A chapter book that continues night after night until its happy completion creates a special focused time for family intimacy at the end of the day. For the family that is looking for the proper time to introduce longer reads, you many find your child receptive at about age five. Younger siblings can often rise to an older level of reading, especially if they are held and given tactile attention, like back rubs or lap cuddles. Many times we have interspersed picture books between chapters, rather like a commercial break for our younger listener. Sometimes we have separate reading sessions and then the older listener updates the absentee parent about the progress of the book. This occasions an opportunity for a young reader to practice the important reading skill of reporting back the main idea of the story.
For the very first books, I recommend those that sparkle with excitement and have short thrilling chapters. If chapters are too long, you can create your own cliff-hanging by stopping at a point of high excitement. Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach (Knopf, l961; Bantam, l979) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Knopf, l964; Bantam, l979) are two popular books to begin with. Be cautioned, however, that Dahl writes at two levels. For a beginning reader avoid his BFG (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1982) or Witches (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1983). These will be adored by a eight to twelve year old, but are too mature for a beginning novel listener. Another author that works at two levels is Judy Blume. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (Dutton, l972; Dell, l981) and Freckle Juice, (Scholastic, l971; Dell, l978) are great first read-alouds, but older books such as Are You There God? It's Me Margaret (Bradbury, 1970) are again, more appropriate for a pre-teen.
Beginning novels are filled with humor that is many times astounding and whimsical. Both stories and characters come alive for families who have laughed through a book together. Shel Silverstein's Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back (Harper and Row, l963), the story of a lion turned hunter, is a dramatic storyteller's dream. Dialogue and narration make this as much fun to read as it is to hear.
The humor of Jeff Brown's Flat Stanley, (Harper and Row,l964) results largely from situation. It is the story of a young boy who is squashed to several inches thick by his bulletin board. His thinness raises all kinds of situations and adventures--everything from sibling jealousy to being flown as a kite.
Florence Parry Heide's , The Shrinking of Treehorn (Holiday, l971: Dell, l979) is in between a long picture book and a short novel. Treehorn, a young boy whose astounding situations go unnoticed by his unobservant parents, shrinks in one book and in another discovers that a tree in his back yard grows money.
Humor and animal adventure unite in the three series books by Janwillem van de Wetering which begin with Hugh Pine (Houghton Mifflin, l980). This is the story of a porcupine distressed by cars running over his kind. Wisely, he begins to walk upright and wears a large red hat, giving rise to human understanding that there is a strange new man living in the Maine woods. In the first book, Hugh unites with a human to help the plight of all porcupines. van de Wetering brings both humor, humans and Hugh to life in the three short novels with silly situations and warmth of relationship between the species.
The relationship between human and "animal" figures strongly in Ruth Stiles Gannett's three book series My Father's Dragon (Random, 1948; Dell, 1980). So does adventures in the stories about a small boy who rediscovers and rescues the dragon loved by his father.
Dick King-Smith's Babe, The Gallant Pig (Dell, 1983) is a pig won by Farmer Hogget and raised by Hogget's collie, Fly. Babe who considers Fly a mother, wants to herd sheep! Babe gains fame with humans for being a superb sheep herder and with sheep for treating them kindly and considerately.
Sometimes animals seem human in first novels. Probably the most famous author to humanize animals was E. B. White. In Stuart Little (Harper and Row, 1945) when a mouse is born to human parents, he becomes not only a member of the family, but an tiny adventurer in the world of humans. E. B. White's best-loved novel, Charlotte's Web, (Harper and Row, 1952) was the first book we had a family cry over. A young listener's difficulty with Whites' detailed descriptions may lead a parent to edit, but nothing will take away from the emotional strength of the story. I recommend, by the way, editing freely when descriptions and words become too complex, you want to make stories shine for children. If you find, however, that your editing becomes more prevalent than your reading, perhaps the story you have selected is too mature for your listener.
Many of the novels that you may have read as a child are appropriate for beginning to read with your child. Be prepared to flashback to your own childhood when you see a familiar illustration or hear a remembered chapter.
Astrid Lindgren's translated stories of Pippi Longstocking, the strongest girl in the world have pleased children for over forty years. (Viking, 1950) Pippi lives independently from her father, is rich in funds and ideas and creates marvelous adventures for her two next door neighbors.
Betty MacDonald's Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series (Lippincott, 1947) tells the stories of an insightful, creative, loving, playful woman who sees past the foibles of children and calms their parents with her cures. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle heals children who suffer from such ills as answering-back, selfishness, quarreling, and not wanting to go to bed. You and your child may recognize diseases and sufferers and this series creates a forum for great discussions.
Young mystery-lovers may love Gertrude Chandler Warner's The Boxcar Children mysteries--all eighteen of them. The series begins with four orphaned children who are afraid of their grandfather. The first book ends with a happy reconciliation. This end is the beginning for the rest of the series in which the children and their grandfather experience and solve a number of puzzles. The stories are old-fashioned and plain, but if your children become hooked, as mine did, they will have to read the entire adventures. (Whitman, 1953)
Beverly Cleary is the hottest thing going in middle grade novels and her stories of Henry and Beezus and Ramona are often enjoyed by children of a younger age group. I was amazed that my son could find magic in a book about a boy whose dream is to have a paper route, when I had to explain what a paper route was. Henry Huggins is EVERY-BOY, Beezus is EVERY-GIRL and Ramona is EVERY-YOUNGER-SIBLING. These stories are drawn directly from a child's experience and they are shared with warmth, humor, compassion and perfect expression of the human childhood experience. This series will likely be re-read by your children when they are older. It is a special experience for a child to read a book that has been previously brought to life during the family reading time.
If you're dying for your child to experience the classics and you find that they are just too mature, you may discover a solution in the Ladybird Children's Classics. These are simple retellings of books like The Secret Garden and Swiss Family Robinson. The editing is good and preserves the integrity of the story while making it accessible to a younger age group.
Perhaps you would like to take your children back even farther than your own history. One of the most popular first novel series is Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Little House in the Big Woods books. In a succession of autobiographical novels, Ms. Wilder tells of her travels west from Wisconsin by covered wagon through Kansas, Minnesota and finally the Dakota Territory in the late 1800's. Hardship of life, joys of celebration, family intimacy, and a realistic portrayal of the American pioneer experience are all traits that recommend these books and make them alive for children of today. You may find you need to edit somewhat in this series, and then again, you may have a child that relishes the details.
A shorter pioneering novel is Alice Dalgliesh's The Courage of Sarah Noble (Macmillan, 1954) which tells of a young girl's adventures in the "wilds" of Connecticut as she and her father establish a new family home.
Much loved by parents and children is Newberry-winning Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (Harper and Row,1986). Anna's mother died with the birth of her younger brother Caleb and Anna has longed for a mother. She is delighted when Papa tells of his plan to mail-order a bride, but the young girl from the turn of the century mid-West is afraid that Sarah, who lives on the coast will not want to come. Come she does and Sarah brings with her songs, and color and completion to the family. Glen Close has recorded an excellent tape of this book which is fun for a family listen. (Cademon, 1988)
Two prehistoric tales are noteworthy first novels. Dennis Nolan's Wolf Child (Macmillan, 1989) tells the story of a young boy's attachment to a wolf companion. The author's illustrations bring history to life in image as well as text. Ann Turner's Time of the Bison tells the story of a lonely young cave dweller named Scar Boy whose artistic gift is realized by the end of the story. (Macmillan, 1987)
A child who is ready for novels is sometimes developmental ready for harder-hitting fiction. There are many first novels which are short on pages and long on emotion. It is important for parents to have a strong sense of their childrens' readiness and pre-reading is recommended.
John Reynold Gardiner's Stone Fox, (Harper and Row, l980) is a powerful tale of young Willy who struggles to save the farm of his ailing grandfather. His means to this ends is a dog-sled race where teams up with his best friend, the dog, Searchlight to outrun all, even the legendary Indian, Stone Fox. The ending is a real tear-jerker, but a book that a family has cried over, will be one that will live long in its memory.
Mavis Jukes' Blackberries in the Dark (Knopf, Dell, 1985) is the story of Austin's first summer to visit his grandmother's farm after the death of his beloved grandfather. There, he finds new ways to experience old memories and discovers how to make relationships new again, too.
Patricia Foley's John and the Fiddler (Harper and Row, 1990) tells the story of John, a young boy who admires an older man's fine hand crafting of violins. The two share stories, music and gifts until the old man's death when he passes his most prized possession to John, who he knows will value it above all others.
Eleanor Coerr's Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Putnam; Dell, 1977) is the true story of a young girl who dies of radiation as a result of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The story is touching and a part of history that is important to talk about as a family. Again, only you will know when it is the appropriate time to share this book with your children.
These books are discussion-openers as are many of the other books mentioned. You can help your child's cognitive development and reading skills by discussing character changes, main ideas, issues, and themes of the books. All of these things will help your child develop into a thoughtful, as opposed to a rote reader. Maybe even more importantly, they will add dimensions to your family communications and further increase your joys of sharing the pleasures of books.
Several companies are publishing series devised for kids to move from one level to the next. Random House, for example, has created a "stepping stone" series that begins with books like The Teeny Tiny Woman has intermediary books like Dinosaur Days and Clyde Bulla's The Chalk Box Kid, and more complex books like Pompeii...Buried Alive. Finally, Random House ends the series with their "step-up classic chillers" a high interest, low reading level series for third and fourth graders which features books like Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes; Dracula; and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. All books in the series are high interest and intended to be age appropriate for particular grades.
Several companies are conceiving series for readers who are between first and longer novels. Little Brown and Company is publishing the "Springboard series" some of which feature Jenny Archer, a character penned by well-loved novelist Ellen Conford. Even Beverly Cleary, the most admired middle-grade writer has published a young novel. Muggie Maggie is the story of a young girl who is having a difficult time learning cursive. (Morrow, 1990) Knopf's Angel Park All-Star series by Dean Hughes brings together developmental issues with a baseball theme. Viking introduces history in their "Once Upon America" series which features books such as A Long Way to Go by Zibby O'Neal. Books are usually sixty four to one hundred pages in length, have larger print, occasional illustrations and are written on subjects that interest seven to ten year olds such as mystery, sports, humor and friendship. Many of these books are written by authors that are known and loved by slightly older audiences.
Two reminders for parents who have children of this age. Don't forget picture books! It is a special experience for children to be able to master books they once heard. There are picture story books whose complexity, more mature issues and longer lengths are perfect for six to eight year olds.
Lastly, don't neglect sharing books as a family. Studies have shown that many children end their relationship with books at age twelve, so this is an important time to reinforce the importance of reading. Choose family novels that are longer in length, more complex in language and theme; i.e. books that are too overwhelming to read alone. In this way, you will make unapproachable books accessible to your child, provide grist for the reading mill, model the continuing importance of family time given to this activity and have a great deal of fun and adventure in the doing!