Our kindergartener is starting to read more and more, and can make his way through “easy reader” books like The Cat in the Hat
. We’re also trying to read to him from books that are a little beyond his own ability, but have the more complex plotlines and characters that capture his imagination now.
Among others, we’ve gone through:
- Charlotte’s Web
, which we particularly like in the large-print (but unabridged) “Read-Aloud” edition (click the link); we’ll move on to E. B. White’s Stuart Little
shortly.
- The Hobbit
, which we abridge slightly as we go, because Tolkien, bless his medieval aesthetic, can be long-winded);
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
, and the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
, although the sequel is more dated, and we have to edit out stuff like the stereotyped Chinese characters talking with L’s instead of R’s;
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, which he read with his class in school.
We’re looking for more ideas, though. Any suggestions from those of you with older kids, or who remember good beginning chapter books from your own childhood?
On a side note, although the number of LGBT-inclusive picture books is small, it seems huge in comparison to the number of LGBT-inclusive early chapter books. Clearly a gap to fill.
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Our son really likes “The Magic Treehouse” books.
How about ‘The Book of the Dun Cow’ by Walter Wangerin?
http://www.amazon.com/Book-Dun-Cow-Walter-Wangerin/dp/0060574607/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231805393&sr=8-1
I second the Magic Tree house series. CS Lewis’ Narnia series is also good (though not a begning reader) as is the Kenneth Oppel Silverwing series (they are about bats)
We are HUGE fans of the MTH series, too!! Word of warning about the iTunes audiobook, though, if you go that route for any reason — the narrator’s voice is totally creepy.
My mother also recently started buying our kids (also kindergarteners) the classics series from B&N, and we’ve poured through Swiss Family Robinson, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Heidi, and Call of the Wild in a matter of months.
“The Magic School Bus” is for great non-fiction; it comes in a few versions, both picture-book style and early-chapter-book style. I’d recommend Geronimo Stilton books and the “Freddy the Hamster” series for animal-based fiction.
Junie B. Jones is an early chapter book series…she starts off as a kindergartner and as the series progresses moves on to first grade. I used to read them to my first grade class and they loved them (both boys and girls). They’re also quite short, so you can easily get through a chapter.
From my childhood…
The Secret Garden
Harriet the Spy
Laura Ingalls Wilder series
Just for a different opinion — I hate the Magic Treehouse books! I just don’t think they’re well written and they’re so darn didactic. Ick! I do like Junie B. Jones, though.
I love love love Tove Jansson’s books, Finn Family Moomintroll, etc. The characters are various types of little creatures (Moomintroll, Moominmama, and Moominpapa, Little My, Snif, Snufkin, the Snork Maiden, the Fillyjonk, etc.) who live in Moomin Valley and who spend most of their time having adventures involving all manner of things, both magical and not. The marvelous thing about these books is you can read them over and over again and discover themes, etc., that appeal to you, even as an adult. My folks read them to me when I was little, I read them periodically as a child, and continue to read them to my 9-year old. They are just simply wonderful.
Happy reading!
If you’re reading these long books to a kindergartner, you might want to include The Velveteen Rabbit. The only problem is that mama will start crying and the children don’t understand why (at least that’s what happened to me)!
The Wind in the Willows. It’s sort of LGBT inclusive. Mole and Rat certainly have a gay couple vibe.
Oh, great ideas, all. Miss Cellania–as it happens, my son is reading The Velveteen Rabbit with his kindergarten class. The kids were allowed to bring in their own stuffed animals to cuddle during the story. It’s a tearjerker indeed.
Living in New England, you might like Thornton W. Burgess’s books about the adventures of various woodland and meadow animals. As a bonus, the details of natural history are accurate (I mean, the animals talk and wear little waistcoats, but they do live in the correct habitats and have the correct diets and so on). The chapters are more like freestanding stories, though, with the central character being the common thread.
other thoughts:
Mary Poppins, the original books by PL Travers.
Phantom Tollbooth.
Terry Pratchett’s “The Amazing Maurice” and “Wee Free Men.”
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.
Good luck — I can’t wait until we are reading longer books ourselves. My 16-month-old just sat through Curious George all the way through (well, we at least looked at every page) and I was so excited!
Personally, I can’t stand the magic treehouse books… having had to read them *all* to Jared. Some of my favorites from childhood:
Time at the Top by Eugene Ormondroyd
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Phantom Tollbooth
the Mixed up files of mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
My wife really recommends the Junie B Jones set. And Captain Underpants.