Book suggestions, 3.5yo free reader

[VinegarDrinker]

Ex-MNer here dipping my toe back in, been away a while.

DS will be 4 next month, he's been reading for about 18 months and fluently for a year or so. He reads everything and anything, he constantly has his head in a book and we practically have a second home at the library, but I want to get him a few new books for his birthday. He reads plenty of picture books but is getting more interested in chapter books and has devoured George's Marvellous Medicine and the Giraffe, the Pelly and Me recently. But he's quite a sensitive soul prone to overthinking and so big scary baddies are out and age-appropriateness is key.

Cheers

[var123]

The Happy Families series by Allan Ahlberg? e.g.Master Bun the Bakers' Boy etc

[fuzzpig]

Worst witch series maybe? Although there are bad characters it's pretty lighthearted

[BrianButterfield]

Search Amazon for "step into reading" books - he'll probably want level 3 or 4. They're simple stories, some based on films and cartoons etc. I find with DS who is a similar age that he struggles with books for older children as he just doesn't have the life experience to get them - for example, the Horrid Henry books which go on about school, homework, that sort of thing don't appeal although he can read them. The Step into Reading ones have familiar content so he can relate to them.

[DoItTooJulia]

Sticky jam and wooly jumper are excellent for that age. Can't rememeber the author though.

Poetry can be interesting at this age too!

[VinegarDrinker]

Thanks all. The Step into Reading ones look good especially the non fiction. We have some of the Usborne and National Geographic Kids which look similar. Yup, he got a few pages into a Horrid Henry at the library but wasn't gripped as most of the references passed him by.

We have some Happy Families that he tears through in a couple of minutes. Are there any Dick King Smith's that would be suitable? I was thinking maybe Faraway Tree etc too?

[VinegarDrinker]

We have some Michael Rosen, A A Milne and Shirley Hughes poetry. He is especially keen on the Michael Rosen stuff, might try Spike Milligan. Will look up Sticky Jam/Wooly Jumper.

[BrianButterfield]

DS really enjoys annuals too - the mix of longer stories, comic strips and facts is appealing and he likes to sit and read them in bed. You can pick them up really cheaply at this time of year - he has a Lego one, Thomas and a Beano one (although needs a lot of the jokes explaining).

I just ended up ordering the Trains and Titanic Step into Reading books as they're two of his obsessions!

[LadySybilLikesSloeGin]

Dick King Smith wrote a load, they were good. Ds liked the horrible science books too (Horrible Histories may be right for him just yet as they can get a little gruesome).

[fuzzpig]

I absolutely love the queen's nose

[BlackeyedSusan]

paddington
the wombles
mister men (short but interesting words)
ricky rocket? (not read those though)
the sheep pig

[kavv0809]

Yes to faraway tree books. How about Just William?

[teeththief]

DD liked Winnie the Witch at that age (was the collection she read over and over again because they made her laugh).

Look on Amazon at Usborne young reading series. You can usually 'Look Inside' the book on Amazon so you can guage whether it's suitable or not. Level 2 or 3 would probably be best for a 4 year old content wise

[teeththief]

And The Twits/Matilda! I forgot those. She adored those and still reads them now at 8 years old

[teeththief]

The Book People website have a flash sale on until midnight

I'll refrain from cursing you for making me look and spend more money on books

[fionaf]

Usbourne Young Readers do a great selection of books at different levels including fairytales, boys adventure classics, Shakespeare, Austin and Dickins.

[staverton]

Sally Gardner eg the invisible boy
Usborne children's encyclopedia
Second the ahlbergs happy families series

[troutsprout]

The magic tree house series and horrid Henry was very popular with dd.. Also Osborne puzzle train/ puzzle planet etc series

[VinegarDrinker]

I've just caught up with this thread. Thanks for all the recommendations. I bought the Faraway Tree books and he has loved all 3 and the Wishing Chair too. In case anyone else is looking for similar he has also over the last few months read & loved:

My Naughty Little Sister
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr Fox
the original Winnie the Pooh and Paddingtons
Teddy Robinson
Milly-Molly-Mandy
The "Sophie" series by Dick King Smith
Mrs Pepperpot
the Claude series by Alex T Smith
Quick, let's get out of here by Michael Rosen
Lots of non-fiction, mostly Usborne

I've added the Wombles to the list for sure & will look up Sally Gardner & some of the others I haven't heard of. He is still a total bookworm & reads constantly so I suspect I'll be dipping back into this thread for some time!