chapter books for almost 5 yr old?

[omelette]

My son is very interested in reading chapter books; he's not actually reading yet but he's interested in having them read to him.  I'm looking for something that would be appropriate for his age group.  He scares easily.  We have picture books that we don't read at night b/c they scare him, something like Tacky the Penguin where the hunters come gives him a scare, we just read a silly pirate story and one pirate wore a mask and we can't  read that one at night.  

I'm not sure if he's still a little young or if there is something out there.  Suggestions?

[indigosky]

There are a bunch of websites with great collections of ideas on this subject, such as:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/R3VD1DZIILUXT7

http://www.daddyread.com/prechapter.html

http://mommysavers.com/boards/toddlers-preschoolers/10159-chapter-books-preschoolers.html

I know there are many more I've come across (I made my own collected list in a Word file) -- maybe from the Mothering archives?

[SweetPotato]

My dd loved Charlotte's Web, Alice in Wonderland, The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe, all the Magic Treehouse books, Encyclodepia Brown books, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  :)

[limabean]

I second the Magic Treehouse books (they're all pretty gentle, except for one sort of scary part in the Mummy book that I glossed over). Also the Little House series, and The Secret Garden. 

[staceychev]

We read The Wizard of Oz and Charlotte's Web when DD was four and she really liked them. I wanted to read Stuart Little, but we were kind of getting out of a chapter book phase when we started it, so we never finished it. She enjoyed the few Magic Treehouse books we read, but I honestly can't deal with reading them because they're so horribly written. 

[Flower of Bliss]

 My four year old has absolutely LOVED the Ramona books.

[Daffodil]

Some fairly mild books that haven't been suggested yet:

My Father's Dragon (and sequels)

Winnie-the-Pooh & The House at Pooh Corner

Jenny and the Cat Club (and sequels)

The Boxcar Children

the Catwings series

The Children of Noisy Village

The Children on Troublemaker Street

Pippi Longstocking (and sequels)

Emil in the Soup Tureen (and sequels)

Emmaline and the Bunny

Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley?

Betsy-Tacy (warning: a baby dies in one chapter)

All-Of-a-Kind Family (and sequels)

Happy Little Family

Toys Go Out

Comet in Moominland (and sequels)

The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Alice in Wonderland

[SparklingGemini]

Three Tales of My Father's Dragon (This version has all three stories in one book. Sounds like your DS is a bit sensitive though, so you may want to read through it first.)

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Mandy

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (I LOVE this story. I cannot say enough wonderful, fabulous things about this book. It's fantastic.  My three year old adores it too!)

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread

Strawberry Girl

In Grandma's Attic (Looks like they just re-released it!)

The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook

Fog Magic

The Little White Horse

The True Gift: A Christmas Story (This is a Christmas story but it's absolutely charming! Sweet enough to be read year round.)

The Storm (The Lighthouse Family) (There are more in the series.  All good.)

Sarah, Plain and Tall

The Indian in the Cupboard

The Castle in the Attic

Because of Winn-Dixie

The Water Horse

Nim's Island(Don't let the movie tie-in cover dissuade you. The book is really fun and adventurous.)

Because of Winn-Dixie

The Hundred Dresses

The Dragon's Child

[redpajama]

My kids (4 and nearly 6) enjoyed Little House in the Big Woods and have asked me to read Little House on the Prairie.  My son *loves* the Magic Tree House books, but I think they work really nice as a first read-to-yourself chapter book, which is how we've used them.  He also likes a series called Ready (or Reddie?) Freddy--which I've actually never read.  They read one at his school (our loud) and he's read another 1-2 to himself.

[kgianforti]

Magic School Bus!

[Cujobunny]

We read the entire Magic Treehouse series to ds before he could read (so he was early 4), now he likes A-Z Mysteries.

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

I don't have any books to add here, but wanted to caution that my DD scares easily, and a couple of books on the lists here scared her. She found The Dragon's Child particularly scary (I started editing as I read - but it's a great book and I am looking forward to reading it with her again when she's a bit older). Mind you, Paddingon also caused her some anxiety, so she may just be an extreme LOL.

Catwings went down extremely well here, as well as quite a few others on this list.

Love seeing The Little White Horse on someone's list. That's my favourite book of all time!

[LittleYellow]

Also the Doll People and it's two sequels and the series of Paddington chapter books.

[gmvh]

Lots of good suggestions!  We love, love, love The Adventures of Tumtum and Nutmeg.  It's a new book, she's now written a second and they've been perfect for our b/g twins.

[LynnS6]

My easily scared kids couldn't do Magic Treehouse until they were 5-6. There's mild suspense, and that was too much for them.

Books that I like:

Mercy Watson series (6 books, good bridge to chapter books -- they've got chapters, but they're short and the illustrations are great)

Cam Jansen - mysteries, but no suspense

The Mouse & the Motorcycle (and following books, Runaway Ralph, Ralph S. Mouse) by Beverly Cleary

Mr. Popper's Penguins

The Littles

The Borrowers personally I like these better than the Littles, but the Littles is written for a lower level (ages 4-8) than the Borrowers

[omelette]

Thank you for all the suggestions.  DS will be so excited to start a chapter book.

[bdoody11]

What about the Frog and Toad books? Like others they are not specifically chapter books, but they have short stories and are illustrated.

[asraidevin]

Geromino Stilton. My 8-year-old has read nearly every book in the series.

[leighi123]

I've read my 3.5yr old every book in "The Littles" series.  Its about little tiny people, and the stories are all non-violent/scary, easy for kids to understand/picture, and keep his attention.  There are ocassional pics in the books, but its also written in a way that they can visualize.   Its also easy to read outloud.  

He also has really enjoyed the Rohld Dahl books - Charlie and the chocolate factory, the BFG, James and the Giant Peach.  And some of the Beverly Clearly books - Henry Huggins, and all of the mouse and the motercycle books.