Chapter books to read to my 5 and 3 year olds?

[brennatsi]

I am homeschooling my kindergartener and I would love to have a book that we can read over time.  Perhaps they are too young to follow a story from one day to the next, but the weather is cooling and I would love to have the choice of curling up in my bed with them and reading longer books. 

Any suggestions?

PS- Doesn't that sound nice??

[Daffodil]

Some books a 3 year old and 5 year might both enjoy: 

My Father's Dragon (and sequels)

The Jamie and Angus Stories/Jamie and Angus Together

Catwings (and sequels)

The Boxcar Children

Jenny and the Cat Club

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Little Dog Lost

Winnie-the-Pooh/The House at Pooh Corner

I read all of the above to my DS when he was 3.

[Mittsy]

We have been loving the Tiptoes Lightly series by Reg Down.

http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Tiptoes-Lightly-Reg-Down/dp/1453806342/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_1

[jaycou]

I've been reading novels to my 4 year old for several months now. (He was 3 when we started.) So far we have read:

Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
On the Banks of Plum Creek (didn't finish that one)
Stuart Little
Charlotte's Web
Ramona the Pest

We just finished Ramona last night. Not sure what we'll start reading today.

[AAK]

"Lady Lollipop" and "A Mouse called Wolf" (both by Dick King-Smith)

Toys Go Out

The first Ramona book is more like several short stories (at least it seemed that way to me) so your children don't NEED to remember the stuff that happened earlier in the book.

[Wildflower]

Teddy Robinson --chinaberry catalogue used to have it ---precious, short chapters too

[Wildflower]

Oh, also Pippi Longstocking--lots of action there ;)

[MommaCrystal]

There is a whole bunch of books about two mice characters Tum Tum and Nutmeg.  My kids are your age and they adore these books!

[Reebekah]

my 5 yr old son is enjoying Milly Molly Mandy and The Boxcar Children. 

[moominmamma]

I wanted to put in a plug for books like "Winnie the Pooh" by A.A. Milne and others that aren't so much novels as "collections of linked stories." In other words, there's no over-riding plot that one needs to keep track of from day to day in order to enjoy the sense of the book. Each "chapter" is a separate adventure. The characters are the same, but each day's read stands alone as a story that resolves itself. "My Father's Dragon" is similar: there is a very basic over-riding plot, but each chapter stands alone remarkably well. "Tumtum and Nutmeg" is another such book. We recently donated our copy to our local public school library and it was the one out of the entire stack of great early chapter book readalouds that my 8-year-old got all wistful and nostalgic about. Awesome suggestion. If you forget that yesterday's story was about the tigers, it doesn't matter at all. Sydney Taylor's "All-of-a-Kind Family" is similarly a collection of linked stories, as are Michael Bond's "Paddington" books (though these, IME, are enjoyed by a slightly older age-group because of the humour in them). "Sophie's Snail" by Dick King-Smith is another lovely such book well-suited to ages 3-5, as are Cynthia Rylant's "Lighthouse Family" books.

Miranda

[dovey]

Some read alouds our kids have enjoyed from about age 3:

-Trumpet of the Swan

-The Five Children and It

-The Story of the Amulet

-all the Oz books - the ones by L. Frank Baum are definitely the best

-Dr. Dolittle books (we do some editing to get rid of racist/sexist material, but great stories overall)

-Wind in the Willows (the language is difficult but quite beautiful and poetic - a nice book to read at bedtime)

-The Little Cow and the Turtle

[Mom31]

MY favorite book as a child was the Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

[brennatsi]

Thank you so much, everyone!!  What wonderful suggestions!

B

[JamieCatheryn]

With my 5 and 2 year old lately I've read The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, Babe, and Stuart Little.

[mommy212]

Another winnie the pooh suggestion!

Laura Wilder books

Fairy tales or mythologies- a collection of short stories might keep them from forgetting old plotlines and details

Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit) books

the Jungle Book, especially if they love animals (there is some slaying of animals, talk of revenge, etc, at one point Mowgli skins a tiger)

East of the Sun, West of the Moon is a very pretty, nicely written picture book

The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings ( a little more complex), and other Tolkein novels

The Secret Garden

A Little Princess

Peter Pan

Heidi

Black Beauty

[Coco_Hikes]

Yes, it does sound nice! Go with the two Pooh books suggested by pp. My 5yo is absolutely loving them. The audiobooks of the same are a favorite here, too (but go with the Jim Broadbent version).

[2mama]

The Magic Tree House are quick, fun, and full of adventure.  They start of short and easy and get longer and more detailed as the series progresses. 

[elizawill]

definitely "my father's dragon" series. it has been my son's favorite since age 4.

[Grace and Granola]

My Father's Dragon and the two sequels were great at age 3 and still great at age 5!  Now at 4 and 6, we're really getting into the Boxcar Children series.

[Aletheia]

We've read the "My Father's Dragon" trio countless times-- those are really great.  I have a 5 and 3 year old, too.  Our latest fascination, though, are the Magic Tree House books that got one mention by a PP.  They are sometimes a bit scary, but really adventurous and eye-opening.  My 3 year old is going to be a ninja as a result, and my 5 year old was telling Grandma all about the "Gypshuns" and the pyramids the other day.  The series is seemingly endless, and has a website which we have not begun to use yet, but probably will soon.  In addition, I was able to get the first... 16? books on CD through our library.  

We've begun "Ralph S. Mouse"and "Little House in the Big Woods," but they were a bit more complicated and not as... pressing in their story lines, so the boys were not so eager to return to them.  But with the Magic Tree House books, they can tell you exactly what happened the day before.  :)  They get a little hooked.