What books do you read TO your 5 year old?

[Greta84]

So my 5 year old in reception is doing great on her personal reading (I think) they put stickers over the levels but she's on Level 3 and seems fairly confident having started reading in September and teachers have said she loves school etc. She's outgrown although I still read to her the Julia Donaldson books BUT I know she still loves picture books. Any ideas of any lovely books to read to her? She quite likes non-fiction too so we're currently doing a pop-up book on London which is fab!

[bonbonours]

Rainbow magic are awful but beloved by many 5/6 year old girls. Mine loved them, me too once I didn't have to read them any more. If they love them let them read them I say.

[Tomorrowillbeachicken]

I can still recite most of 'green eggs and ham' after reading it to my autistic brother in my teens (I'm now in my mid thirties)

[EnidClowes]

We read Worst Witch, Daisy and the Trouble with... (Series of books) Roald Dahl books, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark (and other ones by same author), Pippi Longstocking (with Charlie and Lola illustrator).

Some of these we are re-reading or continuing the series now DC is in Yr1. They're also reading them too. So we read a chapter and they read either the same one or a couple of pages depending on how tired.

[ThisisrealityGreg]

Second the Dr Seuss books....

And though not picture books, they do have the occasional picture - she is the perfect age for the Faraway Tree books.

[GieryFas]

For lovely pictures, Katy Morag or the Angelina Ballerina books are great. I miss them! Also anything with illustrations by Shirley Hughes, they look just how I remember my childhood. Happy Families series was a massive favourite here at that in-between picture books and early chapter books phase.

[HeyMicky]

DD is 4 and we have been reading (Quite a few repeats from upthread):

The easier Dahl books
My naughty little sister (old fashioned but actually a joy to read out loud)
Proper old school gruesome Grimm fairy tales
Milly molly Mandy
Faraway tree and wishing chair
Winnie the Pooh (edited a bit on the fly when it drags)
A condensed version of wind in the willows
Dick king smith stuff
The Ramona books
Pippi long stocking

[Prettybaffled]

We do:
Thomas
Beatrix
Potter
Fairy Tale Book
A compendium of Stories for a five Year Olds
Mr Men

[mrz]

I don't understand the whole "outgrowing" books thing. I can only image thick somehow equates to harder... Picture books often have more complex vocabulary and structure than some chapter books.

[LtGreggs]

I think 'outgrowing' books is pretty straightforward? My 9 year old used to love 'Duck in a Truck' but now he prefers Harry Potter?

[Snafflebrain]

The Brambley Hedge books are liked by both my DC. My 5 yr old likes to look through the pictures on his own once we've finished bedtime stories.

[KatherinaMinola]

Another vote for the sublime Brambly Hedge series. Katie Morag another great favourite. Tiger Who Came to Tea and other Judith Kerr. Love Jill Murphy's books too.

I would absolutely stick with picture books for now - school will be pushing chapter books soon, so this is your DD's opportunity to indulge her love of pictures. Also - high quality picture books (eg Walker Books) are usually far better written, better illustrated, better edited and generally higher quality than the chapter books aimed at young children.

Illustrations also contribute to a child's visual education - something your DD will miss out on if you rush to chapter books.

[mrz]

I find that incredibly sad as an adult who loves all kinds of books and whose children thankfully never outgrew them LtGreggs. I often find older children happily raiding my bookcases and curling up with picture books as well as reading chapter books.

[CheeseAtFourpence]

I let DD choose at the library - we have a mixture of picture books and chapter books. She has actually just returned to some of the Julia Donaldson books that I wondered if she had grown out of.

We've loved Winnie the Witch, George's Marvellous Medicine and some of the new short versions of Famous Five. She particularly enjoys the short (4-5 chapter) illustrated books.

[Caroian]

I think there is truth to illustration still being important. However it is about picking the right stories. Children do need to be exposed to more complex vocabulary, ideas and plot lines at some point, and this itself helps fuel their imagination as well as their comprehension skills. I love books, but would not want to be reading "Where is Clucky the hen. Here is Clucky the hen." Now, and nor would I expect my son to enjoy it. It's rather like the very early reading scheme books - they don't have much excitement. It was around level 5 or 6 that my son started to really enjoy these and want to start reading them (or rather, continue) to find out what happened next

Of the books I mentioned up thread, most have illustrated versions. Despite owning a full set of Roald Dahl paperbacks, we have rebought the fairly newly released colour illustrated versions. The size and pictures make them easier to share. We also have illustrated versions of Flat Stanley, Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows etc. In fact, I already have the illustrated versions of the first two Harry Potter books, though he won't be ready for them for some time.

[mrz]

A comparison of picture books and children's chapter books shows that picture books often feature more complex language

[Itwasthenandstillis]

Magic tree house series - Mary pope Osborne.
We have a huge book of Beatrix Potter stories with her beautiful illustrations whicheck my kids loved at that age.
Magic faraway tree - Enid Blyton is great for helping kids develop their own imagination from stories.
Usbourne books does lovely fairy tale books for children of different ages.

[Caroian]

mrz That's really interesting - genuinely. Do you have a link?

I still think the ability to follow a longer plot with multiple threads is a good one to develop. A Roald Dahl is more complex in storyline than, say, Flat Stanley, which in turn is more complex than, say, The Gruffalo, which is more complex again then Each, Peach, Plum. The latter two are still fantastic books (that we read regularly) for rhyme, rhythm and interest, but they offer different things.

By the age of 5 I think there is room for a really wide variety - and it's a stage we're both enjoying, which - when it comes to reading and developing a love of books - is surely the most important thing of all!

[SolomanDaisy]

My DS does still enjoy picture books, but he tends to pick stuff like Flat Stanley more now. I think it's partly just something new, by 5 lots of kids have been read The Gruffalo etc. a million times and it's always nice to have stories as well as old favourites.

[SolomanDaisy]

New stories!

[Greta84]

Have got the Beatrix Potter and ordered some suggestions. I wonder what happened to my old Enid Blyton books that were given to me by my neighbour when I was little in the 80s. She was born early 20th Century and had bought them for her daughter in the 40s. Her only child who never had her own children so she gave me her daughters books and introduced me to Enid Blyton. I will have to track them down.

[Greta84]

I want to read the originals rather than the abridged ones available online.

[KatherinaMinola]

The books I mentioned have some pretty complex vocabulary and story construction. If you're not Scottish, Katie Morag is wonderful for introducing new words - it's full of dialect words, some of which were new to me (and the illustrations are top drawer).

Julia Donaldson is also complex - I think she's a fantastic writer (technically as well as story-wise). Room on the Broom has a sophisticated rhyming scheme, and The Highway Rat (admittedly not one of her best) uses the rhyme scheme and cadence of Noyes's The Highwayman.

I personally think that Each, Peach, Pear Plum is a very complex book, too - story and illustrations work very much in tandem (in fact I only really understood the book as an adult).

[Caroian]

I know what you mean about Each, Peach, Pear Plum. However, it was one of the first stories that my son memorised and he started pointing out the bits in the pictures - I think Cinderella's arm was the first one he noted - from a fairly young age too, so perhaps I don't view it quite like you. All the Janet and Allen Ahlberg ones are great though. We've recently been reading their poems - specifically Please, Mrs Butler. That one is great fro children, but also has a very adult subtext, so it really spans across the generation divide!

[KatherinaMinola]

But did he understand the 'plot' at that age, Caroian? I doubt it - I think it's too tricky for young children to understand. It works on different levels - a young child will enjoy the rhyme, enjoy picking out the characters in the pictures, and perhaps recognize some of the characters from other storybooks, but older children and adults will enjoy it on other levels.

[MrPoppersPenguins]

My son is the same. Wanted longer, more complex story books from about 4. We have read Enid blyton- famous5/secret7/faraway tree etc. He loves the usborne books- particularly Wild West/pirates/d day stories. We have also read all the Harry Potter books (which I know is controversial on here at such a young age but he loved them and wasn't scared). You can get some good box sets of books from the works at the moment.