i need chapter book recos for DS

[lmh2402]

i had posted about this before and we got several of the books that were suggested.

he ended up thinking the mercy watson books were funny. but it was a bust after that

Ralph S. Mouse seemed to not hold his interest. same with My Father's Dragon (or something like that)

I'm not sure what has happened, but we're in this weird place where many books are too short and babyish, yet he's suddenly not wanting to sit still long enough for a chapter or more. not sure why. every night, he wants to play games rather than read before bed.

so...i'm hoping I can get some additional recos that maybe will help us get over this hurdle. Games are great, but we need to do more reading b/c I miss reading to him! (and I believe it's important)

thanks!

[egoldber]

If he liked Mercy Watson, he may like Geronimo Stilton. Lots of fun illustrations, cool fonts, etc.

ETA: My kids both hated Ralph Mouse

[wellyes]

I think 4-turning-5 is too young for chapter books, personally.
Have you tried classic golden books like Scruffy the Tugboat, Tawny Scrawny Lion, Sailor Dog, etc? I think those are just right for that age.
If you really want to push longer books, maybe an audiobook chapter book would be more interesting for him.

[vonfirmath]

Why not just play games with him? Read some shorter books together and play games. My son JUST got into chapter books this year (1st grade) and he still mostly prefers books he can read in 1 day. MAYBE 2.

[Momit]

Some big hits with my DS
-Scuffy the tugboat (we have my copy from when I was a kid)
-Geronimo Stilton
-Magic Treehouse
-A to Z Mysteries, Capital Mysteries and Calendar Mysteries (same author)
-Jigsaw Jones
-Henry and Mudge

Also nonfiction books about dinosaurs, outer space, fossils - things he's interested in

ETA - we have a million magazine subscriptions too - Ranger Rick Jr., Click, Ask, Zoobooks, Ladybug

ETA again - shorter books we like are Froggy and Magic School Bus.

[Ceepa]

If he liked Mercy Watson, he may like Geronimo Stilton. Lots of fun illustrations, cool fonts, etc.

ETA: My kids both hated Ralph Mouse

Geronimo Stilton is sometimes a chore to get through, but kids like the colorful illustrations and the fonts. Would DS like easy reader chapter books like Henry and Mudge and Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant? There are a lot of illustrations and the chapters are brief.

Ralph S. Mouse was a flop here, too.

[lmh2402]

Why not just play games with him? Read some shorter books together and play games. My son JUST got into chapter books this year (1st grade) and he still mostly prefers books he can read in 1 day. MAYBE 2.

I'm happy to play games with him, but I think it's important that we do some reading too. I'm not pushing longer books for the sake of longer books. Rather than when I "force" the issue and say we need to read something before we play, he resorts to books like chica-chica boom boom. what i consider to be way too young for him at this point.

I'm struggling to find the right middle ground - something that would be fun, that he would WANT to read or hear about (not forcing him to read, I want to read to him). we do lots of magazines too. and he goes through phases where he's interested, and then not at all interested and they just pile up collecting dust :/

[rlu]

I don't remember when we switched to chapter books - I think we went with Easy Reader books first (and even some DK books - he's more into non-fiction than I ever was).

I do remember when DS decided he wanted to play instead of being read to before bed. He created a game called "puppy" where he pretends we are some type of animal (real or from Pokemon or whatever) and he is the baby and I am the mommy, DH the daddy, and we talk about where we live, when the baby can see, walk, eat "real" food, etc. It was still very much a calming, bonding type activity between us so it worked for me. I think this corresponded to when he started watching Wild Kratts (we still have his two favorite episodes on the DVR). http://pbskids.org/wildkratts/home.html

We switched to reading to him during bathtime instead of right before bed.

[mommylamb]

This might be a little too old for him, but DS1 loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I mean, I have never seen him so excited to read anything else.

[wellyes]

I'm happy to play games with him, but I think it's important that we do some reading too. I'm not pushing longer books for the sake of longer books. Rather than when I "force" the issue and say we need to read something before we play, he resorts to books like chica-chica boom boom. what i consider to be way too young for him at this point.

I'm struggling to find the right middle ground - something that would be fun, that he would WANT to read or hear about (not forcing him to read, I want to read to him). we do lots of magazines too. and he goes through phases where he's interested, and then not at all interested and they just pile up collecting dust :/

Why is Chika Chika Boom Boom "way too young"?
Enjoyment of stories is the critical factor to making kids a lover of reading- not difficulty of text. If he loves it, encourage it!

Try The Read Aloud Handbook, it has great book lists for a variety of ages & interests.