Beginner Chapter Books (And I Mean BEGINNER)

"But I don't want a picture book. I want a chapter book!" I hear these words all too often from the mouths of my youngest students. There is a strange phenomena that always seems to happen during the middle of first grade- picture books lose their draw. This is a sad fact but all too true. For many students (not all, thank goodness) picture books are viewed as too babyish and children want chapter books. I've had some students not even care what the book is about as long as it has CHAPTERS!!! I'm not sure if they want to be like the older kids, their older siblings, or just impress their teachers and classmates, but they become adamant that a picture book is no longer for them. I imagine that as they learn to read more fluently and hear more chapter books read aloud, their interest is piqued about this entire new section of the library that they used to pass by without notice.

The problem with this new interest is that they aren't discerning enough about what is appropriate material. Students will wander over to the 4th-5th grade shelves because, of course, the longest books must be the best ones. I have often had six-year-old students who beg to check out the biggest fattest books in the library. This is a tough age because even the best early chapter books (Geranimo Stilton, Jake Drake, or Marvin Redpost) are still a little too tough.

Because they are so excited to read this new type of book, I feel it's really important to direct them to stories that they can read successfully and that they will LOVE. Getting students hooked on a series also helps to keep the reading momentum going. A great tip to finding an appropriate series is to choose a book with a main character who is the same age as the reader. Additionally I try to help them choose books that have larger type, are less than 100 pages, and have few difficult words. The five finger rule is in full effect! (If there are four to five words on the page that the child doesn't know, than it's not a great choice.) Even if a struggling reader can't read chapter books alone, most of them are fun to read aloud with an adult.

The list that I've complied is for the chapter book beginner. These are books I would recommend to grades K- 2. There are fantastic chapter books for ages 8 and up, but I'm going even lower than that! Here are my suggestions for terrific early/first chapter books: