reading Charlotte's Web

by jamieivey | Feb 25, 2009 | My Story | 15 comments

I have been wanting to start reading books to the boys at night, and the last time we hit up the library I checked out a classic.

15 Comments

angie on February 25, 2009 at 2:16 pm

too cute!

my father’s dragon is a GREAT book. it is my favorite book for kids his age. there are acutally 3 different books in the series (sometimes they are all bound together). it is a great little adventure that would be easy for both boys to sit and listen too! my girls LOVE all three…and i did, too!
Abby on February 25, 2009 at 2:46 pm

When I read aloud to my girls, if they want, they can color or draw. You could also give the boys pipe cleaners to play with while you read. This works well for my girls even though they are older than your boys.

The Tale of Despereaux is a fabulous read aloud. I’m going to look for the book that the previous poster recommended as well.
Heather S on February 25, 2009 at 3:35 pm

The Narnia books are great! Chapters are fairly short and then you’ve got movies to show too 🙂
Jill on February 25, 2009 at 3:40 pm

You inspired me to read this to my son! We started on Monday and he’s hooked! Just yesterday I asked some other mom’s for book ideas once this one is done, so your post time is perfect timing! I’ll look forward to seeing what comments are left!
theinnermostbox on February 25, 2009 at 4:32 pm

I’ll echo the above sentiments and say that I think the “My Father’s Dragon” books are an excellent introduction to chapter books! The Tale of Desperaux is also a great read – as is ANYTHING (well, most things, some are more appropriate for tweens and older kids) by Kate Di Camillo! DiCamillo’s “Mercy Watson” books are really great for little ones too! The are short, funny chapter books about a pig named “Mercy.” Another of DiCamillo’s books, called “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” has a very soft and mushy place in my heart. It’s a very sweet, albeit sort of sad (but in a good way, sad) book. Another author I would highly recommend if your boys are liking animal stories is Dick Kingsmith. He wrote “Babe, the Gallant Pig” (which is best for a six or seven year old. It has a lot of great lessons about kindness manners). He has some adorable books geared toward younger readers like “Sophie’s Snail” and “A Mouse Called Wolf.” He also has a really funny one about a baby who can talk called “George Speaks.” Hope you find some books that both you and your little boys love!!
theinnermostbox on February 25, 2009 at 4:42 pm

Oh, one more super cute and very funny animal book is “Three Good Deeds.” I can’t remember the author, but it’s about a boy who gets turned into a duck and can’t become human again until he does three genuinely selfless, and good things.
Kristen on February 26, 2009 at 1:39 am

That is awesome! We just started doing this with Jafta, too. We started with Stuart Little, and he loves it! I’ve also heard that the Frog & Toad series is good for this age.
blueraindrop on February 27, 2009 at 10:53 am

my kiddo is loving amelia bedilia books right now… and shel silverstein.
Christi on February 27, 2009 at 1:31 pm

That is SO funny! I love it. Kudos to you for reading chapters at bedtime. I’m always so exhausted by then so I go for the shorter books;) One that all of my kids loved and for some reason Maveric finds especially funny is “How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?” I think Deacon would really like it too-great illustrations.
Christi
Jeanie on February 28, 2009 at 9:58 am

Hi Jaimie! One of the chapter books that we started off with was “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. Koby really loved this one. Then after we were done we watched the movie which was fun to compare to the book. Koby thought “The Tale of Despereaux” was kind of slow, especially when there weren’t very many pictures. He might need to be a little older to really enjoy it.
Jeanie
Madisyn on February 28, 2009 at 5:19 pm

The book “the mixed up files up Mrs. basil E frankwieler” is the best book ever about two kids who run away from home (little girl and her brother) they go to the museum in NYC it is really cute.
Emily on March 1, 2009 at 2:47 pm

Try James Herriot’s Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales from the Author of All Creatures Great and Small.

It won’t take as long as Charlotte’s Web because it’s an anthology of eight stories, but there are more pictures, and I bet Deacon might even get into them a little bit! These are FANTASTIC stories!

http://www.amazon.com/James-Herriots-Treasury-Children-Creatures/dp/0312085125/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235940119&sr=8-1

I also love the Chronicles of Narnia, too. Or anything by Holling C. Holling–his classic stories are great for that age, especially for boys, and the chapters are very short and there are nice illustrations.
Brandie King on March 2, 2009 at 6:45 pm

One book that I LOVED when I was younger was the BFG (The Big Friendly Giant). I read it and read it… I was a bit older but they might like you reading it to them!
LAurie on March 2, 2009 at 9:27 pm

I’m so glad you are starting chapter books with the boys. WE just flew through the Spiderwick Chronlcles. They’re a little creepy, but my boys totally got into them. May be good in a few years. Recently we have compared books to movies or plays that we’ve seen on homeschool feild trips and it has just openned their eyes to comprehension. Enjoy each day!
theinnermostbox on March 7, 2009 at 9:59 am

I just remembered one of my favorite “little boys” books ever! The Iron Man! Remember that movie The Iron Giant? This is the book the movie was based upon. According to my kids, in this case… movie=dumb and boring, book=freaking awesome (except they aren’t allowed to say “freaking” so I imagine they would describe it with some other, more appropriate, expletive). Anyway, they liked it a lot, and it’s really short. Perfect for a five year old!