Anonymous wrote:Hello! I’ve gone through all of my childhood favorites with my kid (Dahl, Mixed Up Files, E.B. White, Romona, etc.). While I love reading my favorites from my childhood, there’s a lot that feels very dated (gender roles, language, etc.). We have also read magic tree house and dragon masters. Those were more fun for my kid than me, but we enjoyed them, despite the formulaic approaches. Zoey and Saasaafrass was also great.

What are other good chapter books for a first grader. I’m fine with older classics, but hoping to avoid some of the pitfalls mentioned above re: stereotypes. I would also love recommendations for newer books. What does your first grader enjoy that you also loved to read? It’s fine if it’s above a first grade reading level since I’m reading to her. Thanks!

Guardians of GaHoole
+1 for Geronimo Stilton
Shuri
Missy Piggy Wiggle
Princess Black
The Questioneers series
Ordinary People change the World Series
The Junglebook

I would like to second (or third) Mercy Watson, and suggest also looking into other books by Kate DiCamillo. We have read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, and Flora & Ulysses to our kindergartener. Both intended for an older audience but her writing is really accessible to younger kids and our child enjoyed them.

I tried starting Tiger Rising with her and she rejected it. So kids will let you know when something is just outside their wheelhouse. We've read a lot of chapter books intended for upper elementary readers to her, and as long as the subject matter is age appropriate (not too scary or mature) and she can key into the characters fairly easily, she's really enjoyed it.

Also, as she is learning to read we've found that she's hungry for longer books with more complex storylines and bigger vocabularies, because the books she can read on her own at this point are so basic. So reading up a level or two has seemed to satisfy that need while she works on reading simple readers and picture books.

Mercy Watson
Cam Jansen
Young Amelia Bedelia
Ivy and Bean

Wings of Fire. Honestly, I can't get my second grader interested in anything else. He just wants to reread them.

Heartwood Hotel series

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy and Bean

+1 I loved Ivy and Bean

I don’t like some of their sassy conversations. I feel some if it is a bit too grown up for my 7 year old.

I got a secondhand copy of the phantom tollbooth and it was fun (if challenging) to read. I strongly recommend a few graphic novels. Hilo series is really fun. Laser Moose and Rabbit Boy, and all the Sara Varon graphic novels. Sweet stories that read for adults, too.

Wellie Wisher books
Magical Animal Rescue
Unicorn Rescue Society
Emily Windsnap

Anonymous wrote:Ivy and Bean

+1 I loved Ivy and Bean

The How to Train Your Dragon series is very different from the movies. My 7-year-old DS loved the series, and also the other series by the same author, The Wizards of Once. We've read Beast Quest books recently, which is also likes a lot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Off the top of my head, mine loved the Harriet the Hamster Princess series, The Borrowers, the Narnia books, The Hobbit, The Wind in the Willows, and The Incredible Journey.

Your kid enjoyed The Hobbit in first grade? What crap. Let your first grader be a first grader.

I had a pre-schooler who liked the Hobbit. If you scaffold the kids and get them used to hearing older books with richer vocabularies (and sometimes know when to elide a less interesting conversation, or add in something that matches a narrow interest), the number of books they're able to enjoy expands. Hence I had a rapt audience for "The Song of Hiawatha, With Slightly More Dinosaurs Than Were In Longfellow's Original".

I'm the one who said my kid liked the Hobbit. I should note that I did voices for all the characters, which she loves, and I sang all the songs in the story (badly, but still). And explained words if she didn't know them. It's an adventure story about a short person -- not really shocking that a kid would like it, really.

My 1st grade daughters current favorite is the Zoey & Sassafrass series - magic animals, cute cat, some lite science/scientific method, what’s not to love.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Off the top of my head, mine loved the Harriet the Hamster Princess series, The Borrowers, the Narnia books, The Hobbit, The Wind in the Willows, and The Incredible Journey.

Your kid enjoyed The Hobbit in first grade? What crap. Let your first grader be a first grader.

I had a pre-schooler who liked the Hobbit. If you scaffold the kids and get them used to hearing older books with richer vocabularies (and sometimes know when to elide a less interesting conversation, or add in something that matches a narrow interest), the number of books they're able to enjoy expands. Hence I had a rapt audience for "The Song of Hiawatha, With Slightly More Dinosaurs Than Were In Longfellow's Original".

Some of these are older, but I recommend:

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (this is fabulous for a first grader, please try it)

Gail Carson Levine’s Princess Tales (newer, clever, funny, non-stereotypical adaptations)
Flat Stanley (newer, silly)
Boxcar Children
Pippi Longstocking
Encyclopedia Brown
Frindle (newer)
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (may be intense for a first grader)
The Secrets of Droon (newer - the Special Editions may be too intense for a first grader)
Time Warp Trio (newer - similar to Magic Tree House)
American Girl books? - if she likes history, she might like these, but my kids read them on their own, so I don’t know how intense they might be

The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau (picture book, but a lot of text, charming story, incredible illustrations)
Where the Sidewlk Ends by Shel Silverstein (quirky poetry)
Just-So Stories by Kipling - get an illustrated version (the prose is very dense, but beautiful)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Off the top of my head, mine loved the Harriet the Hamster Princess series, The Borrowers, the Narnia books, The Hobbit, The Wind in the Willows, and The Incredible Journey.

Your kid enjoyed The Hobbit in first grade? What crap. Let your first grader be a first grader.

??? We read it aloud together. She enjoyed it. What can I say?