Book suggestions for 5 year old

[buddles]

Hi all, my 5 year old son is coming to the end of his reception year at primary school.

He is a very fluent reader, currently on the 'purple' level books at school. His teacher has suggested we try some chapter books at home, so was looking for some suggestions for ones to try - obviously he is only 5 (April birthday) so going to need some that are fairly easy for him to understand, as much as I'd like to get him started on Harry Potter I think we will wait a bit for those!

Many thanks in advance.

Watching with interest. My 5yo has struggled with reading all through reception then suddenly whizzed through three levels in a month He's now reading the books I get from the library to read to him so would like some ideas too

'Daisy and the trouble with' series is a fun chapter book series for a purple reader

Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry books.

Anne Fine's Diary of a Killer Cat

There are also numerous picture books aimed at older children which would develop comprehension, understanding and language. Try spending time at your local library to find out what he is interested in.

I hate the horrid Henry books, they glorify bullying and horrible behaviour.

Beast quest seems to be a favourite with my 6 year old.

At that stage I would hunt the library. See what catches his interest and go from there.

A good series DD loved at that stage are Usbornes "First Reader or Young Reader" books. They come in various levels and cover a multitude of topics and legends & myths.

I don't know what it's like for more advanced readers but my reception age DD enjoys her subscription to Reading Chest. She gets three books at a time in the post and three new ones as soon as we send those back. She's on blue book band and gets sent a nice mix of fiction and non fiction.

Thanks for all your replies so far 😊

When we go to the library he still goes for the picture books but even he mentioned to me how he needs to 'start reading books like you mummy'.

2014newme when his teacher suggest we try chapter books he actually said 'eg Horrid Henry', whilst I've not read any of the books
I've seen the cartoon on occasion and I feel the way you do!

I will check out all the suggestions on here, thanks again everyone

Magic Tree House series and the ORT Project X Alien Adventures were a hit for my DS at that stage.

I agree with 2014newme about Horrid Henry books. Only read one to my grandson and could not believe his parents comments about his behaviour at the end. Never got grandson any more of those!
Someone told me I have no sense of humour.

I agree with 2014newme about Horrid Henry books. Only read one to my grandson and could not believe his parents comments about his behaviour at the end. Never got grandson any more of those!
Someone told me I have no sense of humour.

Sorry, don't know why 2 posts. I do recommend 'The Magic Tree House' as mentioned by PP. The non-fiction books that go along with them are very good

I love the Lets Read series for this age , there's some here

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_ime_i_8_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=lets+read+the+gruffalo&sprefix=Lets+read%2Caps%2C151&crid=36BT6WUJYV6YG&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Has he read things like Frank Rodgers (Pirate Penguins, Witch's Dog), Jeremy Strong's Pirate School series? Mini chapter books with colour pictures like this are a good transition step I think.

I'm not sure if they have chapters but Claude books (Claude in the City etc) are sweet, completely age appropriate and a bit more text based than picture based.

Then there are things like Dinosaur Cove, Magic Tree House, lots of other Jeremy Strong, Worst Witch etc which have lots of line drawings but are more definitely in chapter book territory. If he's read Winnie the Witch picture books, Winnie the Witch chapter books are an easy sell. They're actually more like a few stories in one book than actual chapters, which makes them easier on the concentration span.

There's a new breed of book that is popular as a bridge between very young books and longer fiction books. They are highly illustrated in 2 colours.

Try Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve.

Or my son really like this - The Invincibles: The Piglet Pickle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0857636251/ref=cmswwrcppapi_lHcqzbK05371G

Not Harry Potter yet. You read them to him if you want. Bit young even if he's a strong reader.
Fortunately, the Milk? Maybe still a bit old for him but a real riot.
Claude books are good.
Don't mistake reading ability for emotional maturity. I mean that kindly - I have a strong reader dd (now 10).

Oh yeah, Humphrey books as a pp suggested.

DD's the same level and currently loving The Boxcar Children

She enjoyed The Quick Brown Fox Cub by Julia Donaldson and I believe there are a few 'red banana' books which are similar. We'll be looking to get more.

She also likes the Rainbow Magic books, but they're a bit samey and get dull after a while.

Mine love dinosaur cove and are getting into Humphrey hamster. I have just got the magic tree house books too for mine. They can't read them yet but the topics are age appropriate and the stories engaging. I would say be guided by him. My dd was at a similar level in reception and yet still struggles with full text chapter books at the end of year 2 despite being an early reader. We just provide lots of options and let her choose what she wants to read sometimes its 'easy' with lots of pictures sometimes quite complex difficult books !

The Sophie books by Dick King-Smith are lovely for this age - link

My 5 year old ds LOVES the 'secret seven' books. He is not as advanced at reading as your ds, so I read them to him (he's still reading v basic level books). Don't know how readable they r for your DS, but the storylines are lovely!

"When we go to the library he still goes for the picture books but even he mentioned to me how he needs to 'start reading books like you mummy'. "
Why does he think that? If he enjoys picture books let him read them. Many picture books contain more complex vocabulary and language structure than chapter books. I'd much rather a five year old was reading a large range of high quality picture books than one chapter book.
Please don't confuse length with difficulty

Absolutely Dick King-Smith! He's wonderful. Also the Olga da Polga books by Michael Bond - they're very funny and age appropriate.

summerreadingchallenge website have a book sorter. The actual challenge hasn't started yet, but website is open all year round.
You can type in interest/gender/age and get the list of recommended books.