Longer books for 4 year old

[RasJane]

Ds and I just finished reading Charlotte's Web. He loved it. I was impressed that he stuck with it and we read the whole thing. This was his first chapter book. I read it of course. But now, he would like to read more books like this. I know there are thousands of good ones. But I wondered what you would recommend based on what your young children have really enjoyed. I prefer classics, but really well written more recent books are ok too.
Ds likes alligators, lions, trucks, vikings and pirates. So any book with any of these would be perfect.
TIA

[Gracefulmom]

We've read the Little House books to dd... also the Narnian Chronicles by C.S. Lewis. Started both when she was 4. She just turned 5, and we recently read the origingal (not Disney) Peter Pan... great adventures in that one!

[khrisday]

Mine loved the A A Milne Winnie the Pooh books, Three Tales of My Father's Dragon, The Oz series (we're on the third book now), The Wind in the Willows, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The Cricket in Time Square, and the Magic Treehouse series.

[mamacrab]

DD is 4 years, 10 months a we just started reading chapter books to her. First one was the AA Milne Winnie-the-Pooh. I loved it so much as a child, but to tell you the truth, dd was kind of lukewarm about the whole thing. Now her father is reading her Wille Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and she LOVES it! They are sailing through it, because she is constantly asking for it. Since your son likes adventure, that might be a good one. I'm looking for other chapter books to read, too, so thanks for starting this thread!

[Mollie]

we have also started chapter books, I just finished "Little House in the Big Woods", and he loved it. a chapter a night. Those were my absolute favorites as a child.

[Arduinna]

My dd liked the Henry and Mudge series for begining ( or was it intermediate?) readers. It's a series of books about a boy and him big dog Mudge, very cute.

[glh]

"The Animal Family"

The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell-very sweet book about a man who at first lives all alone in the woods and then meets a mermaid. They adopt an animal family and eventually an orphaned boy. My ds loved this book, we read it when he was just 5, and then read it again a few months later at his request. I ordered it from the Chinaberry catalog, but I later saw it at our local library.

[Jenmom]

some of our faves...

*anything* by Roald Dahl is big here...Swiss Family Robinson...Stuart Little (which, is a bit strange, it seems more like several stories about a mouse rather than a *book*)...Around the World in 80 Days...20,000 Leagues Under the Sea....that's all I can think of right now, in addition to the ones above...

[khrisday]

O yeah, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass also!

[RasJane]

Thank you so much for all your replies. We have also read the A.A. Milne stories and ds loves them. I had never even thought of that as a chapter book.
Our library day is Wed, so now we just have to narrow the choices
You're welcome mamacrab. This looks like a very good thread cuz of all the mama wisdom flying around here!

[LaLaLuna]

Dh brought home The Rescuers for ds (age 5) and it was a BIG hit- the language is a bit advanced, I think, but ds doesn't seem to mind and gets the story tho I think some of the nuance escapes him. The other day he strung a bead necklace so he could pretend to be Miss Bianca!

Some of the books I want to try him on next (as soon as he and dad finish the whole rescuers series...) are Runaway Ralph (Beverly Cleary, I think?) and THe Mad Scientist's Club, which I LOVED when I was a kid and saw that they've recently been re-published. Can't remember who wrote the series, though.

There are some great suggestions on this thread!

[lovemykid]

I would recommend "My Father's Dragon"
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, I believe.

[BusyMommy]

Well, they're not classics, but my class of Kinders LOVE the Junie B Jones series and the Magic Treehouse series. Of course, I cannot recall the authors-sorry!

Junie has some poor language; ie. stupid, but does deal w/friendship issues and growing up.

Magic Treehouse is excellent-each book is set in a diff. timeperiod. a bro and sis. time travel to retrieve ancient books & scrolls.

Both are easy chapter books w/some pictures.

[mamaduck]

At 4, my son loved the Narnia books. And the Indian in the Cubboard series. And Charlie and Chocolate Factory.

[khrisday]

The Mary Poppins series (totally diff than the Disney film)

E.B. White books (Trumpet of the Swan, Sturat Little, etc)

A Little Princess and The Secret Garden

The Great Brain Adventures

Anne of Green Gables series

[Elismama]

So many great books listed!

How 'bout the Pippi Longstocking books (there are 2 I think)

Mouse and the motorcycle (loved that one when I was a kid) by Beverly Cleary

The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease has great ideas on first chapter books- your library should have it- it has an excellent bibliography.

I can't wait to be doing this with Eli- we just started reading AA Milne's Winnie the Pooh this week.

-jeanie

[mamaduck]

You won't believe this, but DH is reading "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to our 6 year old, and he LOVES it. I hear them in the next room cracking up together every night.

[merpk]

Originally posted by mamaduck
You won't believe this, but DH is reading "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to our 6 year old, and he LOVES it. I hear them in the next room cracking up together every night.

:LOL :LOL :LOL :LOL

- Amy