What’s so great about chapter books? For Pre-K

[Anonymous]

I know a few parents who brag about the fact that their Pre-Ker enjoys being read (or reading!) chapter books. I’ve flipped through some of them and they’re kind of lame. Basic plots and prose. Give me a picture book with thought-provoking illustrations and lyrical verse any day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a few parents who brag about the fact that their Pre-Ker enjoys being read (or reading!) chapter books. I’ve flipped through some of them and they’re kind of lame. Basic plots and prose. Give me a picture book with thought-provoking illustrations and lyrical verse any day.

LOL

P.s.: they can have both.

[Anonymous]

Ok.

They are both great. My Pre-Ker read both kinds of books. All kinds of reading is wonderful and good for kids.

[Anonymous]

It’s hardly something to brag about. Both are great.

[Anonymous]

What are considered chapter books? I am confused. Are those books with many words, no pictures, or certain level A to Z or reading level assigned?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s hardly something to brag about. Both are great.

+1

[Anonymous]

Picture books are good for reading comprehension. The people who like chapter books are misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are considered chapter books? I am confused. Are those books with many words, no pictures, or certain level A to Z or reading level assigned?

Chapter books are literally books with chapters. Some have pictures, some don't. Very early chapter books aimed at grades K-2 usually have pictures, but often the pictures are not on every page, not in color, and the quality may be more like a newspaper comic than a nice picture book.

Roald Dahl, the Wizard of Oz series, and the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon trilogy by Grace Lin are all examples of chapter books that have some pictures, but are written at a higher level.

Entry-level chapter books are like Heidi Hecklebeck and Mercy Watson. Picture on every or almost every page and very easy to read prose.

[Anonymous]

What do librarians usually recommend for advanced pre-K kids?

[Anonymous]

I don't know...

I prefer to read long picture books to my 4 yr old. The stories are quite clever and nice and she lives the pictures and we talk about things in the pictures, she asks thoughtful questions that encourage dialogue between us.

But any reading is good reading, be it chapter books, picture books, comic books.

[Anonymous]

Huh? We have both. DD reads to herself, but I also read great picture books for 30 min. While I didn't push it and it's a skill she figured out herself, it is impressive. Sorry you don't think so. I haven't told any other moms about it though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do librarians usually recommend for advanced pre-K kids?

I don’t know what librarians recommend, but we did trial and error to see which longer books would stimulate interest and then tried out increasingly more sophisticated books. I think it is better to initially err on the side of building the child's confidence with easier books and work up, than the other way around.

Dory Fantasmagory and the Franny K Stine series were big early hits, probably because they have very silly illustrations and a sense of humor.

The Dragon Masters series seem to be very popular with the K-2 cohort.

My kids didn't love the Magic Treehouse series, but some other kids seem to like them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s hardly something to brag about. Both are great.

Yup. I have one kid who loves chapter books and one on pre k now who doesn't get into them. Both love books and that is all I care about at this stage.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you are just reacting to some dumb parents who were bragging about this. I get it. I have also been in roller coaster of "Wait, should we be doing that too? Huh, actually what we're currently doing works great. Nevermind, those people suck." I think this multiple times a week.

Point is: do what works for YOUR kid. Trying to force a child to interact in a more "adult" way with books is not going to make that child love books or learn to read faster (and who cares if a child learns to read at 4 or 6 -- in the long run it truly does not matter). My PK kid likes picture books because she likes to memorize all the words and the pictures help her remember them. She also likes to "read" the books she's memorized to us during book time. She also likes to act out what is happening in the books, sometimes with costume changes and props. We haven't introduced chapter books yet because all of that is already a lot and we'd rather encourage her obvious love for stories and reading then say "No, sit here while I read to you from this book with no pictures because this is what reading is." Sorry, I don't think that would go over well.

You do you. As long as your kid enjoys the time you spend with books and literature, it's a win. You can't mess it up!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do librarians usually recommend for advanced pre-K kids?

I’m not sure but there are lots of advanced text picture books. Dogman has some pretty advanced words.