Good Chapter Books for Young Children

I first read a chapter book to my daughter when she turned 4. She loved it and much prefered the longer format to the picture books she had been reading up to then. If you feel that your child is ready for chapter books, there are several good one available for 4 - 8 year olds.

While early readers may be able to read these books by themselves, it may be better for a parent to read to them because some of the vocabulary and concepts may be a bit too advanced. You can broaden your child's knowledge and vocabulary by reading to them.

See Mystery Chapter Books for 4 to 8 Year Olds and Educational Chapter Books for 4 to 10 Year Olds for more chapter books for this age group.

These books are meant to be read in order because the story continues from book to book. There are more than 40 books in the series. The Magic Treehouse books have been around for a while, so you may be able to get them from your local library. These books don't have any color pictures but they do have some black and white pictures.

The books follow the adventures of 8 year old Jack and his 7 year old sister Annie. They find a magic treehouse in the woods that only they can see. They are able to go back in time using it. In their first adventure, they go back to the time of the dinosaurs. In other mysteries, they travel to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Japan, the Titanic, meet William Shakespeare, run into Vikings, and many more.

Each book is approximately 70 pages long. These books are good for 4 years and up.

This is a new series of chapter books based on the Martha Speaks picture books and PBS series. Martha Speaks books and shows creatively teach vocabulary. They weave sometimes very complex vocabulary words into a larger story. While you can easily get Martha Speaks picture books from the library, you most likely will not find the chapter books yet.

Martha Speaks is based on the adventures of a talking dog named Martha, her owner Helen and Helen's friends. The Martha Speaks chapter books are very colorful and have pictures on most pages. If your child absolutely won't read a book without colorful pictures, Martha Speaks is a great introduction to chapter books. Currently only a few chapter books are available. Hopefully many more are coming. Each book is about 90 pages in length.

The strange and unusual characters and events in the Roald Dahl books should be fascinating to many young readers. However, some of Dahl's books may not be appropriate for all young readers. Of course, you can always edit out anything you don't think is appropriate or that you think may frighten or upset your child. It might be a good idea to quickly scan each book to see if it is appropriate before reading to your child. These books should be available at your local library. 

This is a new series of chapter books for fans of the Disney Princesses. Since these books are new, you may not be able to get them from your local library. These books have color pictures on several pages but most pages are text. Currently there are only a few books available. These books are approximately 90 pages in length. The books are not based directly on the movies.

There are Junior novelizations of The Princess and the Frog and Tangled that are based on the movies. You can also find Junior novelizations of other movies, such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

Currently there are only 3 of the TinkerBell Junior Novels based on the 3 Tinkerbell movies: Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue and Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure. These novels are appropriate for 5 and up.

Some classic novels can easily be read to young children. You may have to edit out some things that you may consider inappropriate to introduce to young children or things that may go over the heads of young children, if you read the originals. If you have an ereader you may be able to get some of these books for free. Look at websites like www.gutenberg.org. You may also be able to get junior editions of some classics. Some good books are:

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Charlotte's Web by E. B. White
• Call of the Wild by Jack London
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum
• Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (A junior edition is probably best for this age group)
• The Adventures of Pinocchio

There are two chapter books and two books of verse in the original Winnie the Pooh series by A. A. Milne. The chapter books are Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. These books are extremely funny. Children familiar with the original Disney shows will enjoy reading the original stories. These books should be good for ages 5 and up. Again, you should be able to find these at your local library.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle is a series of books written by Betty MacDonald. She lives in an upside down house, which is as you can imagine very popular with the local children. Whenever parents have a problem with their children's bad behavior or bad habits, they contact Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, who always comes up with interesting cures.

These books were written in the 1940's. These books may be available at your local library. The Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series is good for ages 5 and up.