Overview: Do you have a child who is stuck on picture books and can’t seem to make the transition to chapter books? Easy reader books may be the answer!
My older son was a natural reader. He quickly made the leap from ![]("//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=homeyourboy0b-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0152009019")
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My younger son wasn’t as fortunate. He struggled to move through the different levels of books and remained stuck for quite some time. I wasn’t sure how to help him. We checked out every single book I could find at the library which was at his level to try to build his confidence. But reading remained a struggle for him until we discovered the Magic Treehouse series. We started reading the first book together and suddenly something clicked. My son devoured those books. He couldn’t get enough of them!
Looking back, I think there were a few things which came together to help my son overcome his reading struggles:
1 – Practice – It took hours of reading practice for this son’s abilities to develop.
2 – Interest – We needed to keep looking until we found books that actually interested him enough to give him the desire to want to read.
3 – Patience – I needed to adjust my expectations for how quickly I expected my son to progress and stay calm to keep from adding too much pressure to my son. Believe me when I tell you that stressing out only slows things down! I learned that the hard way.
4 – The Right Books – When kids are used to reading a few sentences per page, it can be intimidating to make the switch to books where the pages are filled with text. Look for books which will provide a more gentle transition with plenty of white space, illustrations, and sentences that don’t overlap pages. There are even fonts which are friendlier for early readers than others!
If you’re looking for Easy Reader books that will interest your child and help to build his or her confidence, I have some suggestions for you!
13 Easy Reader Books and Book Series to Get Kids Unstuck:
1 – Magic Treehouse by Mary Pope Osborne– I’ve got to go with this set first since it worked so well in our family. Take a trip back through time as Jack and Annie travel through time and space to visit different places during different historical time periods. These books are an excellent transition from easy readers to chapter books!
2 – School of Monsters by Sally Rippin – Simple vocabulary, tumbling rhymes, bright artwork, and large, accessible text design combined with plenty of mischief and an infectious sense of humor are sure to spark a love of reading! First readers start by reading only the last word on every line and work up to reading the whole story.
3 – Lily the Elf by Anna Branford – Lily the elf lives with her dad in a tiny house, hidden near a bridge in a busy city, while Granny Small lives in a granny flat behind Lily’s house. From finding hidden treasures to making wishes on dandelion seeds, Lily and her family share delightful adventures. The Lily the Elf series is perfectly pitched for newly independent readers, finding magic in the every day with simple sentence structure, short chapters, black-and-white illustrations, a large font and lots of white space, all designed for easy and well-supported reading.
4 – My First Reading Library by Usborne
This comprehensive first reading library includes 50 books to guide your child through the first stages of reading and includes access to online resources. The first 22 books are taken from Usborne Very First Reading series. With these, your child takes the first steps in reading with your help, following the phonics methods used in schools. The next 12 books are taken from Usborne First Reading Level One. These delightful and very short stories are for children to try reading themselves. 16 further books are taken from Usborne First Reading Level Two. These slightly longer stories will build stamina and reading confidence. Includes QR Codes.
5 – Scurvy Dogs by Kevin Frank – Scurvy Dogs is a fully illustrated first graphic novel for kids who like silly books! It’s a swashbuckling journey like no other. Join Captain Hooktail, First Mate Chubs, Helmsman Patch, and Tinkles as they hunt for treasure (the local butcher shop), fight with sworn enemies (alley cats! No shame in running from those monsters) and have a rip-roaring great time while capturing the best booty of all – your heart!! This group of backyard pets with big imaginations will have you hoisting the flag, trimming the sails, manning the oars … and laughing all the way through.
6 – Billie B. Brown Collection by Sally Rippin – Sally Rippin, author of the Billie B. Brown & Hey Jack! books wrote them because her son struggled with reading. Each book is written so that no words cross over onto another page, there are no hyphenated words, and some words appear bigger than others. These books were written with a very specific purpose in mind. One is for a child to pick up the book, look at the page and say “That doesn’t look so hard, I can read that” The other is to give kids 6-8 a fun, engaging story that they can relate to and learn from.
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7 – Hey Jack! Collection by Sally Rippin – Hey Jack! is full of down-to-earth, realistic stories, with word art or illustration on every second page. Jack’s enormous imagination injects the series with fun and humor, and the books are carefully typeset to provide reading breaks.
8 – Billy and the Mini Monsters by Zanna Davidson – Billy is an ordinary boy until one night he finds five mini monsters living in his sock drawer. From the moment he discovers Gloop, Peep, Fang-Face, Captain Snott, and Trumpet, Billy’s life will never be the same again.
9 – Flat Stanley series by Jeff Brown – When Stanley Lambchop wakes up one morning, his brother, Arthur, is yelling. A bulletin board fell on Stanley during the night, and now he is only half an inch thick! Amazing things happen to him. Stanley gets rolled up, mailed, and flown like a kite. He even gets to help catch two dangerous art thieves. He may be flat, but he’s a hero.
10 – Fizz by L. Gibbes – Follow Fizz through his police dog academy tryouts and training to become a dog detective, and on to his first cases. Told in simple but very lively language, with lots of playful repetition, short chapters and Stephen Michael King’s quirky cartoon-style illustrations throughout, we think this hilarious and action-packed series is perfect for newly confident readers.
11 – Beginners Animals Box Set – How many eyes do spiders have? What do fire fighters wear? What kind of truck can transport the space shuttle? Find the answers to these questions and lots more in these exciting books for children who are learning to read on their own.
12 – Olivia’s Secret Scribbles by Meredith Costain – Ella’s little sister has started writing down her own hilarious thoughts and adventures! It’s time to find out all about Olivia. She’s funny, fearless, and full of fun. Olivia’s missing her best friend Lucy who’s moved away, and someone keeps coming into her brand-new bedroom! And what’s going on with the mysterious new girl at school, Matilda?
13 – Billie B Mysteries by Sally Rippin – A slightly older Billie, her best friend, Jack, and other familiar friends from the original series, solve mysteries at school and in the neighborhood, using their smarts and common sense to get to the bottom of things.
Question: Which of the above books have your kids loved? Do you have any other books you would recommend to help kids progress from picture books to chapter books? Please leave a comment below.
Thank you! My son needs LOTS of practice so this list is incredibly helpful.
You’re welcome. I hope these books help! Allowing kids to read for pleasure and to read about subjects they’re passionate about also helps tremendously!