Are your young readers ready to try a chapter book? The Litchfield Library has many beginner chapter book series for early readers who are ready to move up to reading chapter books.
Beginner chapter books often have short easy-to-read chapters along with plenty of illustrations to capture the reader’s attention as well as help them to understand the story. Beginner chapter books should be enjoyable and fun to read for the child. It is often best practice to let the child choose these books for themselves. Book series are usually a great way to get a young reader hooked on a continuing story line or follow favorite book characters on many adventures.
A beginning chapter book might not be a good fit if the book is too easy or too difficult to read, becomes boring for the reader or is just not interesting to the reader at this time. It’s OK if a child starts and stops a series or finds that a book just isn’t working for them as long as they are reading each day. The wonderful thing about getting beginning chapter books from the library is that you can try a wide variety of books without the costs that come with purchasing multiple books. If your child does not like the book you can simply return it to the library and try other titles.
There are several methods that children can use to help them to find a “good fit” book. A “good fit” book is one that the child can read on their own and enjoy while also discovering a few new words along the way. The method I like the most is called the five-finger rule. Have your child choose a book they think they will like. The child then opens the book to any page in the middle of the book and reads one page. For each word the child does not know they hold up a finger to count it. Just one finger up means the book is easy for your reader. Two fingers up mean that the book is just right for your reader; three fingers means the book is probably a little hard but they can read it. Four fingers mean the book is difficult and five fingers up mean the book is very difficult and you should wait to try it at a later time. Teaching this trick to your beginning readers will help them to find books that they will be able to successfully read and learn from which makes reading a more enjoyable activity.
The Litchfield library has recently added several more beginner chapter book series. Some of the more popular series are:
“Astrid and Apollo” by V.T. Bidania: This series follows a brother and sister, who are twins, through everyday activities that always turn into an adventure.
“Bobo and Pup Pup” by Bikram Madan: This is an early graphic novel series that follows a little monkey and a puppy as they create adventures and friendships.
“Simon and Chester” by Cale Atkinson: This early graphic novel series features a little boy and his ghost friend. They cure a case of boredom by becoming detectives.
“Rescued! Animal Escapes” by James Buckley Jr.: This nonfiction graphic novel series features a new animal rescue adventure in each book and all the stories are based on real rescues.
“Cornbread & Poppy” by Matthew Cordell: This story follows two mice who are best friends with very different personalities.
“Wind Riders” by Jen Marlin: This series follows Max and Sofia on their magical sailboat as they meet new friends and rescue animals along the way.
Until next time, happy reading.
— Rachelle Golde is children’s librarian at Litchfield Public Library.
