Another book thread - please help!

[Ceinwen]

My dd will be five in January.

We love to read together, but she is still really, really into full color picture books. It's not the amount of text that gets her (well, within reason) but she is wayyy not ready to move onto anything relatively resembling a chapter book (not even Frog and Toad type stories).

I'm feeling a bit frustrated because I'd love to start reading the Magic Treehouse type stuff, or classics like Charlotte's Web, or the Narnia books. I can't see us getting close to that for years yet.

So, anyone else with a school ager who is just into story books?

And, even more importantly - any good recs? I would so appreciate it.

I enjoy books that are a bit longer and have more substance to them (as does she) but it seems like the majority of 'story books' are directed towards three year olds. You know - a few sentences per page, not much plot, etc.

[Twocoolboys]

I think that is not atypical for 5. My ds (now 8) didn't really get into chapter books until 1st grade and then it was a gradual progression to the point where he preferred them about a year later.

In the meantime, I think there are a lot of picture books with richer stories. Jan Brett is a fantastic illustrator and her stories generally have a little more meat to them. The Trouble with Trolls is especially good.

Owl Moon (I don't remember the author) has a great story.

Other than that, I am drawing a blank right now - lol. I know there are lots of wonderful stories out there though.

Oh, you may also want to consider getting some Henry & Mudge books. They are very early chapter books with just a few sentences on each page and a few chapters.

[savithny]

Well, first of all, there are LOTS of story books out there that have LOTS of text per page -- I remember this when I was looking for much simpler books for my younger child and all I could find were these books that went on and on....

Second, you might try looking for special editions of chapter books that are heaviliy illustrated. One of hte first big chapter books we read to DS was "The Wind in the Willows," from an edition my father had heard a review of on NPR and had sent to us. (I'd actually heard the same review and made a note to go looking). IT was lightly abridged, but well done, and had a picture on every single page, and it was perfect. There are similar editions of many of the classics. Little House in the Big Woods actually has loads of illustrations (though you have to get the colorized editions to get the classic Garth Williams pictures now, I've read - or use the library).

[Ceinwen]

Well, first of all, there are LOTS of story books out there that have LOTS of text per page -- I remember this when I was looking for much simpler books for my younger child and all I could find were these books that went on and on....

I love how all we see is what we're NOT looking for. This seems to happen to me in every aspect of my parenting life so far...

Thanks for the suggestions so far - keep 'em coming!

[Hannahsmummy]

What about Beatrix Potter? They are well illustrated but are longer stories with pretty sophisticated language so hold the attention of a good age range.

[mamamook]

My (almost) 4 y.o. dd loves the original Pooh Bear books: Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. I have read her each of those 4 or 5 times, reading one or two chapters at night. Like Frog and Toad, each chapter is a self-contained story. They reference each other, but do not depend upon each other.

Yeah, we're big on Beatrix Potter, too.

[loveandkindness]

Have you seen the Flicka, Ricka and Dicka books that have been re-issued? Our library has a few and DD loves them. There is one page of large text, and an illustration on the other page. The girls are triplets in Sweden perhaps in the 30s or 40s, but appropriate stories. Magic Cabin sells the whole set, and since DD loves the 2 at the library so much I was thinking of suggesting that as a gift for the grandparents to give.

We also love Graeme Base's books, particularly My Grandma lived in Gooligulch and Animalia (which is an advanced alphabet seek and find book). He is a fantastic illustrator.

The Fox books by Marshall (can't think of his first name right now) are books with 3 or 4 separate stories in them and we enjoy those from the library also.

Good luck!

[LilyGrace]

Winnie the Pooh
A Hildebrandt copy of the Wizard of Oz
The Little Princess (The cover is pink, I forget who published it)
The Ordinary Princess (the illustrations were modeled after the old Fairy Books)
Chapter versions of the Little House books.
Alice In Wonderland

The classics I've found are usually done up with beautiful illustrations. Our Alice book had illustrations modeled on the real Alice, and there are pictures of her in the back. The American Girl series has nice pictures, and those might be about the right sort of story for her now.

eta: Patricia Pollaco books are often pretty long in text but in picture book format. She has several, so those might be something else to look at.

[tinasquirrel]

Originally Posted by savithny

Well, first of all, there are LOTS of story books out there that have LOTS of text per page -- I remember this when I was looking for much simpler books for my younger child and all I could find were these books that went on and on....

Second, you might try looking for special editions of chapter books that are heaviliy illustrated. One of hte first big chapter books we read to DS was "The Wind in the Willows," from an edition my father had heard a review of on NPR and had sent to us. (I'd actually heard the same review and made a note to go looking). IT was lightly abridged, but well done, and had a picture on every single page, and it was perfect. There are similar editions of many of the classics. Little House in the Big Woods actually has loads of illustrations (though you have to get the colorized editions to get the classic Garth Williams pictures now, I've read - or use the library).

Savithny, is this the version that you are referring to?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...310788-0916942

My 5yo DS sounds just like your DD. I have read him a few of the Magic Treehouse books and he enjoys them, but he's not quite there yet. Although, his attention span is better now than when I tried to read them six months ago. But, he has mentioned disappointment at the lack of pictures!

So, now I am on the lookout for books such as the PP described that are longer, chapter books, but extensively illustrated. The Wind in the Willows sounds like a great beginning.

:

Some books that we have that are longer, but heavily illustrated:

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

The boys really like many of the stories in this book:
20th Century Children's Book Treasury

I have no idea if this book is the type you are looking for or not, I just think it sounds very cool and it's on our Wish List!
Flotsam

Doing a search for Caldecott Medal winners might turn up some good choices, as well.

[Meli65]

My ds will turn six next month, and only started being interested in chapter books about six months ago. In fact, it was going to see the movie "Charlotte's Web" at the theater that got him going -- we read that, and then Stuart Little, and are now BIG into the Magic Treehouse books.

So, my counsel is to be patient -- I'm sure you'll make the leap into chapter books within the year. You might also try listening to books on CD in the car -- that was a big hit with us for a while.

[Daffodil]

There are lots of picture books that are appropriate for older kids. In fact, lately I've been noticing how many there are that seem to be written at such a high level that I wonder who's reading them. For instance, we recently got one from the library that I really liked - First Painter, about a young girl who makes cave paintings. My DD (same age as the OP's) liked it, but I think an older kid would have appreciated it more. I could see middle-school kids reading it - except they would probably think a picture book was too babyish.

Some other suggestions:

Look for anything by Russell Hoban. His picture books are clever and interesting enough for adults to enjoy, but entertaining for kids, too. Besides the ubiquitous Frances ones, you might try The Rain Door, The Sea-Thing Child, or How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen. Or any others you find - I love them all.

Fairy tales. We have a version of Beauty and the Beast illustrated by Jan Brett, and this version of Snow White, and there are plenty of other nicely illustrated fairy tale picture books out there.

C.W. Anderson's books about horses. There are the ones about Billy and Blaze, and some other longish ones like Lonesome Little Colt.

Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm, and other books by Alice and Martin Provensen about their farm.

A Pocketful of Cricket, by Rebecca Caudill

My Farm by Alison Lester

Magic Schoolbus books. Go for the originals by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen.

[Adele_Mommy]

My dd is 7 and she is just now getting into the Magic Treehouse books, but she is reading them herself. Maybe it is not so much the amount of words or lack of pictures, but your dd may just not be interested in the subject matter of those books yet.

The first real chapter books we read to my dd were the Junie B. Jones books, starting when she was about 5. She still loves them now that she can read them herself and dh and I both like them too. You could try some of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, though my dd was not a real big fan of those.

I find that funny books held my dd's interest more when we were first moving to longer books with more text. She loved and still loves Amelia Bedelia, but I hate those and will no longer read them to her (she can read them herself and her dh reads them to her - so don't worry that she is being deprived! ).

[hjohnson]

I sell Barefoot Books and we have several titles that would be perfect for your DD. We have The Barefoot Book of Princesses, The Boy Who Grew Flowers, The Story Tree (Tales to read aloud), Shrinking Sam, The Prince's Bedtime, The Gigantic Turnip, and The Faerie's Gift to name a few. I know it's a shameless plug for my business but my soon to be 5 year old loves these books. It can be hard to find good storybooks for the older child.

[Ceinwen]

You guys are the best! Now I have a good list to work from, and I'm totally not concerned anymore. I was starting to wonder (as an avid reader myself) if I had done something wrong to turn her off of reading. And I totally don't mind shameless plugs - you get the best info that way sometimes!

[obiandelismom]

5 is my favorite age for books! And fwiw, my son was exactly the same way at 5. I was SO itching to start in on chapter books, but picture books were just what he loved.

Here are some great 5yo picture books:

Rainbabies by Melmed (sp?)
Anything by William Steig
Most fairytales/folktales
Mirette on the High Wire
Most of Susan Meddaugh's books (Martha Speaks, etc, and lots of non-Marthas!)
The Mousehole Cat (can't remember author, but it's in the 'B's!)
Anything by Elisa Kleven (esp The Lion and the Little Red Bird)
Magic School Bus books (esp Lost in the Solar System)
Kevin Henkes books about Lily

Have fun looking! And don't rush her. Now that my ds is almost 7, and wants ONLY to have me read Matt Christopher books to him (blech!), I miss all those great picture books we used to love!

[mamababamba]

might also try the magic tree house books or other chapter books on cd first....they tend to be pretty appealing and might peak her interest in chapter books.

[ett]

Here are some picture books with longer text:
books by Virginia Lee Burton
books by Robert McCloskey
books by Bill Peet

[roostery]

What about the Brambly Hedge books or My Father's Dragon? DD loves both of those series. Lots of text but usually at least one illustration per page.