What does your 4 year old read?

[User24689]

My DD is 4 just started reception in September. Used to love books, read a pile every night since being a baby.

Now all of a sudden she has started saying she doesn't want a bedtime story!! I'm a bit heartbroken tbh! She seems to have grown up so suddenly over a half term and wondering if she has just outgrown the books we have at home.

I know how important it is that she reads with me so she develops a love of reading independently!

So... What might I tempt her with?! What do your 4yos read? Have their tastes changed?

Thanks!

The school sends home a book for the week, so we have started reading that at bedtime. Books are all still picture books that we read in one, not chapter books yet. Books at home are things like Julia Donaldson, favourite cartoons, Mog and other books on animals.

Maybe she is just tired and full of learning after the day at school.

I read him Famous Five or Roald Dahl books, occasionally David Walliams. Some of his friends are into Harry Potter (just the early books).

We get 3 picture books a week from school, so there’s always something fresh to mix in with the old favourites. Sometimes he’ll ask for early chapter books like Cat and the King, Rabbit and Bear etc.

Simple chapter books eg the easier roald Dahl ones are a good option, mine loved the longer story

I take all mine to the library and let them choose what they want.

I find it interesting that some of you are reading chapter books already, my DS is 5 and I haven't started this at all! (He is only just 5, so just started school).

My DS likes the Julia Donaldson books, Percy Park Keeper, Mog, Usborne lift the flap books, Dinosaur that pooped, Albie books, Oliver Jeffers. We have loads of books. And books from the library as well!

At that age we started with the Enchanted Wood and read all the books in that series. A couple of chapters per night. He didn’t enjoy Famous Five till he was a year older.

My daughter has just started reception and we haven't started chapter books yet. Every few months we go to the works when they have 10 books for £10 and that keeps things fresh, old books are donated to either her school nursery or charity shop.

Enchanted Wood series
Worst Witch series
Famous Five series
Dahl, esp Magic Finger and Fantastic Mr Fox
Usborne do a "treasury" of abridged children's novels inc Heidi, Little Women, Black Beauty etc - she loves those
Pippi Longstocking
The Sheep Pig
Socks

DD is 4y9m and we have been reading these nightly since she was about 4.

My just 6-year old (year 1) is an excellent reader but hasn’t quite got in to chapter books such as Roald Dahl yet. Harry Potter would be too scary for him, I think. At bedtime he prefers books such as You Choose, Oliver Jeffries, some Julia Donaldson, Mr Tweed, Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch etc (but we do read them with my nearly 4-yr old, so I guess we have to dumb down slightly). He likes non-fiction too - we have an Usborne set of simple non-fiction including some about robots, transport, Romans etc, and they go down well.

Thinking about it I think he’d also like the Horrible Histories one’s too.

Oh and Finn Family Moomintroll, she got obsessed with that and found Thingummy and Bob hilarious.

Thanks for all these brilliant suggestions!

I do think it might just be she's worn out from school and can't concentrate on new books but is bored of the ones she's read already - we've read the Julia Donaldson books and the mog books it feels like a million times! She only turned 4 right before term started so she has found it all quite tiring!

I'd love to read her chapter books and might try something like magic finger when she's in bed or something.

Thanks again!