At long last! Here is the giant compiled list of recommended chapter books. I have gotten all Web 2.0 (true fact: I don’t actually know what this means) and created the list as an Amazon.com widget (another true fact: I only vaguely understand what this means). This list will keep us busy for some time here at World of Julie. Since writing the original post, we have read several of the titles and have enjoyed them all, most especially For Biddle’s Sake but also The Fairy’s Mistake and Rascal (which we’re reading right now). Oh, and also The Water Horse and Babe, the Gallant Pig, both by Dick King-Smith, which were just wonderful in every way.
Also, Josh commented with a link to his website, DaddyRead, which also has some chapter book lists.
Update: You might have to wait a moment for the widget to load. Apparently World of Julie and Amazon.com are great old friends, and like to have a little chat over the fence before they get around to showing you the widget. Widget widget widget.
MRS. PIGGLE WIGGLE!
Oh, bless you for this list! We keeping talking about the need to expand our bedtime reading list and this is just the ticket.
Holy cats this is a wonderful present – merry Christmas me! I read the descriptions — when did you start to read chapter books to Henry? Are Eli and Wylie too young still or should I give one a go?
Hey Julie, this is really cool, although I am boycotting Amazon.com at the moment. I’m trying to purchase as much stuff locally as possible these days. I used to really like Amazon, but as they’ve gotten bigger, their customer service has gone downhill.
Will got three Encyclopedia Brown books as a Thanksgiving gift, and has become obsessed with them. What is amazing to me is that he is reading them mostly on his own. I personally cannot solve the any of the mysteries.
We had to stop reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator because it got too scary. We’re going to have to check some of these out.
Pete, I buy locally as much as possible too, though there are some things that I just cannot deal with going out to get with all three kids. Plus, how on earth did people shop for gifts before the internet? It would be extremely difficult (impossible?) to go holiday shopping with the kids and keep presents a secret. Eli gets nosy about out-of-the-ordinary grocery purchases, so I’m pretty sure he’d notice if I were getting a toy street sweeper and casually sticking it in a basket.
I have extremely vivid memories of reading and loving Encyclopedia Brown. I still remember being blown away (BLOWN AWAY) by one where some thug rigged a contest by chilling his paper entry in a Thermos container, so then he could pick the “right” entry because it was colder. Why this has lodged itself deep into my brain I have no clue (because what did I have for lunch? that info nugget is completely gone).
Em, I started reading chapter books to Henry around 2.5 or 3. Started with Winnie the Pooh. Eli is into some and not into others. He loved the Dick King-Smith ones, and also loves the Beverly Cleary ones. And the E.B. Whites.
Oh yeah, we do a lot of shopping via internet too. I buy as much of my music as I can from my local record store guy (because really, how many of us still have a local record store guy?). Mostly, I’m just pissed at Amazon right now because I spent 45 minutes the other day trying to resolve a billing problem. It was a real ****, because it was over a poor phone connection to India, and they wouldn’t fix the problem. Long story, but I had a gift-card balance that ended up being applied to stuff I bought for work, and they wouldn’t change the way the order was billed. I’ve shopped Amazon for a long time. I actually bought from them way back in 1995 when they were called “Cadabra.com” because they were able to find some books that no book sellers in NYC could turn up. Their customer service used to be great, better than what you would expect from a local bookseller. But as they’ve gotten bigger, the quality of their customer service has gone down. It’s to be expected I suppose.
Did you already read the various Beverly Cleary books? I remember loving all of those at Henry’s age.
I think we’ve read almost all of the Beverly Cleary books. And I snagged a whole pile of them from the library book sale last year, so we have most of the Ramonas and Henry Hugginses. We recently read “Dear Mr. Henshaw” and “Strider” which I’d never read (and really liked).