https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:48:51 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/transitional-book-ideas#post-2631390 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 21:09:52 +0000 Pancakes 2631390@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I tried Roald Dahl at that age with my DD, but The BFG was too scary for her and Matilda was too wordy, so we decided to revisit those later. Around that age she got a Frog and Toad Treasury and we still enjoy that from time to time. I'll second Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa, and the Penny books (we both just adore Kevin Henkes). We started reading my old Boxcar Children books around that age, and those were the first chapter books that she read to herself, I believe. Also, I thought she would be way too young, but when she was around 3, my DH started buying her children's biographies (like the Who Was...? series, and B&amp;N had a great series that are mostly being discontinued, I think). He read those to her at bedtime and now at 5 she reads them herself and loves them. We haven't read Mercy Watson yet, but my nephew enjoys that series. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/transitional-book-ideas#post-2631360 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 20:15:59 +0000 erinbaderin 2631360@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What about Ramona the Brave? I think she's about that age (I know she starts kindergarten in the first book) so it might be nice for your daughter to have a heroine her age. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/transitional-book-ideas#post-2631312 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 19:17:08 +0000 PinkElephant 2631312@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Have you read any of the following...or are you looking for something more difficult in terms of reading level?</p> <p>Cowgirl Kate &amp; Cocoa (series)<br /> Zelda &amp; Ivy (series)<br /> "Penny &amp; Her. &lt;Doll, Marble, Song&gt;..." books by Kevin Henkes<br /> Henry &amp; Mudge<br /> Annie &amp; Snowball<br /> Iris &amp; Walter<br /> Hopscotch Hill School<br /> Robin Hill School</p> <p>My sister is a library page and these are the books she started recommending for us (in ascending order of difficulty) when DD1 was 3/3.5 and getting a little beyond some of the traditional picture books we were reading. Also, some of the books I tend to think of as very classic "picture books" (the Eloise and Madeline series, for example) have a TON of words and read more like chapter books. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/transitional-book-ideas#post-2631301 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 19:07:44 +0000 Mrs. Train 2631301@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>my kids absolutely love reading chapter books that have a movie. Then when we finish the book they get to have a special movie night. We did Charlotte web, charlie and the chocolate factory, BFG, James and the giant peach. They love reading the books together and then they get really excited about their movie. At four my daughter was able to watch the movies and tell me how they were different from the books. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/transitional-book-ideas#post-2631264 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 17:40:10 +0000 deerylou 2631264@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is 3, and we started chapter books over the summer. She loved My Father's Dragon and we've recently started the Magic Treehouse series. The first book was a hit, since it was about dinosaurs; her favorite. I recently picked up Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Magic, for Halloween. I loved those books as a kid, so I hope she likes them, too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/transitional-book-ideas#post-2631249 Mon, 03 Oct 2016 17:18:00 +0000 rnmcdonnell 2631249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I want to mix up the type of reading I do with my almost-4-year-old beyond all picture books. We have some early readers but I find them to be rather boring since the focus is on keeping the words/sentence structure/plots short and sweet. I looked on Amazon for chapter books, but there are SO many options it's sort of overwhelming. And I know the age/grade recommendation is for reading level and appropriateness, but I don't know how to gauge it if I'm the one reading and she's following along.</p> <p>So, does anyone have any recommendations for chapter books/series that might be good as a first foray for a 4 year old? Thanks for any ideas!!</p> <p>ETA: Or maybe there are interesting early readers or similar that people would recommend? We've done some Elephant and Piggy, Little Bear, and a couple others. They're fine but don't seem to capture her attention (or mine) all that much, and they are rarely in the category of repeat requests. They come out when she's bored with the current selection of picture books. </p>