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Children's books

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Original poster

Which of the 'classics' do you recommend for my 5.5YO?

30 replies

User923081 · 13/08/2023 20:14

She is a pretty good reader and will listen to me read her a chapter book when in the mood. She reads lots of books but I do think it'd be amazing for her to get into some of the classics too. I did consider the 'just so' stories by rudyard kipling but these are such olde languagr are they likely to wash straight over her head? The wind in the willows? Alice in Wonderland? What do others recommend?

OP posts:
Junibug · 13/08/2023 20:21

The Secret Garden
A Little Princess
Charlotte's Web

These are on my list (along with yours!) for reading next to my 5yr old. We've exhausted Enid Blyton (other than Malory Towers and Famous Five which I thought might still be a bit too old for her)

Original poster
User923081 · 13/08/2023 20:29

Thanks. Oooo a little princess that's a good one! I think Charlotte's web might actually traumatise her 🤣 I did think of the secret garden but might save it for when she's a little older

OP posts:
Typz · 13/08/2023 20:44

God not Charlotte’s web that upset me so much as a ten year old!

The Worst Wotch series
Narnia books
Charlie and the chocolate factory
Books by Tamora Pierce eg Alanna
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf

Goldencup · 13/08/2023 20:50

Yy to Roald Dahl , Fantastic Mr Fox was one of the first books both my DCs read independently.
Worst witch is a good shout
You could try Narnia - I think Lucy Pevensy is 7 in the 1st one.
Winne the pooh might be age appropriate and of course all of Beatrix Potter.

FatCatatPaddingtonStation · 13/08/2023 20:50

Ursula Moray Williams - The little Wooden Horse, Gobbolino and Jeffy the Burglars cat. The latter is out of print but so worth seeking out. It’s wonderful.

I loved Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little.

The earlier Little House books LH in the Big Woods?

Does Dick King-Smith count as a classic?

Goldencup · 13/08/2023 20:51

The stream that stood still
The tree that sat down and the other one .The Borrowers

NotHooray · 13/08/2023 20:54

Me and my 5.5 year old son are currently reading James and the Giant Peach. We usually do a few chapters a night as they're short and he is really enjoying it. I'll try more Roald Dahl after this one too as they're a nice length for that age.

Original poster
User923081 · 13/08/2023 21:22

Thanks. These are great suggestions. To read independently she loves the Claude series and Billy Brown series for anyone looking for nice, easy first chapter books. She is literally obsessed with Matilda and likes the enormous crocodile but haven't managed to get her into many other Roald Dahl books yet. Just ordered The Witches too but might not read that one at bedtime haha

OP posts:
parietal · 13/08/2023 21:51

Ever Clever Eva
Katie Morag stories

LifeofBrienne · 13/08/2023 22:00

To read to her - Winnie the Pooh. Anyone who only knows the Disney version might be surprised by AA Milne’s book, which has a lot of dry humour as well as charm.

For her to read - it might seem a bit young, but we were given a collection of Frog and Toad stories and DS was massively into reading them himself when he was about 5. They are just so lovely!

LifeofBrienne · 13/08/2023 22:50

Just noticed someone suggested Tamora Pierce who I think is great but her books follow her characters into teenage years and young adulthood, relationships etc. so I’d wait until she’s quite a bit older!

WitcheryDivine · 13/08/2023 22:56

Ballet Shoes and the other Noel Streatfeild children’s books are brilliant.

Dick King Smith IMO is completely brilliant and there are SO many, nearly all Of them about animals. The Sheep Pig is the most famous but I loved Sir Tumbleweed and Saddlebottom at that kind of age.

You can also get some nice compilations of stories for 5 year olds etc which would give her a flavour of lots of different writers and see which ones she like. I also loved folk tales from different cultures.

thirdfiddle · 13/08/2023 22:59

DC enjoyed Just So Stories at that sort of age, we had a recording in the car, they work well read aloud. May have been selected ones for a modern audience - so maybe read them yourself first and see which she'd like.

Second Winnie the Pooh, & Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf.
The Owl Who Was Afraid Of the Dark DS absolutely adored at 5 or 6, it was bedtime stories on loop for months on end. There are more in the series, but particularly that one.
Pippi Longstocking

Howtohideasausage · 13/08/2023 23:01

At that age I think we read:

Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf
The Faraway Tree

It’s only now they’re older (8/10) that we read the classics.

Multipleexclamationmarks · 13/08/2023 23:02

The Magic Faraway Tree books
All of Roald Dahl books
Terry Pratchetts books for younger readers - Diggers, Truckers, The Carpet People, The Amazing Maurice, That's not my cow.

SushiSuave · 13/08/2023 23:09

The faraway tree

MargaretThursday · 15/08/2023 16:02

I started to read chapter books to ds at about that age. I went for authors I'd liked, and round things ds liked, which was history and adventure. We read a lot of older books, and I kept reading to him until he was about 12yo.

I think the first one I read to him was "Cue for Treason" by Geoffrey Trease.

After that we went through a lot of different authors:
Malcolm Saville
Noel Streatfield
Enid Blyton
Monica Edwards
Violet Needham
Antonia Forest
Biggles
Josephine Tey
Elizabeth Goudge
Joan Aiken
Narnia
Diane Wynne Jones
David Schutte

We also read Alex Rider and the Cherub books, but they are definitely for older.

What I'd do is start a book and read the first couple of chapters and see how he got on. If he was enjoying it, then he'd be begging for another chapter, and as he got older sometimes reading it himself. Occasionally I started a book and he finished it by the next evening.

I chose fairly carefully and rarely had a miss with him as he was fairly consistent what he liked.

Latenightreader · 01/10/2023 20:24

My about to turn 5YO is really enjoying Mrs Pepperpot (original books, not the picture books) and My Naughty Little Sister at bedtime. We have also read some of the Sara and Stephen Corrin Stories for Under Fives which was mine when I was a child. I’m going to try Milly Molly Mandy when I can finally move and unpack, and Alice in Wonderland will be soon after that.

I am so happy that she now enjoys story books without pictures (a very recent move). It has reopened so much of my own childhood delight I can share with her.

SofritoBurrito · 01/10/2023 20:33

If you're just starting on Roald Dahl go for the George's Marvellous Medicine/James and The Giant Peach rather than The Witches. To me The Witches is much darker and less silly.

Stripeypyjamas · 01/10/2023 20:35

Definitely clever Polly and the stupid wolf.

Amidlifecrisis · 01/10/2023 20:38

Oh god not the witches for a 5yo!!! It’s flipping terrifying.

My 5yo has enjoyed loads of Roald Dahls - the shorter ones are Fantastic Mr Fox, The Magic Finger, The Twits, Esio Trot, The Giraffe, the Pelly and Me. And then moving on to Danny the Champion of the World, Charlie and the Choc Factory, Matilda, the BFG.

He’s also really enjoying The Secret Seven (which I edit slightly as I read to screen out the overt sexism - “the children were scared” rather than “the girls were scared” - but otherwise it’s not as bad as I feared.

Also yes to Ursula Moray Williams, The Worst Witch, Dick King Smith!

HonoriaLucastaDelagardie · 01/10/2023 20:46

Definitely the Faraway Tree books and also the Wishing Chair and Wishing Chair Again.

ImperialCrusade · 01/10/2023 20:46

My DD was into The Secret Garden around age 5-6 from watching the film version. I remember having to edit the text quite a bit when reading it aloud - lots of old fashioned language about the servants in India iirc

OccasionalHope · 01/10/2023 20:47

Winnie the Pooh
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