What books did you read to your kid as they were learning to read?

[Anonymous]

I would take her to the library and let her pick out 10 books. Any books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you should differentiate the books you read to her versus the ones she learns to read. The ones she starts learning to read need to be so simple, that she would most likely memorize them instead of reading them.

Keep focusing on sounding out words. The Bob books are really good for this, as they’re decodable readers. The first ones ate deadly dull, but as more letters are added, they get better quickly. If she knows all the letters and their sounds, she might zoom through the early ones, or even skip to the ones that t are more interesting.

“No, David!” was a book my kids enjoyed reading at that age. The text consists of “No, David!” as rough illustrations show David running from one source of trouble to another. (In one scene you see him running away from his bath, naked.)

Another technique, is if the child is learning a letter combination, the parent can read the story and let the child read the words with that combination. For instance, when my kids learned “igh”, we read a picture book together called “Night” that included words like night, light, etc.

As for reading to her, read whatever she enjoys. Picture books and chapter books are all great. I would just avoid reading the easy reader books to her, so that they’ll be fresh and interesting for her to read.
My kids enjoyed:
Nursery Rhymes
Fairy Tales
Picture books, especially silly ones
the Quiltmaker books by Jeff Brumbeau - text heavy picture books with gorgeous illustrations
Princess Tales series by Gail Carson Levine
Flat Stanley chapter books
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (chapter book)
My Father’s Dragon (chapter book) - I found this one a bit dull

+1
We read books to her that were more advanced than she could read on her own (not necessarily chapter books or novels -- lots of beautiful picture books, too). Lots of reasons -- the easy readers are really meant for kids to read on their own, and while they may be fun to read aloud *together* they aren't as interesting to adults. I read things she couldn't read herself, because they are fun or interesting and have more advanced grammar and vocabulary. Charlotte's Web was one, Wind in the Willows, etc. She herself liked Elephant and Piggie, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Amelia Bedelia, Frog and Toad, Mouse and Mole, Cowgirl Kate, Mercy Watson, Mr. Putter and Tabby, the Charlie and Lola books, What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig, etc.

[Anonymous]

What are “easy reader books”?

[Anonymous]

My DD really liked the Harriet Ziefert Flip a Word series. Very basic but gave her confidence.

[Anonymous]

Yeah definitely did a combo - 5 min at start then building to 10 of her working with us on Bob books or easy readers to sound out.

Then the “desert” of a good book
Magic Treehouse and the alphabet mystery series were ones DD liked
Mrs Piggle Wiggle
Beezus and Ramona stories
DH started Harry Potter but I think 5 is early for that honestly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree about starting with Bob and Dear Dragon books. A little later, look into We Both Read books. National Geographic has some similar ones, too. The books have a harder page that the adult reads, then an easier page for the kid to read.

Examples:
https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Tiger-We-Both-Read/dp/1601152604/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LJA9YGAXVA9C&keywords=we+both+read&qid=1661276042&sprefix=we+both+read%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Readers-Reptiles-Co-reader/dp/142633883X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3UFCQ7CVHNPQ4&keywords=national+geographic+co-reader&qid=1661276084&sprefix=national+geographic+co-reader%2Caps%2C57&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyS09RSUxLM0g5VUNaJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTA5NzMwMkhaNlFLVzRKNEVRJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxMzg2MDEyTkpLNlpONkNOV1hTJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I love We Both Read! The easiest ones are super easy (kid reads only one word with lots of rhyme, context clues, and picture support) and they build up. Even better, once your kid is used to them, you can use that model for other books, where you read the parts that might be too hard and let her read the parts you know she can manage on her own.

Elephant and Piggie books are amazing.

There are a lot of easy reader graphic novels now too, which are great for kids to read independently. I find them a little bit annoying to read out loud, but I'm also a very linear reader and don't love graphic novels myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Junie B Jones series. The main character is in kindergarten, which can be very easy to relate to. Even though they are chapter books, they are easy enough words to have the early reader attempt to recognize some familiar site words or sound them out. Also can try comic books, such as Dog Man, which is what got my now first grader motivated to read.

I banned those books. She's such a horrible brat, and my kid started being bratty and sassy like her. So I told DD we weren't reading those books anymore and found books with nicer characters. Later found out a tons of parents in DD's grade did the same thing.

Yep. Also banned in our house.

My kindergartener banned them in our house. She said Junie made bad choices and she didn't want to read them.

Elephant and Piggie is the BEST for this stage. You read all of the parts now, and soon you can take turns with her reading one character and you reading the other.

My older one really loved Junie B. Jones. I really liked them too-they made me laugh out loud and I was sad when we reached book 24. My younger one who is more serious is horrified at her, and doesn't want to hear me read those. For read aloud-both kids loved My Father's Dragon, all the Roald Dahl books and the books by Dev Pilkey targeted to earlier readers where I could get them to read out a portion of the graphic novel with easy words (Dog Man, Dragons Gone by).

Agree that Elephant and piggie are super fun to have your kid play Elephant or Piggie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are “easy reader books”?

Go to your library to the children's sections and there were be books labeled with levels (1,2,3 etc.) Start with the ones that don't even have the numbers. There's also the Bob Books which are boring, but I think they're great, as the first ones are easy and build confidence for kids who think they can't read.

Lots of good suggestions on this thread. My kids also loved read alouds for Dory Fantasmagory and most of the Beverly Cleary books (Ramona, Henry Huggins etc.) And lots of good newer books on this link...
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-book-series-for-early-readers

[Anonymous]

Usborne Phonics Readers are great. A couple of them are exceptional; years later, I can still recite much of Underpants for Ants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are “easy reader books”?

I'm thinking of what are also called leveled or stepped readers.

Some examples:

HarperCollins "I Can Read!" https://www.harpercollins.com/collections/beginning-readers

Scholastic readers https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/featured-shops/scholastic-readers-level-1.html

Kingfisher Readers (nonfiction) https://us.macmillan.com/series/kingfisherreaders

Passport to Reading https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/series/passport-to-reading/

Keep in mind the 1-2-3 levels usually necessarily match up from series to series. It's like sizing in different clothing brands.