Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just want to 2nd the recommendation of the Laura Ingalls series. My 5 year old boy loved those books so much.

Also +1 to the Wizard of Oz which was a huge hit with my 4 & 7 year old boys.

I’m assuming you left out the black face parts?

I did not, but we talked about it, especially the "darky" language. My kids might have been a little older when we read that one. Of course it also would have been very easy to skip that chapter if one preferred not to talk about that.

We also talked about Ma's racist talk about Indians and why the Ingalls family left their farm in Indian territory.

Little House on the Prairie books
Children’s version of The Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne (I think it’s divided into 6 books)
Hardy Boys
Wizard of Oz series
A-Z mysteries

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean Harry Potter is the obvious choice here, at least the first two or three, then they get a little dark. 6 is generally the recommended age, but I think an advanced 5 year old would be into them.

Yeah I've debated that but have heard from other parents to hold off until 7 because they do get dark quickly so you get kind of stuck when you start them young and then need to pause

DH started reading Harry Potter to DD in kindergarten. I think they probably read 10 to 20 pages a night so it took quite a while to get through the whole series. I don’t think they got too dark too quickly for her but she wasn’t the type of kid to be easily scared.

The Buddy Files

I disagree with those recommending Magic Tree House and Dragon Masters. They are meant to be read by the kids and make for crappy read alouds. There is a lot of unnecessary repetition that gets tedious when reading aloud. (“My name is Jack,” said Jack. “My name is Annie, said Annie”. “Hi Jack. Hi Annie,” said Teddy.) Better to save them for when the kids are ready to start reading chapter books by themselves or out loud to you. Also, they are often rather boring, in terms of plot and lack of humor.

Of the books on that level, I will say that the Last Firehawk books are the most interesting, although again, if you can find something else that will keep your interest, I would save them for an early reader.

Mr. Poppers Penguins is a good one we did at that age. Ramona the Pest also. One of my kids liked Harry Potter 1 at that age but got too scared by number two.

So many great books already listed. Here are some that haven't been mentioned yet.

Half Magic series
Freddy the Pig series
Edith Nesbit books
Toys Go Out series
Moomintroll series

Don't discount the thousands of excellent picture books out there. Here is a link to award-winning science and social studies books. Also look in the fables and myth section of your library. I had a kid who really loved Greek myths around that age.
https://www.nsta.org/outstanding-science-trade-books-students-k-12
https://www.socialstudies.org/notable-social-studies-trade-books

Anonymous wrote:Just want to 2nd the recommendation of the Laura Ingalls series. My 5 year old boy loved those books so much.

Also +1 to the Wizard of Oz which was a huge hit with my 4 & 7 year old boys.

I’m assuming you left out the black face parts?

Just want to 2nd the recommendation of the Laura Ingalls series. My 5 year old boy loved those books so much.

Also +1 to the Wizard of Oz which was a huge hit with my 4 & 7 year old boys.

Anonymous wrote:Biggest hits this year with my almost 5 y/o:

Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, & Stuart Little
Dahl: first Fantastic Mr. Fox, then James, then Matilda, then Charlie
Gwinna
The Ramona series
A few Boxcar Children
Bless this Mouse
Mouse and the Motorcycle

For Dahl, I change a few bad words and try to describe the antagonists without reference to their weight, which is a big focus of negativity. Like a PP, I don't agree with Magic Treehouse being a good read-aloud series. We got through about 6 of them before I stopped because they are definitely early readers -- the vocab and sentence structure are very simple. I'll leave them for her to read in a few years.

Hi, whoever you are this is my same list of books except the Mouse ones are new to me. Going to get them based on everything else on your list!

OMG how could I forgot Wild Robot? It was seriously the BEST. I put it up there with the E.B. White books.

Anonymous wrote:Beverly Cleary is a good choice, though I will say it depends on your boy. My daughter loved the Beezus and Ramona books, but my son wasn't into them. The more boy focused books (The Mouse and the motorcycle, the Henry books) were not quite as accessible and readable at the Ramona series.

My kids loved a Cricket in Times Square at that age.

And it's a great age for Laura Ingalls Wilder - again these did not interest my son, but my daughter loved them.

I have 2 boys. They both loved the Little House books--they are really terrific. They also liked all the Beverly Clearly books.

The Wizard of Oz is a fantastic read-aloud for this age. I also recommend:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Gone Away Lake (and sequel Return to Gone Away)
The Great Brain series
How to Eat Fried Worms
King Matt the First (I did not like this much myself, but my DS1 LOVED it)
Charlotte's Web
The Trumpet of the Swan
the Clementine books
the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books
Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing
The Cricket in Times Square
A Secret Garden
Danny, the Champion of the World
James and the Giant Peach
Mr. Popper's Penguins
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Pp’s have suggested some fabulous books, that I love, but I remember them as tearjerkers, and I’m not sure if OP is okay with that. Charlotte’s Web, The Little Prince, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe are the specific ones I’m thinking of. They’re still great books that OP might enjoy reading with their child, I just didn’t want them to be taken by surprise.

Biggest hits this year with my almost 5 y/o:

Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, & Stuart Little
Dahl: first Fantastic Mr. Fox, then James, then Matilda, then Charlie
Gwinna
The Ramona series
A few Boxcar Children
Bless this Mouse
Mouse and the Motorcycle

For Dahl, I change a few bad words and try to describe the antagonists without reference to their weight, which is a big focus of negativity. Like a PP, I don't agree with Magic Treehouse being a good read-aloud series. We got through about 6 of them before I stopped because they are definitely early readers -- the vocab and sentence structure are very simple. I'll leave them for her to read in a few years.

The World According to Humphrey
My Father's Dragon
The Jumbies
The Mysterious Benedict Society

A lot of good suggestions. I'll add the Jacob Two Two series and Phantom Toll Booth to the list as they were favorites of my son at that age.