Novels for young children, any suggestions?

[ellejir]

"ovc88guelph" wrote:
> That is, any suggestions besides the obvious! I am just beginning 
to 
> read chapter books to my 5 and 6 year old children. My earlier 
> attempts (Black Beauty, Lassie Come Home, and sadly, PS) didn't 
hold 
> their interest for long. I abandoned long books for about 6 months, 
> and then tried Charlotte's Web. They loved it! I think that it was 
> relevant to them because we live on a farm. The language was 
> sometimes difficult. They did ask what some of the words meant 
(just 
> as Wilbur did!). And the humour appealed to them. So I am asking 
for 
> help from other fathers, mothers, teachers, and anyone who used to 
> be (or still is) a child; what short novels would you recommend for 
> young and NOT precocious readers? Books with illustrations would be 
> most appropriate. We are already planning on trying the Narnia 
> series. Stewart Little is being read at school. All other 
> suggestions would be welcome!

My five year old daughter loves the Misty of Chincoteague series.  
She also loves Amelia Bedelia and Junie B. Jones.  
My seven year old son really enjoyed the Narnia series (I was 
actually surprised how much he liked it!)  He also enjoys the 
Unfortunate Series of Events books, Magic Treehouse series, Commander 
Toad books and a book by William Steig called "The Real Thief" 
(actually, *anything* by William Steig!)
They had an auction at my son's school and one of the items for sale 
was a handpainted bookshelf (school motif, of course!) filled with 
books selected by all the lower school teachers and staff (each 
teacher picked his or her favorite childhood book and signed it with 
a little blurb stating what the book meant to them.) We got it for my 
son and it is *such a treasure*!

Elle (of course, Harry Potter (SS) was one of the books, picked by a 
*discerning* second grade teacher IMO)