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Chapter Books to read to 6 year old

30 replies

Bobojangles · 28/03/2022 20:16

My Y1 is a struggling reader - I'd like to start reading a chapter book with him to work on concentration and foster a love of books

Any recommendations? He loves adventure, spy's, space etc but nothing too scary

OP posts:
WhatNowwwww · 28/03/2022 20:18

The Worst Witch, George’s Marvellous Medicine, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, The Enchanted Wood, Gangster Granny.

verytired42 · 28/03/2022 20:21

Definitely George’s marvellous medicine
Also The Twits
Fortunately the milk
Five and a treasure island (famous five #1)
Flat Stanley
Bunny vs monkey
Also consider non fiction - mine really prefers it - the DK find out books are good

popandchoc · 28/03/2022 20:22

I've started reading some of the David Baddiel books with my 6 year old which she is enjoying.

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AllotmentTime · 28/03/2022 20:25

Rabbit & Bear (Rabbit’s Bad Habits is the first)
The Twits & Fantastic Mr Fox

Also if he’s struggling & possibly perhaps less keen? then audio books are great, the Roald Dahls are brilliantly read. My 6 year old is not always that enthusiastic about a chapter book, but he’ll listen to an audio book at tea time!

Dailywalk · 28/03/2022 20:26

Bear Grylls has a series of books that are quite good. Short chapters with some illustrations.

StrictlySinging · 28/03/2022 20:29

Flat Stanley top recommendation

GetTheGoodLookingGuy · 28/03/2022 20:31

The Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson. I read it to my Y3 class at the start of this year and it was a great transition into chapter books because they were already familiar with the author. It has a few moments of 'mild peril' - a boy giant puts the children in the bath on a soapdish and then capsizes them, and later traps one in a jar with a wasp and makes him fight it with a pin - but nothing really scary.

I love the Jeremy James books by David Henry Wilson. I'm not sure what age they're supposed to be for (my brother and I loved them long past your son's age, and still do now as adults now, actually), but I'm starting to suspect it's the parents reading them to the children! Most of the books (there are about six or seven of them) are very episodic, with each chapter being a separate 'story' (How the Lion Lost his Lunch and Please Keep Off the Dinosaur are more linked) which might be a good introduction into chapter books - familiar characters without having to remember everything that happens in order to make sense of the new chapter. The scariest story in all of them is in How the Lion Lost his Lunch, where Jeremy James gets trapped in the basement of the bed-and-breakfast and thinks he'll stay there forever like the husband and son the bed-and-breakfast owner lost.

My Y3 class are currently enjoying The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but there's a lot of old fashioned/complicated vocabulary in that so I think Y1 is a little young for it.

Boscoforever · 28/03/2022 20:34

Enid Blyton Enchanted Tree/Wishing Chair
The Secret Seven
Flat Stanley
My Naughty Little Sister
Milly Molly Mandy
The Mr. Men! (Best ever!!!)

blackteaplease · 28/03/2022 20:38

My 6 year old loves dogman and also how to train your dragon series.

Other hits have included Marge in Charge and Boot:small robot big adventure

demotedreally · 28/03/2022 20:40

My 6 yo loves the animals of farthing wood and wind in the willows, quite unexpectedly

Dancingonarainbow · 28/03/2022 20:41

We ( Dh and I take it in turns ) are reading Harry Potter to Ds (6) . We read every night , but have figured that at this rate he will be a lot older by the time we get to the scarier books in the series!
We also have read Enid Blyton , The Wishing Chair and Charlotte’s Web .

DelurkingAJ · 28/03/2022 20:41

My DSs are both big fans of Jeremy Strong, Enid Blyton (Enchanted Wood and Wishing Chair), Polly and the Wolf and Winnie the Witch. Well DS2 (just 6) is the current fan…but DS1 (9) still sneaks in to listen. DS1 also loved Ronald Dahl (The Twits, The Magic Finger) but DS2 isn’t a fan.

MargaretThursday · 28/03/2022 20:42

He may be a little young but the Alex Rider books are excellent for spies. The later ones may be too violent for him, but the first is probably okay if you read it to/with him.
If you want him to love reading, then do something like ask him to read the first paragraph and then read the rest of the chapter-or not even that. Let him enjoy the story, and if what it takes is for you to read him some books then go ahead.
I used to do page and page about for a while with ds, then I realised that actually if I read the chapter, he used to often sneak to read another one when he was enjoying it. Win for me!

Depending on his interest/concentration levels some of these are spy/adventure.

Enid Blyton: Adventurous Four have 2/3 adventures which are WWII spy types and relatively easy to read. They're not explicitly WWII, just a mention of "The crooked cross-the enemy of half the world" if I remember rightly.
The Adventure series are also spy type, but for older readers. Some Famous Fives are also spy (#2, #4, #6, #11, #14, #15, #16, #21 from memory), which are harder than Adventurous Four, but easier than Adventure series.

Ds loved the Lone Pine Series. The first (Mystery at Witchend) is a WWII spy story (the American title is Spy in the Hills). Again it's a bit harder, so one to read to him rather than him read, but ds was totally obsessed until we finished the series!

Flockameanie · 28/03/2022 20:50

At this age DD loved being read the How to Train Your Dragon books. I just tried them with DS, who’s in y1, and he wasn’t interested though…

He’s a good reader, but not that into being read to anymore. Books he’s enjoyed reading himself are the Claude books, Mr Penguin, Rabbit and Bear, and Grimwood.

APeakyBlinder · 28/03/2022 20:54

My 6 year old loves how to train your dragon, a few suspenseful bits but nothing overly scary

EcoCustard · 28/03/2022 21:13

Dc1 was behind (way behind) with reading in yr1 and didn’t love it either. He started reading Lego comics to himself and recipe books as he loves to cook. We read Rabbit & Bear, Mudpuddle farm, Faraway tree and Dr Seuss books together taking turns to read a sentence and building up. Roald Dahl were a hit too especially Fantastic Mr Fix and the Giraffe, Pelly & me. Yr2 now and where he should be now. He picked some Faraway Tree short chapter books with bright pictures from the library last week and he is loving those at the moment.

FiveForAPound · 28/03/2022 21:28

Make sure it's something you find even vaguely interesting as well otherwise you can't do a good job of reading it night after night. I speak from bitter experience.

NewtoHolland · 28/03/2022 21:33

The boy who grew dragons
The Wombles
The faraway tree
The 47 storey treehouse (and all other storeys!)

INeedNewShoes · 28/03/2022 21:53

Secret Seven (like Famous Five but aimed slightly younger)

A dragon in Class 4

George's Marvellous Medicine

The Owl who was afraid of the dark

The Worst Witch (might be considered too girly though!) - has adventure without being too much peril

The Sheep Pig

Bloatstoat · 28/03/2022 22:05

Following for good ideas - am currently reading the 'How to train your dragon' books to DS which he loves, but we're coming to the end of them so need some new ideas!

endlesscraziness · 28/03/2022 22:12

Toto the Ninja Cat are brilliant

GibbonsGoatsGibbons · 28/03/2022 22:20

cakes in space space, robots, adventure & very very funny

Harriet Hamster Princess (bear with me!) she fights trolls, they're retelling/twists on fairy tales & she is obsessed with fractions Grin funny & the artwork is wonderful

Mine all loves The Lion the Witch & the wardrobe from that age

Tidypidy · 28/03/2022 22:20

My brother's famous bottom series
Winnie the witch
Any book by Jeremy Strong

Tidypidy · 28/03/2022 22:22

This series! Hilarious but not rude.

Chapter Books to read to 6 year old
LunchWithAGruffalo · 28/03/2022 23:23

DS enjoyed the spy dogs series, and astrosaurs, both by Andrew cope.

Olga da Polga.

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