What was the first chapter book you read to your LO? How old were they, and what was their attention span like? I want to get a few chapter books through LO's book order to read with her over the summer, so far I'm thinking Charlotte's Web for sure but I don't know which other ones to pick. We haven't read any yet, so I'm not sure what would keep her attention.
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My mom read Little House in the Big Woods and LH on the Prairie to me when I was young. I remember them seeming so big as a kid, but when I look at them now they are pretty short and have a fair amount of pictures! I don't remember how old I was though...definitely before I could read on my own.
Also, if your kids don't scare easily The Boxcar Children is a great series!
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We've recently read Ramona the Pest and Ramona the Brave - DD1 (almost 5) is hooked! I got a few more in the Ramona series plus SuperFudge (Judy Blume) today.
I think I'll move to Little House next. I Look forward to reading A Little Princess and The Secret Garden, but think that those are too depressing to read to her yet (she's sensitive). Charlotte's Web is off the table for a long time for that reason. I also look forward to the Roald Dahl books (Matilda, The Witches, etc.), but again, think she's a little young to "get" them. Kids who like things a bit more intense/adventurous might enjoy them, though.
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We have been reading the Magic Treehouse series for a while. They are not the greatest books ever, but LO loves them. We read Charlotte's Web about a month ago.
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My Father's Dragon (the whole trilogy, actually) was the first one we read to DD1 starting at 4y. It's nice because the chapters aren't as long as, say, the Ramona books (which we have also done now), so I think it breaks it up a bit nicer when they are getting used to it. Plus we could read multiple chapters in one night without it taking too long! Perspective!
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I have been reading The House at Pooh Corner (my 1984 edition) to her since she was an infant.
Now that she's 4.5, she started listening to the Ramona audio books (read by Stockard Channing!), both Beezus and Ramona and Ramona the Pest. Then we did Little House on the Prairie and Little House in the Big Woods, which she LOVED, but I found I had to do a fair bit of editing around the depictions of Native Americans as she seems a bit young to discuss that historic period (Trail of Tears, etc.). We're reading Pippi Longstocking now and she asks for it every night.
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@Academicsocialite: I was eyeing Pippi!
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Mercy Watson at 3 yo
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We started reading chapter books when DS was 2.5, and we started with Charlotte's Web. We read a chapter a night.
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Oh wow reading responses is making me think I should start a chapter books with my 5 year old son. Hes been asking about Harry Potter, and the first 3 books aren't too scary (for him, he loves scary).
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I've been reading Anne of Green Gables to her on and off since she was a few months old. She's only 15 months now, so we haven't seen much development on the attention span front.
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@Academicsocialite: Did she like Beezus and Ramona? I almost picked it up today, but thought it might be too much of the more grown up Beezus and not enough Ramona to be relateable for my almost 5 year old - curious what your DD thought!
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@PinkElephant: @Academicsocialite: My 5 year old also loved the Beezus and Ramona audiobooks. After we finished listening to those we listened to all of the Henry Higgins books, which are narrated by Neil Patrick Harris (he does a fabulous job with all the voices!). I think my DD liked those even better than the Ramona books.
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We got a cute chapter book from urborne books that she loved.
We've done a few others, charlotte's web being one. She really wasn't into that one though.
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@yellowbird: which one??
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We did My Fathers Dragon at 3.5 and he loved it!
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We started with a Magic Treehouse book, and those have definitely been a favorite so far. They also enjoyed a Junie B. Jones that we read. I've tried starting the Little House books, but I think they were just a little bit too old for them still. ETA: they were 3 1/2 when we started reading chapter books, so I think Little House would be fine by 4 1/2 or 5 for them.
ETA more: We also did Paddington, which the boys loved. Each "Chapter" can kind of stand alone, but it was a good book to do early because there are lots of pictures and it was a good way to test and see if they would be able to remember the content of a chapter book.
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@yoursilverlining: Totally agree on the Magic Treehouse books. They are not MY favorite to read, but they are hands down the boys' favorite chapter books so far.
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Boxcar Children and Ramona. They loved them!
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@JessyMess: I read HP 1 to my son when he was 5. I don't think it was scary, but they are still pretty heavy on detail, so I'm not sure he grasped all of the nuance. He did understand the general plot line though and would ask me random questions about it for weeks after. We tried Matilda not long after, but he wasn't very interested.
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Does Nate the Great count? Our 3.5 year old randomly picked out one from the library and he could sit hrough the short chapters.
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DD is 3 and we have been reading the illustrated Harry Potter (she saw it in the store and randomly asked for it). She also loves audiobooks of Little House on the Prarie in the car so I might try to actually read them to her.
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@PinkElephant: She loves Beezus and Ramona! I think it's funny as she seems to empathize with Beezus even though she's the age of Ramona in the book. But it's definitely age appropriate, I think more so than the later books when Ramona herself is older, like in Ramona and her Father.
@Pancakes I think I actually did download one of the Henry Higgins books, so I'll have to see if she likes it too!
@lady baltimore: Anne is next on my list. but I may wait until she's 5 this summer. It would just break my heart if she said she didn't like it!
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We're supposed to be reading chapter books?? Wow, that's not even on our radar. We visited a preschool where they were reading My Father's Dragon and we thought it was too much for 4 year olds. Oops.
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@2littlepumpkins: I don't think you need to be!
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@2littlepumpkins: I like chapter books for bedtime as she is more inclined to lie down in her bed if there aren't interesting pictures to look at. She's very easily stimulated, and chapter books are more about listening to words and being quiet than looking at colorful, exciting pictures. She falls asleep more readily now. But like @Bao said, definitely not a must-do!!
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We tried Little House at 4ish, but she wasn't into it. Plus I had to explain animal butchering. Hahaha forgot that part!
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