We read aloud to ds, just turned 5, some through the day but always before bed. Lately we have started 'chapter' books and I'm Sooooooo frustrated!

They have lots of chapter books with the one line written on them but they are obviously meant for the kids to read themselves, which is great. But I'm looking for chapter books that have pages filled with writing so that I can read to him around 15-20 mins. a chapter. He loves the idea of finding out the next day what happened the previous day.

I have found lots of exclusively girls books that are like this that are appropriate for this age
~ barely five. They are sweet and light with true friendships, hardly any conflict, and lots of kumbya's (sp)! But for boys books, they are either too tense (Magic Treehouse series) or just plain too old for him (8-12). Plus I am constantly 'editing' out the words "Stupid", "Dumb" "Sissy", "Mean", "Bad", "Kill" etc...we don't use those words with our ds and don't want him to hear them from us, written or not. Censorship? Yup, you bet. I reserve that right when my kid isn't even in kindergarten yet!

I went to Borders yesterday and expressed my great frustration and the woman looked at me and said, "tell me about it. My son is 7. Did you know 90% of books are written for girls?! You know why? Because Boys Don't Read". They don't read because most of the material is written exclusively for girls!:furious:

I don't mind having stories With girls in them, of course, but what I'm talking about at his age level are the books where three girls or so are banded in a 'club' of sorts, something that is just not appropriate for a little boy. The classics at his age are just plain too mature, too much violence. And the little that is out there seems to be centered on boys that hate school/are bullied/ etc.

Ok thanks for letting me vent!!! I'll find a way around it even if I have to write them myself! My dh and I fully plan on reading to ds until he leaves the house. I know many will say they won't want to read with us after they can read themselves well, but I have other ideas up my sleeve for that one!!:muahahahah:

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How about visiting the library and talking to one of the clerks? They should be able to offer some assistance on reading materials for him...

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~ Jessica

We have had some luck with the Flat Stanley series of books. And also Horrible Harry. There are more but I can't think of them right now. If I do, I will let you know. But I do feel your pain, it is really hard to find books to hold my children's interest.

It can be frustrating... I have always read aloud to my boys (my oldest is 7) and he still loves when I read to him. Let's see.... when he was 5 I think we read Charlotte's Web aloud. That's a good one. I'm trying to remember what else... Cynthia Rylant had a series which was for either gender... nice themes, nothing bossy or rough. It was an early reader series, but with chapters of good length. My ds didn't like the Flat Stanley books... don't know why.

I'll think about a bit more and see if I can remember what we read at that age.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

Flat Stanley, Charlottes Web, Stuart Little, Arthur (they have chapter books I get at the library), Cam Jansen (chapter books meant for 6-8 year olds) have all worked for us.

Oh my goodness! I love books and I especially enjoy reading chapter books at night.

We're slowly working through The Lemmony Snickets series right now (more for me, than for the little one). It is hard because she keeps wanting me to read from her children's bible in the evening, too. There is only so much time! She's on her third children's bible - increasing in difficulty and complexity of the concepts. I'm keeping the earlier ones so she can read them herself one day.

And for boys there are so many classics! There is the entire Madeleine L'Engle series ala "A Wrinkle in Time". Plus...

"Where the Red Fern Grows"

"Charlie and The Chocolate Factory"

"The Secret Garden"

"The Wind in the Willows"

"The Indian in the Cupboard"

"Sounder"

"The Great Brain"

"Old Yeller"

The Chronicals of Narnia series

The Eragon series

The Artemis Fowler series

The Magic Treehouse series

Mark Twain

"All Creatures Great and Small"

The Hardy Boys series has been republished

And there is a whole host of animal related books. I forget the title of the series but there is one where the kids change into different animals for their adventure.

I think boys' reading has increased significantly since the popularity of Harry Potter. There are some great books out there. So many books. So little time.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

When you go to Borders they have them in sections by read-to-me or learning to read. I always bought my son scooby doo books, level 1 (which has some words and pictures in among the words) level 2 (has words and the story is a little longer).

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Mary

I'm having a problem with books for my 7 yo. She reads at a much higher level, more like 5-6 grade, but the books out there are all about boys and getting boys' attention! Even ones that are for her grade (2nd) are like that! And, I completely agree about editing words like stupid, name-calling, etc. it's ridiculous that a book is the one teaching these words to my kids!

Here are a few suggestions:

Rold Dahl (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, etc.), EB White (Charlotte's Web), the Little House on the Prairie books, Ruth Stiles Gannett 's dragon trilogy (My Father's Dragon is the 1st), Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater, the Ramona or Mouse series by Beverly Cleary (or others by her). You might also check out the Newberry Award winners, and also see if your state has it's own book award for chapter books (such as Kansas has the William Allen White award each year).

I agree that books for boys tend towards the potty humor and name-calling. My DH (the local library director) just brought home a series where the 1st book is called Zombie Butts from Uranus (for himself to read, not for the boys).

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Erin, aka Quentinsmommy, mom to Quentin (1/03) and Ian (1/06)

These are some of our ds's favorites that's we've read aloud to him

The whole Magic Tree House series.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

James and the Giant Peach

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Henry Huggins (about a dog - very funny)

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (We've read this one so many times, I'm tempted to hide it.)

The whole Chronicles of Narnia (although we didn't start these until he was 7)

Peter Pan

Peter Pan in Scarlet (the new one - very well written)

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