beginner chapter books

Yes, technically I (Mom) am writing this post, but really, this post is brought to you by my seven year old daughter. I raided her room for all of her favorite chapter books. She’s a veracious reader (such a blessing!).

Her bed is covered in books at all times. She loves to read, and at night, she normally has a few books lined up for the night: she likes to read a chapter in a new book, a chapter in a book she’s already read, a chapter in her bible reader, and then usually some nursery rhymes too, all before she turns out the lights for the night. By the way- this book light is her favorite gadget, and also one of my favorite gifts to give to new readers!

Once we were coming out of the readers/ready to read books/leveled books phase, I began looking for beginner chapter books that would allow her to dig into reading chapter books, but that also didn’t have long chapters. We needed to focus on strengthening her reading stamina. I have compiled all of our favorite series that fit this bill below!

For a few of these, we actually read them together first, before she was reading them completely independently. We had a season where we read two chapters of Mercy Watson each afternoon during rest time. And during another season, we would read Sophie Mouse books 1 and 2 together: I would read a page then she would read a page. This helped to build endurance and kept reading from becoming too much “work” i.e. not the treat that it actually is.

Our list of favorite series covers many interests-from girlie adventures to mythical adventures, to pure humor and adventure! You’ll also notice from the list below that we really love books with dogs 😉
I’m sure you and your new, independent reader can find something to love below!