Average age to listen to a chapter book? - Page 3

[NolaRiordan]

We started around 4 but I made it a point to choose chapter books with illustrations-- preferably color ones. I think that helped hold their attention.

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by loraxc

I guess I've just seen a lot of parents who drop picture books ASAP. It bums me out. Picture books are so wonderful, and span such a wide range.

Yeah, it would be a shame for people to feel like starting chapter books meant dropping picture books. There are plenty of picture books that you really have to be an adult to fully appreciate, so it would be silly to assume a kid who liked chapter books was too old for them. I see chapter books as something to add on top of picture books, not to replace them. And as long as you approach them that way, I don't see any harm in starting them as early as your kid is willing to listen to them.

[averlee]

I've been reading chapter books aloud to my daughter since she was an infant. I like to, so why not?

[mama2004]

I got a copy of Wind in the Willows for DS's second birthday and we read that book and then Charlotte's Web and have since read Winnie the Pooh (much harder to follow because of the weird pronoun business) and a couple of Moomin books, and started on the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, but I found them a little too heavy on the corporal punishment/hunting motif (mostly stuff that I just wasn't ready to field questions on, because we didn't have the vocabulary).

I started with the chapter books because I have limited tolerance for books without a decent plot structure (don't even get me started on One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish), but we have loads of picture books and a good relationship with the library, so we enjoy reading lots of things. The chapter books feature mostly as bedtime stories, if chosen.

[sbgrace]

One of my kids was enjoying them a lot younger than his brother. I imagine the average is a wide range--really. What I would do is get the one your considering or a similar chapter book from the library and try it out and see how it goes. You'll know if the particular child is ready.

[St. Margaret]

We read both Pooh books and most of Alice and that sort of thing at 2yo. But DD is very into books. I know plenty of sweet, smart kiddoes who barely sit for any kind of book well into 2yo.

[plantmama]

My 6 y/o loves books but just started consistently wanting longer books/ chapter books without many pictures. I can't wait because there are so many of my favorites that I want to read with him that are really more for 8-9+
He loves to look at books like "The Way Things Work" or picture encyclopedias and will do so for a long time, so it's not his attention span so much as how he enjoys spending his time. He likes to understand what he's hearing/ seeing so listening to a book that's not his level would frustrate him.

My 3 y/o will sit for chapter books for ages. He will also sit for a feature length movie etc... but has a hard time playing by himself for more than 15 minutes.
He accepts things more easily than his brother and I think listening to things he doesn't fully understand is just not too big of an issue for him.

I agree that there are so many super picture books to get if your child won't sit for chapters. And there's so much overlap too. There are amazing picture books that are not really appropriate for 2,3,4 y/os.

[Materfamilias]

With DS we did Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little and Wind in the Willows starting at about 4. By 5 it was The Hobbit, 6 the Lord of the Rings, and now at 7 Harry Potter (we are now in the Order of the Phoenix).
The way DD (17 mo) is going, she might be moving into TLOTR next year

[PreggieUBA2C]

Originally Posted by loraxc

I guess I've just seen a lot of parents who drop picture books ASAP. It bums me out. Picture books are so wonderful, and span such a wide range. Also, for some kids I think you risk them not being really electrified and excited about books when you read way outside their comprehension.

I'm also very sensitive to children being rushed through childhood, generally. It seems like we all start everything so much earlier with our kids these days, whether that is swimming lessons or two-wheelers or computers or chapter books.

I have those concerns too. We've been reading chapter books aloud to our dc since they were newborns, but we have hundreds of picture books in our collection as well. Generally, we read the no-picture chapter books at bedtime while they lay back on their pillows (4 boys in the room together) and we read picture books during the day. With artists and writers and dc leaning that way in the home, there's just no way we'll be giving up beautifully illustrated sensitively written stories any time-- ever!

As it is, we read to all of our boys at the same time, so all of them are on the third book of TLOTR and the thired book of the Lemony Snicket Series, and they have been read The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, The Wizard of Oz, and many, many others.

No doubt they are all losing some bits at least of each of these stories for lack of comprehension, but both dh and I talk a lot to them about the stories we're reading to them, so by the time bedtime comes again, anything that wasn't understood previously is cleared up. The youngest misses about 30% of what we read at night because he falls asleep, but even he keeps up with the basics of the stories, even if he doesn't grasp the intricacies of the relationships therein.

Even so, none of our dc have ever had a lack or waning of interest in any of the stories we've read to them.

I wouldn't suggest that this is universal though, and your concerns are definitely valid. It's obviously important that the actual needs and interests of the child take precedence over any parental reading-agenda.

Originally Posted by averlee

I've been reading chapter books aloud to my daughter since she was an infant. I like to, so why not?

Us too. It was interesting to watch a few months-old babe wrench off the breast because I changed books, and while his eyes were closed, he knew that the tone had changed and wanted to see the book cover (I had switched from David Suzuki to Charlotte Mason, and the next time to Michael Pollan). Then he insisted that I read the book I finished the next time we sat down to nurse.

I think they can be acclimated to book-readin' from an early age. I don't see it as rushing though, just as me sharing what I'm learning and doing the way I do the rest of the day.

Originally Posted by annalivia

I started with the chapter books because I have limited tolerance for books without a decent plot structure (don't even get me started on One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish), but we have loads of picture books and a good relationship with the library, so we enjoy reading lots of things. The chapter books feature mostly as bedtime stories, if chosen.

We have to keep very high quality picture books because neither dh nor I can tolerate anything without plot development, character development and consistency, a knowable purpose for telling the story, resolution, etc...- you know, the basic parts of a story and what makes one enjoyable and recognisable as a story.

We've had lots of gift books go 'missing' because we can only read Things That Go (Richard Scarry) and the like, so many times before grinding our teeth and wanting to put toothpaste in our eyes....

[limabean]

Originally Posted by loraxc

I guess I've just seen a lot of parents who drop picture books ASAP. It bums me out. Picture books are so wonderful, and span such a wide range. Also, for some kids I think you risk them not being really electrified and excited about books when you read way outside their comprehension.

I'm also very sensitive to children being rushed through childhood, generally. It seems like we all start everything so much earlier with our kids these days, whether that is swimming lessons or two-wheelers or computers or chapter books.

I know what you mean. My 5yo DS loves chapter books, but gets out his picture books just as often. I can't imagine doing away with those, or even wanting to.

Also, some parents urge their kids to go off and read alone as soon as they're able, and while reading to one's self is great and should be encouraged, I think kids really enjoy being read to for a lot longer than some people think. For one thing, when they're new readers, there are some stories they would love to listen to that would be frustrating for them to try to read to themselves. But even as they get older and are able to read very well, I think they enjoy listening to stories -- I student taught several grade levels, and even the 6th graders loved it when I'd just sit and read them a book!

[loraxc]

Also, some parents urge their kids to go off and read alone as soon as they're able, and while reading to one's self is great and should be encouraged, I think kids really enjoy being read to for a lot longer than some people think.

ITA with this and have to remind myself of it often. DD is a fluent reader now, and when she asks me to read to her, it can be tempting to say "You can read to yourself." I have to remember that reading together is still important and a pleasure.

Actually, what I need now is books my almost-2yo and my almost-6yo will both enjoy hearing...bit of a tall order, though he has a v. long attention span...

[PreggieUBA2C]

Originally Posted by limabean

Also, some parents urge their kids to go off and read alone as soon as they're able, and while reading to one's self is great and should be encouraged, I think kids really enjoy being read to for a lot longer than some people think. For one thing, when they're new readers, there are some stories they would love to listen to that would be frustrating for them to try to read to themselves. But even as they get older and are able to read very well, I think they enjoy listening to stories -- I student taught several grade levels, and even the 6th graders loved it when I'd just sit and read them a book!

I agree too. In our home, dh and I read books aloud to one another- mostly dh reads because if one of us is sitting with free hands, it is usually him- and he's very animated with voices. I don't consider reading aloud to be age-dependent at all!

We also have just family read-aloud and it coincides with the boys and I having our hands busy with play for them and chores for me, so chapter books never replace picture books, but they do make the air nicer to breathe when I'm picking dried on food out from the crevices in the edge of the kitchen table.

[LaLaLaLa]

Originally Posted by haleyelianasmom

We started reading some chapter books around age 4. We did some of those fairy series books (not my favorite as they all have the same basic plot and aren't terribly interesting, but dd enjoyed them. I'm talking about the weather fairies, pet fairies, etc. books.). Then we've been doing American Girl books which I actually like and she seems to really like. They're a good length, too. Now we're tackling Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and she's loving that, too.

Aw, man, those fairies are the bane of my existence! How many ARE there? Every time we go to the library there are more!

Anyway, DH and I are both avid readers and hope our kids are the same. My DD is 5 and DS is 3.5, and I've been reading simple chapter books to them since the summertime. DD enjoyed "Stuart Little" and is now on a mission to read every single fairy book. DS likes those, too, and both kids are really into the A to Z mystery series, which I like much better than the fairies. We're working our way through some mermaid books, which are almost as insipid as the fairies, and some puppy place books, which are okay. We tried the Little House books and got through one and a half before the kids lost interest. We also read several American Girl books, but those weren't as compelling for the kids. Too bad, since I enjoyed them. At DD's ballet class last week DS listened to the first few chapters of "Mary Poppins," but wasn't interested enough to ask about it since then, although it kept him quiet and calm through the class.

I'd say if your kids are willing to sit through a book and seem interested in listening to it, then definitely start. I think DS is a bit younger than average, but he has always been cuddly and likes reading as much for the sitting cozy together part as for the story. DD was much more active and hands-off when she was younger, so she probably wouldn't have been interested in chapter books a couple of years ago.