Would these Chapter Books be appropriate for a 3.5 year old?

[jeliphish]

I know answers are hard to get without knowing the child in question. DD1 LOVES reading and asks us to tell her stories from when we were "little" alllllllll the time, and asks for detail after detail and especially wants to know "what we were thinking or how we were feeling.
I want to start reading her some of the series like "Sideways stories from Wayside High," and the Beverly Cleary series books. I think she will enjoy them as I remember being so facinated by them when I read. I just don't want to take any of the "magic" away from the books since she may not totally be able to conceptualize (sp?) some parts. If I wait longer - she may enjoy them even better... IDK though.

I know she enjoys being read to and doesn't need pictures so I would like to start a series that we can read together each night. I feel like there were so many from my childhood but i am having a hard time thinking of more. If I do to the bookstore to search I am going to end up buying way more than I need too so any direction would be greatly appreciated.

[no5no5]

DD loved Sideways Stories from Wayside School at that age (and still does at 4) but I would not recommend it at all, as it does contain a lot of material that is intended for an older audience. I very much regretted letting DD have it when she started calling me "stupid" every time she got frustrated.

There are a lot of great storybooks that are better for that age. I'd even recommend Dahl over Sideways Stories, though his books can be scary. Have you read Winnie the Pooh? My Father's Dragon? Alice in Wonderland?

[Thalia the Muse]

At that age, I'd be looking at fairytales (because that's what my daughter loved when she was three).

[hakeber]

I loved The Wind in the Willows and Narnia as a wee one. My DS has loved Sinbad, Ali Baba and Peter Pan.

[newbymom05]

I need a good story, good writing, and age-appropriate content. E.B. White's Stuart Little was our first chapter book at about that age and we did Charlotte's Web about a year later (I was worried Charlotte's death would be too sad but it wasn't). Some others we've read have been some in the Amelia Bedelia series, Paddington Bear, Mary Poppins, and now we're reading LIttle House on the Prairie (finished Little House in the Big Woods).

My DH is the night time reader and those books have ruined him, lol. I heard so many great things about the Magic Treehouse series, but DH couldn't stand it, he said the writing was horrible and stopped after one book.

[ollyoxenfree]

I don't know why my initial reaction was yes to Beverly Cleary and no to Sideways Stories, but there you go. I think maybe that a younger child will enjoy and identify with Ramona and Henry and a lot of the situations they get into, but be less likely to get the humour of the Sideways Stories.

Winnie the Pooh is a good suggestion.
Dick King-Smith has lots of books too - he wrote Babe: The Gallant Pig, among many others.

[dachshundqueen]

We've done E.B. White and are working our way through the Mary Poppins series (8 in all).

Liz

[travlr]

You won't ruin the magic of the books by reading them to a 3yo but I've found that my nearly 6 yo doesn't always remember the books we read that long ago. We've read some again. Her understanding is on a different level now and we enjoy them in a different way.

I'd recommend (or second) starting with My Father's Dragon, Frog and Toad, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, Little Bear, Wizard of Oz, and definitely Winnie the Pooh. Finding editions with good illustrations enhances the listening at age 3. I have a younger daughter who is now 3 and she much prefers chapter books with fast moving stories and/or ones with illustrations.

If I get a book that's not working out for my DDs or me I have no problem putting it aside for a few years. We've started a few that were "too scary" (Dahl's Great Glass Elevator and diCamillo's Tale of Despereaux) and a few DD found "boring" because they were slow moving or the vocabulary was over her head, though my DD really liked The Secret Garden, which was both slow and had some hard vocabulary and dialects. My DD didn't like Mary Poppins at all. It can be hard to know what will connect and what will miss.

[kgianforti]

I have Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and the 3 Ralph S Mouse books coming in the mail.

We are currently reading a "Junie. B, First Grader" book. (our library doesn't have many of these books and I think the series starts with Junie in Kindergarten). We also have read a Berenstain Bears chapter book.

I would NEVER recommend The Adventures of Pinocchio - that is a TERRIBLE, scary book and taught me to always pre-read before we read aloud!!

[One_Girl]

My dd liked very short chapter books at that age like Flatfoot Fox, Minnie and Moo, and some of the other easy reader books. She didn't have the patience to listen to a long story that took days to complete.

[red17]

We have read some Junie B books, and I laugh; but after thinking about the behavior of Junie B I decided to hold off for a while. She can be rude and inappropriate (or is it the way I read it... hmm). Anyway, after getting a CD of the Magic Tree House books, we started getting them out in the Library -- big hit. My DD loves to hear about jack and Annie's adventures.

We've started reading Kate McMullen's Dragon Slayer Academy books. If you don't mind talking about slaying dragons, stalking dragon techniques, or some mention of blood (which i edit) the books are tongue in cheek and keep her interest. She really likes the pet pig Daisy, who speaks (you got it) Pig Latin. She remembered that Wiglaf, the main character, killed the dragon will bad Knock Knock jokes! Pretty harmless stuff, but some may definitely disagree.

I haven't read them to her yet, but I remember enjoying the Box Car Children books, and Escape to Witch Mountain, The Mixed-up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler (sp?), and Mary Poppin's.

I'm thinking of starting the C.S. Lewis Narnia books next. I'm hoping though it is not going to be over her head. While they aren't chapter books, I do like Dr Suess. Great to build rhyming skills. Plus, dd now rhymes all the time.

Originally Posted by kgianforti

I have Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and the 3 Ralph S Mouse books coming in the mail.

We are currently reading a "Junie. B, First Grader" book. (our library doesn't have many of these books and I think the series starts with Junie in Kindergarten). We also have read a Berenstain Bears chapter book.

I would NEVER recommend The Adventures of Pinocchio - that is a TERRIBLE, scary book and taught me to always pre-read before we read aloud!!

Originally Posted by jeliphish

I know answers are hard to get without knowing the child in question. DD1 LOVES reading and asks us to tell her stories from when we were "little" alllllllll the time, and asks for detail after detail and especially wants to know "what we were thinking or how we were feeling.
I want to start reading her some of the series like "Sideways stories from Wayside High," and the Beverly Cleary series books. I think she will enjoy them as I remember being so facinated by them when I read. I just don't want to take any of the "magic" away from the books since she may not totally be able to conceptualize (sp?) some parts. If I wait longer - she may enjoy them even better... IDK though.

I know she enjoys being read to and doesn't need pictures so I would like to start a series that we can read together each night. I feel like there were so many from my childhood but i am having a hard time thinking of more. If I do to the bookstore to search I am going to end up buying way more than I need too so any direction would be greatly appreciated.

[ecoteat]

I've been wanting to start some longer books with dd too. She loves Pooh so far and has memorized Ponyo. There is a strong local connection to EB White, so we'll probably start Charlotte's Web soon. The barn where the story takes place is just down the road, where EB White used to live. I haven't read Junie, but I've heard lots of people complain that they don't want their kids acting like she does in the books, so the skip them. I've also heard teachers complain that the Magic Treehouse books are written poorly and don't follow proper writing conventions well at all at a time when they are trying to model standard writing rules to kids. Of course authors should have some flexibility in their writing, but there are books of higher quality for that age group to choose from too. I'm in no hurry to read Narnia to her. When I taught 3rd and 4th grade those books were a little too much for some of those kids. I can't imagine my preschooler wrapping her head around them, no matter how bright and imaginative she is.

[kgianforti]

LOL! This is our first Junie book!! It's not bad imo and I'm really picky - maybe we "lucked out" and got an "ok" one!!

We just got the Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web books today in the mail. We are going to start Stuart after Junie.

[MJB]

A librarian I know believes that parents shouldn't read easy readers to their kids. So we wouldn't read many of these suggestions to our kids. Now that they are readers, they love discovering Little Bear, Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedelia, and Magic Tree House. These aren't really meant to be read-alouds and don't have the more advanced vocabulary and flow that helps childrens' language skills develop from hearing.
Charlotte's Web, My Father's Dragon, Ramona, Stuart Little, Little House, and the Borrowers are all read-alouds my kids have enjoyed, my oldest from 3+ and my little one from birth (by virtue of being the little brother).

[kgianforti]

[mamadelbosque]

What's the definition of 'easy readers'? Are we talking about easy chapter books, or just any book thats easy to read... I can't imagine not reading dr suess etc!!

That said, my DS1 is just turning 3 and I found "The Complete Pooh" at goodwill a week or so ago, and we've been reading a chapter/story out of that once a day and he's enjoying it, though he still wants pictures. Hopefully in a few more months I can try The Mouse & The Motorcycle or The Indian in the Cupboard or narnia again (we tried tm&tm before pooh and he didn't 'get it' w/o any pictures).

[DaughterOfKali]

The Little House series are nice. My son didn't like Charlotte's Web... He was too sensitive for it.

[travlr]

Originally Posted by MJB

A librarian I know believes that parents shouldn't read easy readers to their kids. So we wouldn't read many of these suggestions to our kids.

I don't see a problem with reading easy readers to a 3 year old to bridge the gap between picture books and longer chapter books. And actually, good easy readers like Little Bear, Frog and Toad, and the Elephant & Piggie series are written in styles that are fun to read aloud. Many are written for young audiences. Little Bear is the bear equivalent of a three year old and the lessons in Frog and Toad are about seasons and being friends- very preschool topics.

Repetition and rhyme help teach reading. My older DD just read a favorite book to me and while some of it was memorized from previous reads, she impressed herself by actually reading the sight words and sounding out some of the other words using the picture clues, rhyming, and her ability to sound out letters. Being familiar with the story made the reading easier and gave her confidence that she could get all the way through it.

I've enjoyed reading many of the Junie B. Jones books and I like being able to talk to my girls about the characters and situations. If I waited until DC were able to read them themselves we would miss out on these discussions. I personally don't like reading Magic Tree House (I can't stand the writing) and after I read a few aloud, my older DD now listens to them on CD. They're not banned, but I don't feel like reading boring books.

[no5no5]

I don't really completely buy the no-reading-early-readers-to-your-kid thing either. I think it makes sense to reserve the very easy early readers (e.g., Bob books) for kids to work through by themselves, especially with respect to kids who tend to memorize books. And of course it doesn't make much sense to read early readers that are boring or poorly written, as many are. But Frog & Toad, Little Bear, etc., are what I'd consider to be real literature. Yes, they're simple. But they're also great stories, beautifully illustrated.

When DD was first learning to read she learned best by rereading books she'd already been read. Then when she gained the confidence, she'd move on to other books in the same series and read them cold. I think that's fairly common. Of course I wouldn't suggest buying all the early readers you like and reading nothing else, until your child has them all memorized and has nothing to practice reading with, but I also don't see what harm reading a few of them could possibly do.

[kittygrrl523]

What about Mrs. Pigglewiggle books. Those might be fun. Also Amelia Bedelia books. I remember loving those when I was younger!

We tried a Ramona book a while ago and DS wasn't into it...he still prefers story books...he could sit for an hour or more and listen to a bunch of stories but he still likes the pictures! In fact he says that books without pictures are better for his grampa.