Books for 5 year olds - inspire me................................................

[katierocket]

DS1 needs some new books - he likes chapter type books that still have some pictures in. 'Information' type books that also feature a story.

He likes things like 'The Children who smelled a rat' so something similar to that would be good.

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dp is upstairs reading my old copy of stig of the dump to 5 year old ds atm.

Oh I used to love stig of the dump

ds1 (4.5yo) has recently been enjoying Roald Dahl, but you have probably already gone there. Also loved the Wishing Chair and Faraway Tree series. Also looking for ideas though - Stig of the dump is an excellent one, will look for that at the library next week.

Another recommendation for the Faraway Tree stories. DD laughed out loud to many of thee chapters when reading this.

We have just finished Charlotte's Web. She also enjoyed Flat Stanley.

we loved those Allan Ahlberg books (The Children Who Smelled a Rat) - there are a few in that series if you haven't read them (The Man Who Wore All HIs Clothes, The Cat Who Got Carried Away and some other ones).

oh and he really enjoyed Milly Molly Mandy

Winnie the Witch (great illustrations) - it's not a chapter book but the text is sufficiently advanced.

We've just done the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with ds2 aged 5.5 (ds knows the film by heart) and are moving on to some of the other Narnia books (I bought the whole set for ds 1 last year to read to himself). Ds2 also likes Roald Dahl. We tried Harry Potter but it's a bit too dense for him. I personally hate Horrid Henry, but ds likes him too - but from what you say it might not fit the bill as there's certianly no "information".

I don't like Horrid Henry either. Will try magic faraway tree and roald dahl (we have all the audio CDs and he loves them). The information type book is a story about a little boy who finds out which countries things come from - tomatoes from X country, peppermint in toothpaste from Y country etc. He loves it. It's a good mixture of story and facts.

I hate horrid henry .. but DS quite likes it

He loves Captain Underpants though .. although be warned as it uses words like bum in it and has stupid storylands .. well its about a superhero in his underpants

The more accessible RD's at this age are the twits, george's marvelous medicine, fantastic mr fox. If he likes them move onto the others.

I echo again the faraway tree - we loved it!

Horrid Henry is okay, but I got bored of it after a while.

So no original suggestions from me!

I do remember enjoying revisiting th Dr Seuss at this age as they are beginning to read and seem to get the whole text relating to what you say thing.

DD really likes Amelia Jane (Enid Blyton) if your DS doesn't object to main character being a girl.

oh and remember reading endless 'fact' books like animal books, dinasour books, machine books (YAWN!)

If he likes information-y stuff there's a series we like called Captain Fact which is cartoon-y like Captain Underpants, and full of silly jokes, but which explores different topics. There is are ones about dinosaurs, creepy-crawlies, the human body, space, the Egyptians and the Romans. DS1 enjoyed them and DS2 (5.7) is reading them now. They would be OK to read to a child too, and they mix facts with a fairly daft story.

We are also reading DS2 "Adventures of the little wooden horse" which is rather twee, and full of delightfully old-fashioned language.

Katie, these are FAB.

we got the dinosaur one too

Not really so much reading/story books(although you can read them) but the pop-up are AMAZING

Your ds would love them....

My ds loved Pippi Longstocking and Mrs Pepperpot.DH is reading them Peter Pan in Scarlet-The Official Sequel by Geraldine McCaughrean. Sounds really naff but it is really well written and they absolutely love it.

My 5 year old DS enjoys 'My naughty little sister' (Dorothy Edwards) - rather old fashioned but immensely satisfying as bed time reading.
We are currently reading 'The Strongest Girl in the World' Sally Gardner which he is also enjoying - humourous in a slightly off the wall way.
Polly and the Stupid Wolf by Catherine Storr makes him laugh out loud.
Fact books are harder without knowing his interests but you could try Simon James - 'Dear Greenpeace' and 'My Friend Whale' both have a story telling approach to environmental issues.

having read this thread we got stig of the dump from the library on tuesday and i think i am enjoying it as much as my 4.5yo