What age for 'proper' (chapter) books?

[MudAndGlitter]

DS is almost 3, loves being read to and wants a 'proper book like DSD'.
The book people have the Roald Dahl collection for £15 but I can't remember how old I was when I was read them or read them myself.
Is he too young for a proper book?

I think it varies very much according to the child. My DD is 5.1 yo, and we have only recently begun to share chapter books. We're running a mixed economy at the moment: some picture books, and some chapter books. I certainly don't think it would hurt to try something quite straightforward with your DS. But I wouldn't advocate giving up picture books altogether yet, as I think they have so much to offer a child.

I find it quite difficult to find chapter books with full colour illustrations to help bridge the gap between picture and chapter books, but we've had some success with the Noddy books. Hopefully, others will come along wiht their recommendations as well.

How about "Winnie the Pooh"? Technically chapters, although each is a separate story. Would that fit the bill?

It might do. I've got my old Winnie the pooh book in the box of books I want to read to the DCs so I'll see if he likes it.

The Roald Dahl books are great. Find the one with the least pages and read a chapter with your ds and see if he copes with it. If he doesn't get the waiting for the next chapter thing or is bored then you can put the books away and try again when he's a bit older.

He might struggle to keep up with the storyline of Roald Dahl stuff maybe? I have a slightly precocious reader who has just graduated onto reading 'proper' books by herself but it's hard to find stuff that's pitched at her level (she is not quite 4.5). She is enjoying the Winnie The Witch box set of ten from The Book People at the moment, though, perhaps something like that is worth a try?

PS - the Winnie books are divided into four short stories, so you don't have to follow one story for the whole book, which is why I think they have been good for my DD.

I started with chaper books at about 4/5 I think when they started school. SD started with Rainbow fairy and the boys with secret seven, moving on to famous five

We don't read chapter books yet but DD enjoys the Milly Molly Mandy stories, and My Naughty Little Sister.

Roald Dahl books such as 'The Enormous Crocodile' and 'The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me" are not too long for younger kids.

I've been reading chapter books to dd since about age 4. The ones we've enjoyed are:
Dirty Bertie
Rainbow Magic
The Worst Witch
Horrid Henry
Flat Stanley
Winnie the Pooh

We got the enormous crocodile out of library which we must of read 20
times! He had just started reception at that time. It was chapter books from that point really. Agree with dirty Bertie as it has quite short chapters and seems pitched for an early age.

Agree at that age chapter books really need to be a separate story per chapter. THey a re too little to remember a whole story from one night to the next. If the same characters feature its much easier.
Naughty Little sister
Paddington
Wombles etc all work on this basis

I bought my DD (6) The Dinosaur Diary by Julia Donaldson at xmas. It's really good, very short book, but more 'book-y' iyswim. I has some illustrations, but it's a proper book with chapters and lots more words than pictures. DD loved it, and reads it herself now after we sat and read it on a couple nights before bed.

Will keep an eye on this thread for more suggestions.

Oh, just remembered another book - Buddha at Bedtime. DD loves that too, each story is about 4/6 pages, starts with a full page illustration and then it's just the story with the odd picture on the following pages. The stories are lovely, nicely written, based on old fables and 'moral of the story' type of scenarios. It's probably my favourite bedtime book.

I agree with something like Shirley Hughes. At 4 my DD fell in love with the Tashi Books - you can get the Big Book of Tashi with has lots of stories together (it is a big book) and we read one story a night. The best bit is that it is an adventure story so they feel quite big and grown up, but because it is Tashi telling the story of his adventures, my daughter never once worried about whether he would be alright. And there is always the Second Big Book of Tashi if he likes the first one. (We read that too!)

Or how about a big compilation book of stories aimed at younger children? DD also liked Michael Morpurgo's Aesop's Fables that someone got her when she was about 2 1/2. Good pictures too.