First easy chapter books for younger children

[Eyesonstalks]

DD2 is 4. She starts Reception in September but is at quite a structured (school) nursery where they have taught them phonics and send home reading books etc. DD seems to have lapped it up and now moving on to stage 7 ORT books. I think she’s probably bright rather than gifted.

At the rate she’s going, I am guessing that she’ll be looking for easy chapter books around the time that she starts Reception. The difficulty is that her reading ability is starting to outstrip her vocabulary/4 year old understanding. This week she was reading about an alien invasion but we have deliberately turned the news off recently and she’s never heard the word invasion before.

Might anyone know of any first easy reading books that deal with simpler concepts, such that a younger child could access them too?

I have a vague recollection of reading on here about a link between very early reading, a lack of full understanding, and autism. This is actually something I am starting to wonder about, as she is also very good with number, and sometimes struggles a bit with emotional regulation, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. She could just be a bright kid who’s been stuck inside the house while her nursery closed over multiple lockdowns.

We are doing the obvious stuff like trying to read her slightly more sophisticated books so as to give her access to new vocabulary. I feel guilty because when DD1 was this age we could spend hours every day in the library but younger kids get a bit of a raw deal on that front, don’t they?! Family life feels so bonkers at the moment that we are constantly running from pillar to post…

[Magicmagician]

Hi OP, The owl who was afraid of the dark was one of the first chapter books we had here, which we read alongside dd and then there are those early reader books you can get in the library which are longer than the biff,chip ORT books etc which might be worth looking at. I think we had the same here with ability to read being ahead of comprehension for a while, and I guess this is why schools put a lot of emphasis on comprehension?

[parietal]

Look at

• my naughty little sister
• Shirley Hughes books
• milly molly Mandy
• Ever clever Eva

You will need to read with her at times to help her get the story

[Topbird29]

First chapter books we used were the jill tomlinson books - the owl who was afraid of the dark and others all based on animals. They are lovely stories. And Dick King Smith also popular - the sheep pig etc. Quite short chapters too.

[delilabell]

Claude books by Alex Smith are lovely. Nice basic stories but about a dog instead of a human doing things

[Spellfish]

Ask your librarian, ours was amazing at this stage. From memory, Mammoth Academy, Hundred Mile An Hour Dog and others from the Puffin young classics series (we had a box set), Worst Witch and quite a lot of sodding Rainbow Fairies.

Just as a warning, put away anything you don’t want her to read out of reach…

[itssquidstella]

Milly Molly Mandy was one of the first chapter books I read on my own! Some of the Enid Blytons are pretty straightforward too - The Magic Faraway Tree etc.

[Flangeosaurus]

The Sophie books by Dick King Smith are amazing, and they’re not quite chapter books but longer than your average Julia Donaldson - the Alfie books by Shirley Hughes.

[Eyesonstalks]

Brilliant- thanks very much.

[SushiGo]

If she is struggling with understanding, I would definitely crack on with lots of picture books as well (the text in some is obviously much more complex than others) as it will help with talking about the meaning of new words, and conversations about the emotional subtext - characters expressions etc.

Otherwise lovely suggestions on this thread.

[randomsabreuse]

Dragon Masters series might be worth a look, if she likes dragons. Library is definitely worth a mooch tbh.

[Spudyoulikeit]

My DS is similar and could definitely read chapter books now if he wanted to. School have finished the ORT with him but he prefers reading picture books still and ‘finishing’ the book so we are continuing with those for now.

[mynameisnotmichaelcaine]

Bad Kitty are fab.

My DS2 was like this. His older brother is autistic, so obviously I was on high alert. No obvious signs yet and he's 8, so I just think he found reading easy. I had a reading age of 15 at 8 though, so it's in the genes.

I did very well academically, as you might expect, but certainly found social situations more challenging than academic ones. This is true of both of my DS's too. I think the best thing you can do is remember she's just a little girl and don't expect her maturity and ability to handle life to be as advanced as her academic skills.

[Spellfish]

I forgot the Happy Families series by the Ahlbergs - both my early readers loved it, wonderful pictures, not too much text, nothing scary:
www.amazon.co.uk/Happy-Families-Ahlberg-Collection-Bundle/dp/9123525916?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[APipkinOfPepper]

The Mudpuddle farm books by Michael Morpurgo are nice, and somewhere between picture books and chapter books? Also how about Flat Stanley?

[LIZS]

Agree Sophie stories. Also Humphrey the Hamster series, Tumtum and Nutmeg, Usborne young readers for traditional stories

[itssquidstella]

Oh and if you can find them second hand, the Puddle Lane books are good.

[JustMarriedBecca]

Rabbit and the Bear series, Little Gems chapter books, Jolly Rodger series. Enid Blyton's magic faraway tree. Sophie by DKS.

[ConfusedaboutSchool]

@Eyesonstalks

My DD was very similar. Depending on where she is going for Reception, her school should still give her assigned reading homework even if she's done with the ORT scheme. My daughter is a free reader in Reception and get's short (60+ page) chapter books sent home multiple times a week so you shouldn't need to source these yourselves. Her vocabulary and comprehension will improve going through the upper levels of the reading scheme so once she's ready for chapter books it won't be the leap it seems now.

Are you looking for recommendations for her to read to herself outside of the assigned school books for pleasure? I'd leave it to her as long as she's getting appropriate academic stretch at school and not necessarily prioritise length. My daughter still likes a variety of books to read for pleasure (not just chapter books) and still loves pictures in stories etc so its mostly what catches her interest at the library.

Like you, we reader more complex chapter books at bedtime which introduces vocab and more intricate themes. I think this is best done via shared reading anyway rather than their solo pleasure reading at this age. For her pleasure reading, I'd worry less about length and focus on introducing new topics of books that broaden her general knowledge even if they are shorter picture books still and most importantly things she's excited to read.

[SuperSocks]

Surely part of the point of reading is to expand your knowledge? Just because she's ready for chapter books doesn't mean she shouldn't still be reading aloud with you. Then she can ask you if she doesn't understand a word, and you can check with her if she's comprehending the story.

As for books to start with, there have been some god suggestions already, and her teacher will be able to advise you. I like the Jeremy James stories. I think he's actually only meant to be 4 himself (he's not at school yet) which is unusual in a chapter book. It'd be nice for your daughter to read about a child her own age as it's that bit more relatable.

www.amazon.co.uk/Elephants-Dont-Cars-Jeremy-James/dp/1509818766/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&crid=2ZRO5009MQUU2&keywords=jeremy%20james&sprefix=jeremy%20james%2Cstripbooks%2C91&qid=1646601416&sr=1-4&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Say-Bull-Jeremy-James/dp/1509818782/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&crid=2ZRO5009MQUU2&keywords=jeremy%20james&sprefix=jeremy%20james%2Cstripbooks%2C91&qid=1646601522&sr=1-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[OfstedOffred]

Michael Rosen has written some good books that come in a set of 5 or 6 - look for fluff the farting fish. Silly stuff that appeals to young readers.

Be a bit careful with ORT. A lot of their books are "phonics" except they arent great, still quite a lot of reliance on repeated key words that the child ends up memorizing. Check her decoding is rock solid at level 7 - long vowel sounds especially eg ow/ou, ai/ay, split digraphs, trigraphs like "ear", "air", ",ure", rules about when it's a soft c or g. Lots of kids intuit the phonics rules for single letters but where it really makes a good reader is in the long vowels & alternate spellings.

[OfstedOffred]

My daughter is a free reader in Reception and get's short (60+ page) chapter books sent home multiple times a week so you shouldn't need to source these yourselves.

Is that at a state school?

Many state schools are interpreting the latest reading framework in a very black/white way and taking the view that books shouldnt be provided that are ahead of what's being covered in the classroom, phonics wise. Its perfectly possible OPs child, despite being able to read, will spend the first part of reception with pink & red books bring sent home.

[DelurkingAJ]

The Little Bear series
Bread and Jam for Francis

In fact I think we had several from the I Can Read series.

Also longer picture books like Lyle, Lyle Crocodile will work for a while.

[forcedfun]

Irrespective of what books get "sent home' op is free to choose what she and her daughter read at home. Thankfully my son's school was very sensible about this but if not I wouldn't have just passively accepted whatever books they sent home.

[Eyesonstalks]

Thank you so much - these are all great ideas.

[teaandtoastwithmarmite]

My dd liked the first reader ones

www.books2door.com/products/my-early-reader-library-collection-30-books-box-set-for-independent-reading-paperback-age-5-7

Also the Claude books