I think of chapter books for kids in terms of two basic categories. Quick readers and Commitment readers. Quick readers are chapter books that can easily be read in 2-3 hours and have a few pictures. Commitment readers are chapter books that take more time, sometimes a month, to complete. They have less pictures, if any, and their chapters are quite a bit longer. Both types of books have their place and we enjoy switching back and forth between them.
I wanted to share some of the books that M, M and I have enjoyed over the last couple of years. (Good thing to because a lot of you asked for suggestions!) I’ll divide this in to two posts, you can expect to find the commitment reader chapter book review this afternoon!
Quick Reader Chapter Books for Kids
Magic Tree House series
by Mary Pope Osborne
I could write an entire post on how much I love the Magic Tree House series. Oh wait I already did. 😉 For this review and a really fun activity to match click on over to Magic Tree House.
Cam Janson series
by David A. Adler
illustrated by Susanna Natti
My sister’s girls were hooked on the Cam Jansen series first. Lucky for us they handed over an entire stack of these fun mystery books all at once. Little M seems even more drawn to these than any of the other quick readers. We actually read two in one day while Big M was at school. I think it’s because the character is a strong, smart and funny little girl. The mysteries are full of adventure, but they are not scary. Cam is the type of kid you want as a neighbor, and I love reading books about kids like that!
Nancy Drew Notebooks series
by
Carolyn Keene
The Nancy Drew Notebooks series is similar to Cam Jansen. The main character is a wonderful role model for little girls. The stories are full of mystery and adventure and they are aimed at young kids. What I really love about this series is that it’s followed up by the Nancy Drew and The Clue Crew series. It will allow my kids to grow with the main characters. We go back and forth between the books now. (There might even be another series after that, but we’re not there yet.) 😉
Which quick reader chapter books for kids are you reading?
The Bad Kitty Books are a great intro to chapter book option.
I haven’t heard of those. I’ll have to see what I can find…. Thanks!
Do you think boys would like any of these books? My first thought is they seem “girley”.
My oldest is a boy. The Magic Tree House is great for boys and girls. The other two have girls as main characters but they are not girly books at all. My son loves all of them!
Oldie but goodie for read aloud is Mrs. Piggle Wiggle series by Betty McDonald.
Sounds great! I can’t wait to track them down. Thank you!
My daughter and I especially like The Boxcar Children.
My kids have read The Boxcar Children with their Aunt. They love them too. 😉
Hi,
We’re just reading “Milly Molly Mandy” & both miss 2 & miss almost 4, are loving her! If it wan’t for being given them by my MIL, & it being a really positive experience,- i’d be reading your chapter book posts thinking that it was just beyond my girls: but look,- it isn’t: thanks for the encouragement 🙂
Carly
I haven’t heard of “Milly Molly Mandy”! I guess I’ll need to check it out. So glad your experience has been so wonderful. Happy reading. 🙂
I am a teacher turned SAHM and am loving your posts about reading to the littles! My DS will be 3 next month and his favorite thing right now is for us to tell him a story. We tell him the same 3-4 stories over and over and over and OVER. It’s great! But that tells me he’s ready- he’s retelling the stories to us and seems to have an image in his head when he tells it. I LOVE IT!!! I just wanted to say thanks and also to tell you that the Down Girl and Sit series (when I was teaching, I think there were three- may be more now!) for both girls and boys. They are HILARIOUS (if you are dog people- probably even if you’re not!) and good for the kids to really think about the humor in them (i.e.- why do you think the cat is called Here Kitty Kitty?). After I read them to my 3rd graders every year, my husband would bring our dog, Katie to the school and then the students would write about Katie’s experiences coming to 3rd grade from her perspective. Treasures to be kept in their portfolio!
We are totally dog people! I can’t wait to find the Down Girl and Sit series. I love the extra experience of making their own story. Thanks for sharing and leaving such a thoughtful comment.
Great starters. I will see what I can find at the library. Thanks!
Have you read the mercy watson series, charlottes web, mrs. piggle wiggle, the animal friends series dewey the library cat (kids version) or a to z mysteries? This is my first time on your blog so maybe you have mentioned those before. 🙂 ,
We love all of the books shared already in your post and those mentioned in the above comments. Some other great series that we have read are:
The Lighthouse Family Series by Cynthia Rylant which has been great for both girls and boys; Roscoe Riley Rules; Franny K. Stein; The Cobblestone Cousins which is another great series by Cynthia Rylant; Flat Stanley; Little Bill (great for beginning readers but sometimes difficult to find); Heidi Heckelbeck; Daisy Dawson; and Princess Posey. Our list could go on and on . . . . we just love books!