Big Kid, who just turned four, has been interested in listening to beginning chapter books for about a year which has been fun. We’ve read a few, and also have them on audio book through Audible, so we can listen to them on walks. I am loving that this is becoming a more well known, and more well written category of books. I believe listening to a story over a longer period of time, as well as listening to stories that are complex, are important skills for our children as they grow and begin to have longer attention spans.
I am calling books “beginning chapter books” if they have have:
- a picture on every, or nearly every, page that are supportive of the text
- clear chapters that continue the same narrative throughout
- a more complex storyline that would be found in a typical picture books
- clearly defined chapters, and more than 60 pages
- generally take more than one sitting to read
Our favorite beginning chapter books are:
- My Father’s Dragon (series) by Ruth Stiles Gannett & Ruth Chrisman Gannett
- Mercy Watson (series) by Kate DiCamillo & Chris Van Dusen
- The Fabled Stables (series – coming soon) by Jonathan Auxier & Olga Demidova
- Princess Cora and the Crocodile by Laura Amy Schlitz & Brian Floca
What are your favorite beginning chapter books? I’d love to learn about more good ones!
You can head to Bookshop.org to see these books listed under “Beginning Chapter Books”. You can also find my other book lists there, as well as here on my blog.
*Links may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you order through a link, which allows me to continue to buy new books to review.*
Kid's Lit Life 