I teach eyfs, reading chapter books to this age range is heavily discouraged. And, with the huge flourishing of children’s books I just don’t feel the need to propel these very young children into books that they will appreciate better in 2 years time.
I was reading chapter books at around five. Nobody 'propelled' me into them. I read anything and everything that was available, from the back of the cereal packet to the daily newspaper (now that I didn't properly understand, though I could read the words).
I read The Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair. I would not have appreciated them more two years later. When I first read them, I was still just young enough to believe there might be such things as pixies, elves and so on living alongside us, if only we knew where to look for them. By the time I got to Narnia, at about eight, I knew it was all just a story.
I re-read the Wishing Chair and Faraway Tree recently for the first time in many years. I remembered that feeling of almost-believing I had when I first read them. I would have missed out on that feeling of magic and enchantment if I'd been 'discouraged' from reading them until I was older.
And frankly, picture books didn't do it for me once I could read for myself. I wanted something longer, with more story, more words, something I could get lost in.