book recommendations for 4 and 6 yr olds

[justice'smom]

I would like to start reading to my sons daily, but I'm not sure what would be age approiate. I'm looking for something that will take a few days to a few weeks to finish. We read Charlottes web and that was a lot of fun, but I'm looking for something with maybe some adventure or mystery. Any ideas?

TIA,
Shelby

[travlr]

Some of my DDs (6.5 and almost 4) adventure story favorites:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (we went on to read 3-4 of the sequels)
The Rescuers
My Father's Dragon series
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

My nearly 4yo DD loves the Nate the Great series of mysteries. They are beginning reader type books so they have short chapters and are quick to read.

[seagull]

We just finished The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

[lyterae]

We are reading Pilgrims Progress and have plans to start Mr.Poppers Penguins next.

[Daffodil]

Some books that have adventure or excitement or mystery without being too scary:
The Boxcar Children
Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
the Akimbo books by Alexander McCall Smith
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Dinosaur Habitat by Helen V. Griffiths
Day of the Blizzard - Marietta Moskin
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain - Alice Dalgliesh
No Flying in the House by Betty Brock
My Father's Dragon (and sequels)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Books that could be too scary for some kids (but that my 4 year old has enjoyed):
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
Cornelia Funke's Ghosthunters series
Ronia the Robber's Daughter - Astrid Lindgren

[mom0810]

Just piping in to say I LOVE Cornelia Funke's books.

The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, and Inkheart and Inkspell are awesome.

I am just finishing reading the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series to my 4 and 2 year olds. They have LOVED them.

[Owen'nZoe]

If you liked Charlotte's Web, I'd definitely give Stuart Little a go - that's one of my boys' favorites. Also...

- Little House on the Prairie books
- Pippi Longstocking (my kids seem to especially like Pippi Longstocking in the South Seas)
- Spiderwick Chronicles - this one is on the edge of appropriate - it is a little too scary, and deals with some pretty mature themes (divorce, difficult relationship with mother, a lot of fighting/mean behavior between siblings), but my kids LOVE the books.
- Magic Treehouse books (some parents really hate these books because the author is a bit loose with rules of grammar in some of the books, but I've found they are very easy for even my 3 year old to follow, and they keep the kids interest. They have just the right amount of suspense for little ones.)
- Right now at Target on the dollar shelves as you come in, they have some adapted classic chapter books. We picked up The Adventures of Doctor Doolitle, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, The Secret Garden and several others. They are shortened and simplified from the original version. My children have been enjoying these a lot.
- We've also done adapted versions of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. We read these last fall before, during and after a trip to Hannibal, MO - the kids LOVED them. I hope they'll read the real versions in a few years when they are old enough for them.

[The4OfUs]

My 6 yo is in LOVE with the Captain Underpants series.....and I'm right there with him. It's gross, and slapstick-y and basically immature, but it's a riot and we dig reading it every night. Lots of plays on words; you'll probably want to preview one before you delve into it. My own mother introduced me to them when I was in my 20s and I couldn't wait to get my kids into them. He found, on his own, a series called "Dragon Slayers Academy", at our local library, which is a nice read as well. We've also got Stuart Little on deck, and just finished Puff the Magic Dragon. I grabbed a bunch of my old books from the attic at my parents' house a while ago and have been loving it.

My 4 yo and I are going through the Little House series, and are enjoying that.

[Bluegoat]

Mt five year old dd loves The Twits. Also, the Jacob Two-Two books are great. Both seem to be quite appealing to little boys as well.

[Owen'nZoe]

We just read the first Roscoe Riley book, and it was a HUGE hit with my boys (3 and 6). The humor is a little off-color, but just perfect for the age group. They laughed out loud at several points during the book.

[not_telling]

Moomintroll series
Ramona books
My Father's Dragon series
Stories Julian Tells (and other Ann Cameron books...these are short chapterbooks, but fun)
Narnia series

[jessaroo]

When my daugghter was 4 we read the Magic Tree House series.

We also really liked the Judy Moody books and the Clementine books.

[ferra]

bump

[Ponoma]

Are you looking for chapter books, so you can do a "chapter a night"?

Child age 4 would still enjoy and greatly benefit from books
with **illustrations and text**:
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Mr. Putter and Tabby
Tashi
Houndsley and Catina

Chapter Books:
The Magic Dragon
The Riot Brothers (for 6 years and up with the humour)
Any Jack Prelutsky (or should I say all!) Jack Prelutsky poetry books.
Nate the Great
Clementine
Ivy & Bean

[jtbuko]

The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary were big hits here this year.

And ditto the earlier rec for the Boxcar kids.