Good read-aloud chapter books for a first grader?

[Ellen Forradalom]

I've threatened to kill his dad for buying junk books.

I'm reading <i>Just So Stories</i> by Rudyard Kipling. We also read <i>Charlotte's Web</i>, and <i>The Moffats</i>, and <i>Mr. Popper's Penguins</i>, and a few others I can't recall right now.

I need some good classic books suitable for reading aloud chapter by chapter. Recommendations?

[PittPoliSci]

1. the Hobbit!

[Ellen Forradalom]

15. There's a thought

I think he can follow the story, but let me check it out.

[Best_man23]

2. Charlotte's Web, my favorite

E.B. White was a great writer, wish there were more like him.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. He also wrote Stuart Little

another classic.

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. We've read both

excellent read-alouds.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Junie B Jones

There is a series. And they are PERFECT for 1st grade girls. For boys - Captain Underpants.

Is the 2st grader doing the reading aloud or an adult?

If it is the kid, I love the Frog and Toad series. Jane Yolen also has some great chapter books for 1st graders.

If it is the adult reading aloud, try Matilda or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Both are by Roald Dahl. Matilda is probably better for a 1st grader.

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. We read both Charlies

I love Roald Dahl.

The point here is to:

a) Expose him to fairly well-written prose at a young age;
b) Find books he'd enjoy
c) Find books I can read aloud without shrieking.

Yes, I know that six-year-olds like things I don't. But it's a little hard on Mom to read Captain Underpants aloud.

[proud2BlibKansan]

22. Captain Underpants is tame

and it's really very funny. There are 7 books in the series.

There aren't many good chapter books for this age. This series really stands out.

Another good one is Sideways Stories from Wayside School. Its author, Louis Sachar, also wrote Holes.

An option you might consider (don't laugh) is The Boxcar Children. Kids absolutely love that book. Stick with the first one; the others in the series are not very good.

Or you could go with another good classic series - the Beezus and Ramona books by Beverly Cleary.

[cedahlia]

5. Beverly Cleary books would be good

Henry and Ribsy and Beezus and Ramona are two of my favorites by Ms. Cleary.

The Wind in the Willows is another classic that's a fun one to read aloud.

You might also want to try some of the Magic Tree House books, by Mary Pope Osborne...the main characters travel through time to different periods in history. I work in the Children's department at a public library, and the kids just eat those books up.

[deadparrot]

6. "The Phantom Tollbooth" and

"From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."

[Ellen Forradalom]

9. Sound like hot prospects

I'll check them out.

[jane_pippin]

8. Frog and Toad are Friends

It's an "I can read" book too, so the kid should be able to read with you fairly easily.

Someone else mentioned Junie B. Jones--that's a good series too, also an "I can read" book.

[China_cat]

11. Wizard of Oz

and its 14 sequels. Oh, and don't forget the Mary Poppins books.

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. Winnie the Pooh

I read this to my son several times from age 5 on. He always looked forward to the next night's story in the Hundred Aker Wood.

I read to him every night until he was about age 10-12...nighttime rituals and time for just us to be together. I often re-read his favorites to him...Stuart Little, Pooh, Banner In The Sky, and more. By the time he was 12, we were sharing the reading of Steinbeck novels. Of Mice and Men is still a very memorable book for him.

Kudos to you Ellen for taking the time to read aloud to your son :applause:

The Road to Agra and The Pearl are good ones to keep in mind to read to him in the years ahead.

[Ellen Forradalom]

13. Done

I should read some of the verse, too.

[AlCzervik]

14. Miss Spider books are good for reading aloud, they have a nice cadence.

[eyesroll]

18. I think Miss Spider's a little too young for a first grader on chapter

books...they're kind of neat little-kid books -- very pretty, and I like "squidgy widgy widge" as onomatopoeia, but they are more pictures than anything.

I was an early reader, and some of my favorites were the Ramona books (Beverly Cleary) and the Fudge books (Judy Blume). I don't know much that's recent, though.

[AlCzervik]

20. my daughter loved Beverly Cleary books. Oh hey what about

the "Lily" books? Those are pretty funny.
http://www.harperchildrens.com/hch/picture/series/lilly/

[eyesroll]

21. Those are cute, yes.

My BF's three-year-old has the "box of treats" in the car. (It's had the net effect of making her more receptive to "ice cream soup" rather than asking for, not getting and then throwing a tantrum over another scoop of ice cream.)

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

16. the Wayside School Series by Louis Sachar

Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

"Wayside School was supposed to be 30 classrooms, one story high; but by mistake it was built straight up 30 stories. And that's not all that's funny here..."

http://www.louissachar.com/Wayside.htm

I remember them from when I was in elementary school and one of the teacher would read them aloud to us. They must have been good if I can still remember them!

[malta blue]

17. My first grader tears through the Magic Tree House books

all by herself, which is a plus for me, but we also read them together. There are many in the series, and you really should read them in order. They are also a great history learning tool.


http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/

[LaraMN]

19. The Boxcar Children, Mrs. Piggle- Wiggle.

Both series books.

[KitchenWitch]

23. Charlotte's Web

Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Finn

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory...

James and I are reading it right now.

[CatBoreal]

25. My first grader is getting...

The Chronicles of Narnia for Christmas, so we're going to start her out on The Magician's Nephew.

After that, it's The Hobbit.

My daughter wants to see Lord of the Rings, and we told her that she has to read the books before the sees the movies. The same goes for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter.