I remember how difficult it was to find great books for kids once they’ve moved to chapter books but are not quite ready for Newbery books.
Category: Reading Lists: Early Chapter Books
Early chapter book for kids who are just starting to read independently.
Best Books for Boy Readers, Reluctant or Otherwise (ages 7-14)
Reading list for boys, grades 1-6. I love to find books that excite reluctant readers. The key is to find that magic intersection that marries your child’s just-right level with content that matches their interest and a layout that is visually appealing (small chunks of text broken by pictures, larger font size, etc.). Alas, this is a moving target. I have an actual person that I select these books for, my youngest son’s best friend’s older brother who is a 4th grader with my oldest. My mom friends have had success with these books for their reluctant boy readers and suggests you try them. If you want to purchase a book, click on the image of the book to buy at Amazon.com.
Best Chapter Books for Newly Independent Readers (ages 6-9)
Your child insist on chapter books but isn’t ready for Newbery Award authors? Sick of low quality series about weird schools or fairies? Here are suggestions beyond the obvious ones. Mom and teacher approved.
Great Reading List for 2nd and 3rd Grade
This is a great reading list from the Newton Free Library system. If you are part of the Minutemen library system, just click on link of book title to reserve.
Best Old Fashioned Conflict-Free Families in KidLit
I do love those old fashioned books; you know, the ones where no one fights at all EVER. Siblings get along beautifully, parents never get divorced, and there’s always a happy ending. In fact, there is so little conflict, there isn’t much plot. It’s more like a series of short vignettes of what life was like back then. Was life that simple and conflict free back then? I doubt it, but I do love reading about it with my kids.
Easy Chapter Book Series for Girls: Clementine
Clementine by Sara Pennypacker is a hit with 2-4th graders. Clementine is a third grader with a big heart and and even bigger imagination.
Books for 3rd Grade & 4th Grade
These are the book recommended by my library. It skews a little young so you can use this for Going into 3rd grade if your child loves to read. This list is from my public library (Newton Free Library) and the books are newly published this year. There is a nice mix of easy chapter books, chapter books, non-fiction, mysteries, folk tales, poetry, magazines and audio books. The range of topics also should appeal to even hard to please reluctant readers.
Best Easy Readers: Geisel Award (aka Dr. Seuss)
The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. It was founded in 2004 and the first award year was 2006, so it’s a fairly new award. That’s great because it’s a list that is actually plausible to work through! What Easy Readers have you and your kids enjoyed? Let’s add it to the list!
Best Translated Books for Kids
The Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation is a literary prize awarded in the United Kingdom since 1996 to the translator of an outstanding work of fiction for young readers translated into English. I haven’t heard of many of these books but if you are looking for a book that no one has heard of, this is a great list with a wide range of age appropriateness. Your child might find a great book for summer reading!