Chapter books to read to 2nd grader or younger?

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ejlo1

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Hi everyone,

After we tuck the kids in bed, DH or I will sit in the hallway and read aloud to the kids for 15-20 min to help them settle down. I’ve nearly exhausted all the age-appropriate books I can remember from my childhood (and I was a voracious reader!), so I’m looking for recommendations on chapter books to read aloud to our kids (ages 7, 4 and 2) at bedtime. I am not necessarily looking for picture books (we save those to read during the day so the kids are not tempted to get out of bed to look at the pictures). I want to start on the Redwall series, but I think the language and historical setting may be too much for the kids to understand given their current ages.

We’ve read the Little House series (up through The Long Winter),
Encyclopedia Brown Mysteries,
Flat Stanley,
all books we can find by Beverly Clearly
Cam Jansen Mysteries,
The complete “Mad Scientist Club” series
The Magic Tree House books
The Boxcar Children series
and many more. Any other recommendations?
 
I was always a fan of Hank the Cowdog growing up. They even have quite a few on cassette so we would listen to them in the car to pass the time and avoid car sickness from reading.
 
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a favorite of mine at that age. And if you can find it the sequel is pretty good as well. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Dahl’s Matilda was also quite good. If you’re into that sort of thing, the Easy Reads BBC Doctor Who books are also pretty good.
 
I loved The Great Brain series. Set in the late 1800’s, the main character is always up to crazy antics. The family is Catholic living in Utah - that fascinated me when I was younger.

Kris
 
I can’t remember the exact age it’s aimed at, but the Children of Noisy Village books were charming.

Marguerite Henry books are good: not just the Chincoteague series, but also King of the Wind and others.

This may sound funny, but also search all the books your children liked on Amazon, and you’ll see “those who bought this also bought” lists. Go to your local library and try those.

Even better, go to your local library and ask for the children’s librarian.

Thirdly, don’t forget to research John Newbery Medal and Honor Book winners; you might want to look at the list at the ALSC web site:
ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal
ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists

Speaking of “Little House,” there is also a Wilder Award:
ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/wildermedal
 
Beverly Cleary “Ribsy” was fun to read to my kids. They also enjoyed Pipi Longstocking.
 
You have lots of goodies here. Some I didn’t see:

How about Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys? (The classic ones…still in print! 🙂 )

Betsy-Tacy series is good set in early 1900’s

All-of-a-Kind Family series is another oldie but goodie about a Jewish family (hard to find…check your library)

Sisters in Time (a Christian version of American Girls)

Dear America and My America (historical fiction in diary form)

Cul-de-Sac Kids (another Christian series by Beverly Lewis)

Bernstein Bears have chapter books (some have faith based themes!)

I’ll see if I can think up others. 😉
 
AdamPeter said:
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
Click to expand...
👍

I read that series to my son starting in kindergarten, and we loved it! I made sure to plan ahead so that I didn’t end up reading anything too intense as he was falling asleep – he was super sensitive to anything that even hinted of being scary, poor kid.

After the whole Narnia series, I read to him:
*
A Cricket in Times Square

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Because of Winn Dixie*

Because I knew he would be hearing about Harry Potter from his friends, I read him the first three books when he was in second grade and we had great discussions about the characters and events!

The last book I read aloud to him was The Hobbit.

We finished that book when he was in third grade. That summer, he read 3,000 pages on his own and decided he didn’t want anymore read alouds. 😦 Well, I guess we all have to grow up.

Have fun!
 
My granddaughters enjoyed the Junie B. Jones chapter books when they were kindergarten age.
 
Thought of more!

Junie B Jones books are good. Quite hilarious!

Amelia Bedilia seriesis older but funny!

A to Z Mysteries series

ZigZag Kids series

Judy Moody series (haven’t read it but kids like it 🤷)

Puppy Place series

Horse Diaries

Saddle Club (the earlier ones)

Secret Garden

The Railway Children

PollyAnna

Illustrated Classics series has so many good classic choices in an abriged version with pictures)

Charlotte’s Web

Stuart Little

Humphrey series (about a class hamster)

McGruff the Crime Dog

(I used to work in a library…can you tell? 😉 )
 
Oh, I had forgotten about The Secret Garden. My son loved that book as well. 😃
 
You could try a search for booklists online - there are loads.

We’re a Waldorf-style homeschool family, so these are a few of the lists that I’ve bookmarked for us. (A 7yr old would be considered 1st grade in Waldorf, there’s some developmental theory behind that, but I mention it because if you like these books, you’ll want to search for “First Grade” Waldorf to find more like them. The books for 8yr olds, “second grade”, are a little more intense and might be too much for the younger kids.)

theparentingpassageway.com/2008/11/11/great-read-alouds-for-waldorf-at-home-first-grade/

waldorfessentials.com/reading-list-through-the-years-grade-k-4/

litkidz.com/books/waldorf (this one covers all years but specifies a target audience for each book)

I’m pretty sure that Kolbe Academy has a recommended reading list by age as part of their Catholic homeschool book sales - maybe another HSer here has used it and can say whether it’s a good list for readalouds? I don’t know if it is general reading or just Catholic specifically.

And if you’re feeling adventurous, that’s a great age for storytelling in general. So if you’re lacking chapter-book material, make something up! Or tell a story that parallels something from your own childhood, or your family’s history, or a local myth - lots of options for material!
 
Humphrey the Hamster series

Understood Betsy

All of a Kind Family series
 
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