Kindergarten and first grade read aloud chapter books
[1]
Amber Brown (Series)
illus. Ross, Tony
chapter book
Amber Brown is an imaginative third grader. In the first book, Amber Brown is not a Crayon, Amber deals with the issue of a best friend moving away.
Recently Added
[2]
The Curious Adventures of the Abandoned Toys
illus. Schindler, S.D.
chapter book
A story about abandoned stuffed animals who end up in a garbage dump. The story is familiar: a lost toy tries to find its owner, other toys try to deal with being thrown out. The writing is british. The vocabulary is extraordinarily complicated for an illustrated novel. So be prepared to define a lot of words, often 2 or 3 words in a single sentence. It is a great opportunity to increase your child's vocabulary. The illustrations are good, almost every page has one.
Recently Added
[3]
The End of the Beginning
illus. Tusa, Tricia
chapter book
If you like Winnie the Pooh, or The Little Prince, you'll probably like this story, about a voyage of a snail and an ant on a branch of a tree. It is full of the philosophy that your kids will find humorous, but you will recognize as deep.
[4]
Ivy and Bean
illus. Blackall, Sophie
chapter book
Ivy and Bean are two little girls who like to get into trouble. Note: some parents get upset when the protagonist sets a bad example for their children. If you look at the Amazon reviews for this book, most people love it, but a few people hated the bad behavior and role models.
[5]
Gloria Rising
chapter book
highly recommended
Everyone of Cameron's books we have read are excellent. Parents who like good role models will especially like her books. Gloria is a little girl who wants to be an astronaut. The main conflict is between Gloria and her fourth grade teacher, who is the epitome of strict, old style way of teaching.
[6]
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 
illus. Blake, Quentin
chapter book
audiobook CD
A great book for beginning read-aloud chapter books. Charlie wins a ticket to visit the most spectacular chocolate factory in the world.
[7]
Horace Splattly: The Cupcaked Crusader (Series)
illus. Gott, Barry
chapter book
One way you can tell how much your kids like a book is how loud they cry when you close the book and announce bedtime. This book is exciting enough to elicit protests. It is exciting, action packed with a super hero, but mild enough to read to a young one. Each book contains a mystery that the listener can try to figure out (it is pretty obvious to the adult reader).
[8]
The Giggler Treatment
illus. Ajhar, Brian
chapter book
Do you think it is funny when some one steps in dog poo? If so, you'll find this book funny. When a parent is mean to a child, the parent gets the giggler treatment: a day where he repeatedly steps in dog poo. The book is extremely off beat, which makes for a nice change.
[9]
Zero grandparents
chapter book
A second grade class, in a magnet school, celebrates Grandparent Day. Calliope James's grandparents are not alive, and she finds a way to celebrate the day with her classmates.
[10]
Weird Planet 1: Dude, Where's My Spaceship?
illus. Pamintuan, Macky
chapter book
Weird Planet is a great science fiction series for young listeners. Don't underestimate the power of science fiction: a survey of scientists and engineers once attributed Star Trek as the number one motivating factor for pursuing a scientific career. The series is entertaining, exciting, plot driven, and funny. And educational in an ironic sort of way: When Klatu sees people putting money in slot machines, he assumes they are 'throwing out' extra cash. When people hit the jackpot, he assumes that once in a while the trash cans fill up and regurgitate. While naively not true, it is basically true.
[11]
Babe
illus. Rayner, Mary
chapter book
highly recommended
Babe is a pig who desperately tries to avoid the slaughter house. He is adopted by a mother sheep dog, and is determined to become useful on the farm by herding sheep. Though you can read this book to a preschooler, it is a little longer and more complicated then most of our other choices, so choose this book after your child is already comfortable listening to 100 page chapter books.
[12]
Judy Moody (Series)
illus. Reynolds, Peter
chapter book
Judy Moody is a third grader that often gets into strong moods. She has a little brother, Stink, who also has a series of chapter books (see the preschool chapter book list). In fact, Stink is often the butt of some hilarious practical jokes. Overall, the books are humorous for kids, and to the adult, thanks to some clever puns.
[13]
The Littles (Series)
illus. Clark, Roberta Carter
chapter book
These books are part of a series. Imagine little people living secret lives under our noses, in our houses. The littles look just like us except that they have tails.
[14]
Fairy Realm (Series)
illus. Vitale, Raoul
chapter book
Fairy Realm is different from the usual girl-oriented fairy books. Rodda is a good writer: The sentence structure is complex, and the vocabulary is quite rich; much richer than Magic Tree House. Jessie is the granddaughter of a fairy queen. The interesting thing about this series is that Jessie does not solve her conflicts with magic, rather with 'human common sense.' So far, I have read through all of the TEN books. It is definitely more time consuming than those on the preschool chapter book list, and it takes a lot more effort to read them aloud. But, I think it is well worth the effort. Usually I don't like to distinguish between boy and girl books: if a book is good, everyone should read it. So, boys may enjoy this book also. In fact, boys should learn to empathize with girls, and books like this will help.
[15]
Marvin Redpost
illus. Hughes, Neal
chapter book
highly recommended
Kidnapped at Birth is the first book of the Marvin Redpost series. Marvin, a third-grader, is a bright boy with a conscious. The books hold the attention of young children, even as young as four years old, yet appeal to the adult also. Many short novels that are suitable to be read aloud to young children purely plot driven, and many times, dry and predictable. Not so with Sachar: his books are truly literature for the young. Though we have rated them for the preschooler, even an adult will enjoy reading them, and so will older children. My two favorite books in the series are 'Why Pick On Me' and 'Alone In His Teachers House.'
[16]
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
chapter book
highly recommended
audiobook CD
I call this book: the worlds thickest picture book. The book measures roughly 526 pages, with something like 200 illustrations. When one does the subtraction one comes up with roughly 300 pages of text; however many text pages have only a few lines, and many pages are blank. What I am trying to say is that the book looks formidable, but it is quite possible to read the book to a preschooler. You can do it in 3-4 days, even. The illustrations are wonderful, and the story is complex and suspenseful. The writing is clear. It tells the story of an orphan who lives inside the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, fixing clocks and an automaton.
[17]
The Box Car Children (Series)
chapter book
A series of mysteries concerning four orphaned siblings. They run away, rather than go live with their grandfather and live in a boxcar (train). It was written using simple language so to be accessible to really young kids. It does read a little dated, so you will have to do some explaining to your kids.