Chapter books to read aloud to 5 year old

[Asleeponasunbeam]

What books have your children loved at this age? I'm not looking for books for DD to read herself. She can cope with fairly complex language but no peril, or very little anyway!
So far, we've enjoyed:
Various Enid Blyton - fairy stuff and Secret Seven
My naughty little sister
Milly Molly Mandy
Teddy Robinson
Mrs Pepperpot
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf
Roald Dahl - Charlie, James, The Twits
The owl who was afraid of the dark and others in the series
Mary Poppins (very complex but she asks for it regularly).

What else would you suggest for now? I don't like to try things too soon in case they put her off. She is very sensitive!

[Quangle]

Dribblesome Teapots is good for reading aloud - no threat.

[mrsmortis]

I've been reading Swallows and Amazons to my girls and my eldest is 6. Next on the pile is Little House in the Big Woods.

[margaritasbythesea]

Thanks for the BFG tip! I did just surreptitiously skip the Bloodbottler chapter tonight. I'll have to go back and read it myself to check we didn't miss anything important!

Thanks for all the suggestions. Not my thread, but I'm gonna steal 'em!

[BerniceBroadside]

If she can cope with Enid Blyton and naughty little sister I expect she'll cope. Makes for a bit of a history less too. Earlier we discussed coalmen and coal sheds.

[Asleeponasunbeam]

I loved Ramona as a child. I wonder how well DD would cope with the dated Americanisms. Maybe the Fudge books too.

[BerniceBroadside]

Flat Stanley

The Ramona series

[pinkseal]

The Junie B. books by Barbara Park
Princess Disgrace books by Lou Zuenzler
Billy Bonkers books by Giles Andrae
Oliver Moon books by Sue Mongredian
Angela Nicely books by Alan Macdonald

[tassisssss]

Our 6yo is currently very much enjoying My Naughty Little Sister.

Had forgotten Daisy and Claude, her 8 year old big sister loved these!

The Dick King Smith Sophie books are great too.

[Asleeponasunbeam]

I plan on getting some Claude soon. Have heard lots about them.

If you're already 6 chapters into BFG you're way past the scary bits! My DD wouldn't cope with the descriptions of the baddie giants in chapter one!

[margaritasbythesea]

Is the BFG that bad? I have just started it with DD (7) and DS (4.5). All I really remembered was the funny language but 6 chapters in I am wondering how nightmare-inducing it might get.

[MuddlePuddle]

Claude by Alex T Smith are by good: www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=alex%20t%20smith%20claude%20books&sprefix=Alex%20t%20smith%2Cstripbooks%2C266&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Giggler Treatment and the 'Rover' books by Roddy Doyle are also very good:
www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_0?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A266239%2Cn%3A291759%2Ck%3Aroddy%20doyle%20childrens%20books&keywords=roddy%20doyle%20childrens%20books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422737018&rnid=1025612&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Asleeponasunbeam]

We really enjoyed all the Jill Tomlinson animal books but have finished our set now. Faraway Tree and Wishing Chair series have been popular (read twice) but a few bits needed to be skipped over the first time round! Oh those scary horror escapades that Silky and Moonface get up to!

Thanks for the ideas, I'll be following them up.

[fattymcfatfat]

Oh black beauty by anna sewell! But maybe wait until she is a bit older for that one as it is quite upsetting in places. I was 7 when I read that cover to cover in two nights! I loved it but it made me cry

[campfan]

Amazing esme by Tamara macfarlane- fab!
Agree pippi longstocking
? David Walliams

[fattymcfatfat]

Enid blyton was my favourite author as a child and I have just bought my ds a load for christmas! He six and loves to read anything and everything. At the minute we are reading Harry Potter....I now know more about it than I ever wanted to! (Harry potter was released when I was the right age to read it but have never been interested or watched the films). My ds is a very advanced reader but still enjoys stories with me! Sometimes we even revert back to julia donaldson! Horrid henry worked well for him but with yours being a girl she may not be that interested in them?

[Cedar03]

Jeremy Strong books - some of these are really silly. My daughter loves 100 mile an hour dog and one about the Indoor Pirates
Finn Family Moomintroll?
Pippi Longstocking
The wishing chair stories by Enid Blyton (although in this and the Far Away Tree there is a lot of mild peril)

[Asleeponasunbeam]

Oh yes, we've read some Dick King-Smith too. They're lovely. Just pitched right for her.

[AliceinWinterWonderland]

And you can often buy loads of different Horrid Henry books at Poundland, so not too expensive either.

[AliceinWinterWonderland]

Ds2 likes Horrid Henry books - there are easy level ones as well. Each "section" is a complete story, so no issues with him not remembering the next night what happened the night before.

[BertieBotts]

Dick King Smith.

[Asleeponasunbeam]

Well, I wouldn't try Matilda or The BFG! The peril in the others I mentioned has been manageable. Definitely wouldn't cope with Cruella DeVille.

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

[BlueChampagne]

I'm not quite sure how 'little or no peril' sits with Roald Dahl, so here are some some we found popular about that age:

101 Dalmatians
Charlotte's Web
Winnie the Witch for older children
Katie Morag
Janet Reachfar
The Wizard of Oz

Second Worst Witch

[Leeds2]

Paddington

Iggy & Me

[cazzmags]

Enid Blyton's Wishing chair.

[golemmings]

We're reading gobbolino at the moment. Mr McFadden's Haloween was an abject failure but she loved Far Away Tree and the Naughtiest Girl books.

We also read some rainbow magic to try and encourage her to read the rainbow magic early readrs herself.