight of the Phoenix is the first in the series. I finished it in a few hours but you could probably read 2-3 chapters a night with a child. 2) The Far Flung Adventures of Hugo Pepper - I'm about half-way through and so far it is pretty good. Lots of different stories being woven together around the main character Hugo, who was raised in the Frozen North by adoptive parents and has set out to learn about his biological family and roots.

Let's see... The Wilderking Trilogy - It is an allegory of the story of David and Saul from the Old Testament, written by a Narnian scholar. There is war/fighting going on in it.

Nim's Island and Nim at Sea

Rikki Tikki Tavi

The Boxcar Children

Five Children and It, The Treasure Seekers, and others by Nesbit

Heidi

I liked the first set of the Spiderwick books but they did have some darker parts in them - like the mom gets kidnapped. I started the second set of them and just did not like the way they were written.

My girls also like the Milly-Molly-Mandy (Brisley) and Betsy-Tacy (Lovelace) series of books.

[Subhuti]

Ladies-

I want to thank each of you individually but am laid low by our fifth sixth ... who knows ... cold of the season. I am coming out my fog to read this and I am, once again, bowled over by the collective richness of this community.

And I know it takes time (and brain cells) to sit and type out your suggestions .... THANK YOU ... because it REALLY will be used by me and enjoyed by my entire family.

THANK YOU.

I think I am going to start w/the Boxcar children... I remember loving that as a child ... and I am going to work my way thru EACH AND EVERY suggestion you guys made.

Thanks SO much.

Will report back as we do so...

Liz

[Panserbjorne]

another vote for the Phantom Tollbooth!

[napless]

Anything by Eleanor Estes (The Moffats, Ginger Pye, and more).

Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Anything by Edward Eager.

Abels' Island.
Dominic.
The Real Thief.
(all by William Stieg - he also has some good picture books)

[ollyoxenfree]

Perhaps some older classics - The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland....

[mammastar2]

I would second tons of the recommendations here, and add a couple:

- Mr. Popper's Penguins

- My Father's Dragon (it was a huge, repeated hit here, and it has sequels!)

- Mary Poppins

- Harry the Poisonous Centipede

Enjoy!

[sapphire_chan]

Dick King-Smith's books, particularly Harry's Mad