If you are tired of Go Dog Go and the Knufflebunny, there is hope! There are chapter books for preschoolers and younger children, and we have a few to share with you.
These books will keep minds with short attention spans enrpatured, yet will keep them coming back again and again. Learning how a beautiful story unfolds through the chapters of a long book, anticipation combined with patience, will make your preschooler fall in love with reading on a whole new level.
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Here are our favorite chapter books for preschoolers:
Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne
Click to buy Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon and get started today! Finding this series was pretty amazing for us and I don’t know what took us so long – these are hardly a secret. The stories are simple, chapters are short, but they are entrancing. In each book the main characters go to some place new – the Moon, the Amazon, back to the time of dinosaurs – and have adventures. There are many incomplete sentences and it isn’t necessarily refined English grammar, but considering how much we enjoy the stories as well as the opportunity for learning (for each book you can also buy a fact book to accompany it) it is worth it. Be careful getting hooked. There are a LOT of these in the series. |
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
This started our chapter book infatuation. Fabulous book. Magical, funny for all levels, creative, and fun. Plus, it is classic! Also good on Audible for a car trip. |
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett We were a little worried about this story since our children can be a sensitive when it comes to “suspense” but we all really liked this book! The animals, the problem-solving, and the resolution kept us happy. It was seemingly simple, yet startingly gripping. |
Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater
The antics of the penguins are fantastic! I have so many memories of this from my childhood that I am enjoying sharing it. This is also a very fun Audible book experience, too! |
The Boxcar Children Books by Gertrude Chandler Warner Orphans who have a dog and live in a boxcar – it is our sons’ dreams come true! We didn’t necessarily get hooked on the series as we did with Magic Tree House, and the old gender roles drove mom nuts, but we enjoyed these. |
The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
and… |
But note that neither Stuart Little or Mouse & the Motorcycle were as interesting as the rest on this list, although they are appropriate and fun. Many of the nuances of The Mouse & The Motorcycle were beyond my children but they were whimsical and well-written. If you want to get your children accquainted with classics, start with these two. |
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog (Hank the Cowdog (Quality))
Poor Hank is ridiculously loyal yet not too bright – as we suspect most dogs to be! The fun adventures he gets into because of his fierce personality keeps my sons entertained. There are also many jokes in here that will bypass kids but parents will get a kick out of. |
This link on Pinterest to Sarah Bessey’s website and she has some recommendations that we’ll be trying as well.