Books that 5 and 9 year old can enjoy?

[nelliebear8]

Hi, any recommendations for books that we can read with our 5 year old and our 9 year old altogether? As in they would be reading aloud. It seems that everything is either too hard for the 5 year old, or too boring for 9 year old… We were thinking maybe abridged Moomin, or Magic Faraway Tree, or Peter Rabbit?

I think you will struggle - mine are the same age and have very different tastes.

My 9 year old is reading Harry Potter
My 5 year old is reading a Pokémon almanac!

Beast quest

Are they boys or girls? I know it shouldn’t matter but might enjoy a little princess or secret garden?

@longerdaysinspring one boy, one girl. Secret garden is pretty good for both, but the language is pretty hard…

Mine have a similar age gap and both enjoy the 13 storey treehouse series

Paddington & Winnie the Pooh

I would get a lovely illustrated version of these books for you to read to them, and then have their reading done separately.

@kiraric Just checked it out, that sounds great! Thank you so much

I'm assuming you've tried Roald Dahl?

Some will be more geared towards the 5 year old (The Enormous Crocodile and other shorter, action packed, ones like George's Marvellous Medicine and The Twits). Others will be perfect for the 9 year old but may contain bits that go over the head of the 5 year old. They'll still enjoy listening and then re-reading when older.

Harry Potter
Jack stalwart
The wizards of once
Magic misfits

Both my kids also really like this book which is also just gorgeous

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mythopedia-Encyclopedia-Mythical-Beasts-Magical/dp/1786276909/ref=asc_df_1786276909?mcid=d38c1f9d0b0c3bfea4430c17cf5f28f0&th=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697324738289&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14101517140584396451&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045892&hvtargid=pla-939970481945&psc=1&gad_source=1

The Wigglesbottom Primary series might do.
Or books by Pamela Butchart.
Paddington series.

How to train your dragon series ?

Secret lives of cats and kids

The Railway Children
the Borrowers
the demon headmaster
Varjak Paw
the world according to Humphrey
the incredible shrinking girl
The secret garden
Pongwiffy

The Magic Faraway Tree and Moomin stories have that perfect mix of adventure and whimsy that can keep both younger and older kids engaged. If your 5-year-old enjoys interactive activities alongside reading, you might also love some themed coloring pages related to classic book characters. We’ve found that coloring can be a fun way to keep younger kids engaged while the older ones read aloud. You can download Sonic coloring books for a break between chapters!

i assumed you were asking for books to read together as a family but now I think you’re looking for books your kids can read out loud together? How good a reader is the wee one?

We almost always split the kids for stories but sometimes read things together but it was us reading to them. They have very different tastes but both enjoyed some Terry Pratchett, the Hobbit, the Lion, rhe witch and the wardrobe… otherwise they are both really different.

with my kids it’s actually the older one who was trickier as she doesn’t like anything gross or scary, etc etc etc. My son and my husband read lord of the rings together while I read her Anne of green gables

Try this book I think it’s a very important subject to start early with!

https://a.co/d/g162ap5