Good chapter book/longer stories to read nightly to kindergartners?

groovygrl · October 2014

I would like to start read a book at night to my kids chapter by chapter to get them into longer books and the concept of a story that keeps going, etc.
I was thinking Charlotte's Web but didn't know if it was too much for 5 yr olds?
I know their teacher read a Junie B Jones book to them over the last week or so and they really enjoyed that so my mom is going to get them one of those around T-giving but I wanted to get something else to start soon..
Suggestions?
(FWIW they also read shorter/easier books and we work on reading so this would not replace them trying to read shorter books at their level).

groovygrl · October 2014

Ohh thanks. why didn't you like JBJ? I remember my nieces loving that series once upon a time and my kids seemed to love the one they read in class. Good to know that charlotte's web is prob ok and will look at magic treehouse & nancy clancy too! I dont think mine would like hardy boys either. DS would prob not be into little house I don't think, so I have to find something they both would get into (he doesnt hate fancy nancy but it is a little girlie so if the other is like that he'll prob tune out)

I also thought about stuart little, along the same lines as Charlotte's web....

meldoo2002 · October 2014

We love the Magic Treehouse series... I think they could be kinda boring, but my kids love them!

groovygrl · October 2014

Thanks again! I will have to gauge the junie b books I guess... Similar thing happened to me this week I have the storia app and had some free books on it and one was a ready Freddy book about losing a tooth and I didn't read it before starting w them and the kid and his sister are so mean to each other and I end up skipping stuff and changing words but ds can read so I go fast so he can't keep up and see that I am changing it lol...ugh! Lesson learned

amieeyoung · October 2014

We did a lot of Magic Tree House Series books we read together. I also read him Chronicles of Narnia (we skipped the first one, and ended after Lucy and them left). He enjoyed it immensely!

He is older now, but still loves reading and I think it is because we mixed up stories he could read with longer chapter books we did together.

groovygrl · October 2014

Nice, Fred! My Ds is very similar...can't sit still during circle and reading but then they ask a question and he can tell them everything that was said... Have you watched this ted talk. I just love it. https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en

groovygrl · October 2014

fredalina said:

GREAT speech! Thanks for sharing. I love the part about the dancer. It really spoke to me. I grapple with this on a regular basis.

The dancer was the part that made me think you'd enjoy it... I am also recently obsessed w/ podcasts on my commute & my favorite show is the npr ted talk hour. They did one where they incorporated pieces of this talk & actually interviewed the dancer

. I listened to an awesome one yesterday (totally unrelated) called Transformation, it had really amazing guests on.

Kids are good- DS has found some boys in his class that he is getting along well with, which he didnt have in the last class, he played on his own a lot b/c the boys were all kind of rough & into sports. He also doesnt fight with me to go to school in the morning which is great... I think by the time he goes off to public school he will be in a much better place for it.

Are you struggling w/ the decision to keep her at montessori instead of public K? I do feel that the academic piece might be a struggle next year b/c they'll be so ahead (esp DS who reads at a pretty high level already & seems to absorb everything quickly I dont want him to be bored & act out) but we live in one of those school districts where a lot of ppl hold back & also pretty much their whole current class will be going on to public K (most have just turned 5 recently so just missed cutoff) next year so it probably wont be a big deal.
One thing I'll say is that i have yet to meet a single person/parent who regretted having been held back or holding back their child and have met many who wish they had (or ended up holding back later which is obviously much harder).

groovygrl · October 2014

Ahhh I see. It's a tough call. I also like the npr podcast called intelligence squared, it is an oxford style debate show...I listened to one on common core recently b/c I didn't know much about it...it was interesting to hear the sides.

That is definitely BS that a kid gets less reading time b/c they can read better...?! I know they do leveling starting in kindergarten in our district but I guess I need to find out exactly how/what they do with them... ugh. School is so complicated now. LOL.

MirandaHobbes · November 2014

We're making our way through all the Roald Dahl books. They were my absolute favorite as a kid. As a bonus, when we finish a book we have a family movie night and all watch the movie together. We just finished Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach.

Anything to get off Captain Underpants.. we've read them all (and the spinoffs) several times. DS is in 1st grade and Harry Potter doesn't yet hold his interest. I love how Roald Dahl has affected his speech. The other day he told me something was "just dreadful."

alli2672 · November 2014

"Just dreadful" is adorable.

I was thinking of reading Matilda to the kids. I love the idea of family movie night!

amieeyoung · November 2014

Yes, reading books that you can watch the movie after are very motivating, Plus, we talk about what was different between the book and movie and which he enjoyed more. Plus, it is when he gets a pop, popcorn and sometimes... candy so double exciting and motivating.

groovygrl · November 2014

I like the movie idea also...so, I did a magic treehouse book & both kids seemed kind of bored with it... but it was ok. I moved on to Charlotte's web & it is so funny to read these things as an adult, I can't believe more kids aren't traumatized by this LOL! DS is pretty into hearing it each night and DD is totally not. I have a Junie B Jones book so I'll probably do that next, and after that going to try some of hte suggestions on here that have corresponding movies!!! Thanks!

CanadianGurl · November 2014

My son's in first grade, but he's getting a set of Roald Dahl books, which I think would be good to read to kindergartners as well. He has loved being read chapter books to for a while. Last year in kindergarten I read him black beauty, which he loved. It took a while to go through it because I had to explain it as we went, but he loved the time and attention he received when we started reading chapter books at night instead of picture books.

groovygrl · December 2014

So I had gotten a Junie B Jones book right about the time I started this thread and just finished Charlotte's web so I decided to give JBJ a try...ugh! On the first page she told her baby brother to shut up his face or something like that (I changed the words but DS was like, that isn't what is says... LOL). I don't like her baby/bad grammar language at all...I mean, it is kind of cute & gives her a little personality and of course kids kind of talk in that way but I feel like it is a weird way to write a children's book, with intentionally bad grammar... like I 'runned' or I 'winned' ?

velvethelicopters · January 2015

My girls like any Dahl stories, but currently starting Dragonquest. The series is probably advanced for them, but they love it so far.

74dragonfly · January 2015

We just discovered Dragon Masters series, book 3 comes out soon. DD loves them

groovygrl · January 2015

Fred- too funny that is exactly what we're reading! I got DD/them the boxed Ramona set for xmas that has like 4 books in it... one of them (can't remember who) actaully said the other day, i don't want to be like Ramona... LOL

FaeryStarGazer · January 2015

groovygrl said:

So I had gotten a Junie B Jones book right about the time I started this thread and just finished Charlotte's web so I decided to give JBJ a try...ugh! On the first page she told her baby brother to shut up his face or something like that (I changed the words but DS was like, that isn't what is says... LOL). I don't like her baby/bad grammar language at all...I mean, it is kind of cute & gives her a little personality and of course kids kind of talk in that way but I feel like it is a weird way to write a children's book, with intentionally bad grammar... like I 'runned' or I 'winned' ?

My girls' teacher has been reading them the Junie B Jones 1st grader books. JBJ is still a whiney pain in the ass, but the language is a little better. I love hearing my girls read them though- they act out the parts, read really well with inflection- there is one where JBJ goes to the salon with her Dad (JBJ is a beauty shop guy) to watch him get a hair cut, and she changes her name to Pinkie Gladys Gutsman. Out of nowhere, one of my girls will shout out, "PINKIE!" the other will shout back "GLADYS!" and we all yell "GUTZMAAAAAANNNN"

) JBJ is kind of a brat, but we talk ad naseum about what is good behavior, and was JBJ good or bad, what would you do?

Dodger Fan Mommy 2009 · January 2015

I read site words books for kindergarten. Nothing too much to handle or level 1and 2 for young readers

jellybean529 · February 2015

My DD loves Captain Underpants. I swear we've read them each about ten times now.

We did one of the Magic Tree House books, and she thought it was super boring. As did I.

She also really likes the Bad Kitty chapter books. They have pictures in them and are actually pretty brief, but they're a great introduction to the concept of "chapter" without being bland.

Also, not a chapter book, but The Book With No Pictures by BJ Novak is great. It's a very short, very silly book that helped DD realize that a book doesn't have to have pictures to be awesome.

sunnyday016 · February 2015

We've done a bunch of the Magic Treehouse books. We're now doing a series called A to Z Mysteries and we're really enjoying it!

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