Chapter books for 5 year old girl that are well-written?

[citymama]

s/o the other book threads: what chapter books are age-appropriate for a 5 yr old and also well-written? DD loves reading the Rainbow Magic fairy books and I have the Magic Treehouse books on our list but I don't think much of the quality of writing with either series. She's read the original Winnie the Pooh and Beatrix Potter and Frances the badger and Magic Schoolbus books. We have the Mary Poppins series and Stuart Little but she doesn't seem crazy about them - they may be too difficult in terms of vocabulary. Roald Dahl? Any others, classics or contemporary? She does love the whole rainbow fairy theme. Many thanks!

[new_mommy25]

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh. A simple but well written book.

Word After Word After Word by Patricia McLachlan. We just picked this one up and it's beautifully written. It's the same author as Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Do you think your DD would be ready to Little House in the Big Woods?

I think Roald Dahl is definitely a possibility. We have enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach. I did read those aloud.

I have also read aloud The Wizard of Oz and that was probably one of my children's favorite. The language is pretty simple and could probably be read by a precocious five year old.

You might also want to look into abridged classics. I have seen these at B&N and they are simplified versions for young readers. I have thumbed through the "Classic Starts" and they seem okay. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=abridged+classics+for+young+readers&x=0&y=0&sprefix=abridged+c#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=classic+starts&sprefix=classic+s&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Aclassic+starts

[sandwish]

My DD also loved the Rainbow Magic series, her first one, when she was 5. She has continued to enjoy books with fairies or princesses.

At our library, they have a section of series books, so once we finished the Rainbow Magic books, we just went through all the other fairies ones.

Fairy Blossoms series
Disney Fairies series, they also have graphic novels version
Perfectly Princess series

Cobble Street Cousins - by Cynthia Rylant, several books, Rylant has many great books

Nancy Drew Clue Crew series - easier version of Nancy Drew
A-Z Mysteries series, one for each letter, also just came out with a Calendar Mysteries for an easier version, one for each month
Geronimo Stilton
Cam Jansen
Flat Stanley

Since DD was reading at an earlier age, it is challenging to find appropriate books. I encouraged a lot of picture books, but with more words. From the non-fiction section, I got a lot of folklore / fairy tales of different countries. Great pictures and fun stories.

[brittone2]

These are not all appropriate for a 5 yo but it is a nice list.

http://satorismiles.com/childrens-book-list/

Some books I can think of (I'm a little rusty as my DS1 is older, so the reading levels might be off on these. Maybe check the Lexile levels?)
Misty of Chincoteague and others by Margeurite Henry
My Father's Dragon
Little House series (is she ready for this?)
Just So Stories
Mr. Popper's Penguins (eta: lexile is high on that. Just checked and it is over 900 so this would probably be a better read aloud)
Pippi
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (eta just looked this up and lexile is over 1000)
Tum Tum and Nutmeg
Dr. Doolittle
Paddington?
The Burgess Books- The Burgess Bird Book, etc. There are lots and lots of these, and they are well-written, nice stories for a young child. They are available in the public domain if you have an e-reader or an iPad or similar that you could use. Quality literature, and lots of choices. http://www.thorntonburgess.org/ThorntonBurgessBooks.htm
Betsy Tacy series
eta: The Velveteen Rabbit?
If she's ready for Roald Dahl, they were some of DS1's favorites.

I have had reasonably good luck finding old classics in the public domain for DS1's Nook. There is a lot of good, free, quality literature available in the public domain.

[karstmama]

she might like some frances hodgson burnett, though it's possible they'd be better as read aloud - 'little lord fauntleroy', 'a little princess', 'secret garden'.

[lizzywednesday]

she might like some frances hodgson burnett, though it's possible they'd be better as read aloud - 'little lord fauntleroy', 'a little princess', 'secret garden'.

:yeahthat:

A Little Princess was one of my favorites as a kid, though if she's sensitive, I might do The Secret Garden instead.

Sara Crewe's plight as a top-student-turned-serving-girl isn't so bad, but one of Ermengarde's fearful comments about the French Revolution are!

I'd also enjoyed William Steig at 5 and 6 years old!

We did quite a lot of fairy tales/folk tales as well, mostly because my mom didn't quite know what to pass along to me.

My dad started reading the Chronicles of Narnia out loud to me at around 5-6 years old as well. We began with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; I finished them on my own.

The Anne of Green Gables books might be another good read-aloud option.

My brother Gerald absolutely ADORED the Wizard of Oz books and we got a very lovely illustrated edition of Peter Pan from the library. It made such an impression on me that I asked for it for Christmas one year: http://www.amazon.com/Peter-Pan-J-M-Barrie/dp/0670841803/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316698355&sr=1-5

You could also try the Peter and the Starcatchers series by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson. They're kind of like Neverland prequels, some scary elements, but pretty good plotlines.

[annex]

Most of the classics are probably higher reading level than a 5 year-old can handle or sustain interest in (I got the impression you were looking for ones to read on her own?) For well-written contemporary series, I would look at:

Stink by Megan McDonald
Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo
Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows
Catwings by Ursula LeGuin
Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins
Franny K Stein by Jim Benton

[shishamo]

Most of the classics are probably higher reading level than a 5 year-old can handle or sustain interest in (I got the impression you were looking for ones to read on her own?) For well-written contemporary series, I would look at:

Stink by Megan McDonald
Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo
Ivy & Bean by Annie Barrows
Catwings by Ursula LeGuin
Toys Go Out by Emily Jenkins
Franny K Stein by Jim Benton

pp has a great list here- these were my daughter's favorite books when she was around 6 as an independent reader (she also loved rainbow fairy books around 4-5 as well). She loved all the above except Catwings which she has not read.

The classics are indeed tricker- my daughter just finished some of the Hodgson Burnett classics and she's going into 4th grade (9).

She also loved Roald Dahl books at that age (6) as well. Some of the his books are shorter and easier to get into (Fantastic Mr.Fox, George's Marvelous Medicine, etc.) and that may be a great place to start.
Have fun reading :-)

[citymama]

Wow, these are great! Yes, she's reading independently and she LOVED all three of the my fathers dragon books. She has read Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan as well. I am saving these to my phone for our library visit on Monday!

[jenstring95]

We started reading (aloud) the Magic Treehouse books this year, and I could not STAND the poor sentence structure. However, those issues mysteriously went away after the 7th or 8th book. I haven't had a problem with any of the later books, and DS (almost 6) LOVES them. They have opened the door to many conversations about historical events, and we have purchased several of the research guides because he wants more information. You may consider giving them another try!

[citymama]

We started reading (aloud) the Magic Treehouse books this year, and I could not STAND the poor sentence structure. However, those issues mysteriously went away after the 7th or 8th book. I haven't had a problem with any of the later books, and DS (almost 6) LOVES them. They have opened the door to many conversations about historical events, and we have purchased several of the research guides because he wants more information. You may consider giving them another try!

Oh, absolutely. DD loves these and the Rainbow fairy ones and I am definitely going to continue to borrow them from the lib. for her. But I was hoping to add some books with more literary value to the mix! Thanks for the info regarding improvements in the later books - we've only read 1-4.