Best Books for an Early Reader

[dogmom327]

My 4 year old DS can read at a 1st grade level and we are struggling with which books to provide.  He loves reading all the early readers he can get his hands on but I'd really rather he not read the junky books based on movies, TV shows, etc.  More classic books would be preferred!  I also want to balance him feeling like he's succeeding and can make it through a book while continuing to be challenged. We are planning to use a combination of Charlotte Mason and Classical Ed with him.

Besides the Little Bear books (getting those from the library), are there any others that are of higher quality than the standard early readers that are out there now?

[MamaMonica]

Cynthia Rylant has some nice ones. The Lighthouse Family is very sweet.

[Stacey B]

I agree on the Cynthia Rylant ones. Ds love the Henry and Mudge stories, Frog and Toad books are also another favorite here as well as The Mouse Tales and Mouse Soup books.

[Softmama]

Is he passed the Dear Dragon books?  Those are cute and my son loves reading them to us at bedtime.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Elephant and piggie!

[tankgirl73]

Subbing for my 4.5yo daughter at about the same reading level and just starting to really WANT to read, too!  :)

[treemom2]

My DS loves to read!  He enjoyed the Little Bear books, Frog and Toad, Fly Guy books by Ted Arnold (these were his fav for a long time), he's now reading Nate the Great and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  He also loves being read to.  We read every night as a family and some of his nightly favs have been:  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Old Yeller, and now that he's 6 we've been reading Harry Potter (he likes to read ahead by himself in the books then we read them aloud at night).

[AAK]

We recently discovered "Down Girl and Sit" books.  There are four and are great for beginning readers.  They are technically an early chapter book, but the level of text is still easily decodable (check the "look inside" section from amazon to see some of the text).  If it is too hard for now, keep them in mind for later.  My kids found the books very funny and I loved them too!

http://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Than-Squirrels-Down-Girl/dp/076145571X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313204369&sr=8-1

Amy

[dogmom327]

Thank you for the great ideas!  Headed to the library today :)