Books for me to read to an almost 5 year old

[Dramateacher1]

Hi,

My son will be 5 just after Christmas and is getting bored of the short picture books we have. I’d like some short, funny, engaging cheaper books to read to him, preferably with some pictures. He started school in September and had started learning phonics and ‘tricky words’ and he is not very happy about this... the last thing I want to do is turn him off reading as he’s always loved me reading to him. At the moment he loves superheroes, Star Wars and Lego. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Thanks

Have you read Julia Donaldson books? They are my dd and we're my ds favourite.
We read "Claude " books which are very good too.
Could you take him to somewhere elikd the works were they could choose 3 for £5 etc?

Mike Brownlow, 10 Little Superheroes but actually any of his

Also raid your local charity shop

Thanks. We’ve done all the Julia Donaldson ones, all Mike Brownlow and Claude! We seem to have done all the classics and are now looking for so etching a big longer and more (in his words) ‘grown up’

Is your local library open? Or have a walk round the charity shop and see what he fancies?

I have to say though, we have read those books time and time again, there's nothing wrong with returning to old books esp as he's learning to read so can join in partly from memory.

DS is that age and likes Horrid Henry. The easy reader ones are pretty good for reading to them - short enough that you don’t lose your voice!

Wind in the willows?
Mr Men / Little Miss?
Peter rabbit?

Have you read all the Dr Seuss books? Quentin Blake picture books like Mrs Armitage on wheels? My 8 year old is still happy to read these. Also the day the crayons came, Oi Frog and Dogs don't do ballet. And the book with no pictures was a big favourite. All have less of a toddler feel. Or you could get illustrated versions of the shorter Rhoald Dahl books like enormous crocodile.

Pongwiffy series, Kaye Umanski.
Roald Dahl books, Fantastic Mr Fox was a favourite of my dc in reception.
Mrs Pepperpot, Alf Prøysen.
I've just started reading The Borrowers to y1 dc4(5, but summer born).

Sorry, misread and have seen you're after shorter chapter books. I found there was a real lack of short illustrated chapter books for this age - lots of very dull reading scheme things but not much else. We enjoyed the sheep pig at similar age. The Mr Penguin books and Nate the Great are good too and would fit the bill. There are quite a few comic strip style books he might enjoy like Narwhal and jelly and the 13 storey treehouse series. I found them trickier to read out loud becuase of the format but both were enjoyed by ds. I still stand by the list above too - don't give up on picture books just yet!

Thank you everyone. Just re read my OP and it should say chapter books not cheaper books

Oops sorry, that's why I suggested charity shops. I would take him to a book shop for a look but yy to the The Crayons books, there's a few

The Twits and George's Marvellous Medicine went down well with DS when he was 5.

The Dragonsitter series by Josh Lacey? He might even get into How to Train your Dragon.

Tashi stories. Full of exciting adventures.

The 'A Faraway Tree Adventure' by Enid Blyton are great chapter books for that age

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark was a massive hit with DS (4y8m)

Also the Rabbit & Bear series are quite nice (various mentions of poo get a laugh...)

Pete the Cat stories, my nephew loved. Also look for 5-Minute Marvel stories which could work.

I agree re local charity shop!

My DS's very favourite kind of book is non-fiction, things like lift the flap questions and answers about your body, growing up, space, dinosaurs etc. He is allowed to choose a certain number of flaps per night and he can choose which ones.

Thanks everyone. Some lovely suggestions that I’ll check out!

We’ve just done the enchanted wood and before that the hodgeheg by dick king smith

Myunhappyfeet, agree with you about the full reading scheme books!

I’ve ordered a dirty Bertie, horrid Henry and fantastic mr fox to start with. If he likes these I’ll order a set for Christmas/birthday.
Remembered I have the owl who is afraid of the dark, mr Majika and the worst witch that I bought when my sons was a newborn as I loved them when I was little. I also loved the magic faraway tree so I’ll be getting him them for Christmas too.

My Naughty Little Sister - several books - don't know if they're still available but Shirley Hughes has done other stuff too
Ramona - several books
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf

I loved My Naughty Little Sister and Romona!

Oooooh I read the Magical Faraway Tree as a child, I didn't realise it was a series - I've just ordered the first book for myself from amazon!

The 'Nothing to see here hotel' series is good. Short chapters and nice illustrations. Have you looked at 'Captain Underpants' and the Dogman books for him to look at/read together/read independently later? I hate them but much enjoyed by my son.

I actually wrote a book called "James and His Big Catch" that would fit his age. It's about a little boy who goes fishing with his dad and he learns about the value of patience.

Hi Drama teacher, I agree the phonics books are important but we can’t forget the books for fun, imagination and adventure! I’m currently running a Kickstarter campaign to get my book published called Rocket Girl. It’s a great story aimed at 4-8 year olds and it includes fun activities. The great thing is it’s also based around a YouTube short film that my husband and I filmed staring our four year old daughter during lockdown. So there’s a film to go along with the book. Check it out kck.st/2F8NDjJ