New to Chapter Books Reading List

Every child (and their parent) should be super excited when they graduate from Beginning Reader books to the real thing - Chapter Books. However, sometimes it's hard to find stories that will capture the attention and imagination of these young readers. Here are some books that I have recommended to new-to-chapter-books readers:

• Cam Jansen series written by David A. Adler and illus. by Joy Allen
• Ivy and Bean series written Anne Barrows and illus. by Sophie Blackall
• Flat Stanley World Wide Adventures series Jeff Brown and Macky Pamintuan
• The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series written by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thorton Jones and illus. by John Steven Gurney
• Return to the Library of Doom series written by Michael Dahl and illus. by Bradford Kendall 
• Hank the Cowdog series written by John R. Erickson and illus. by Gerald L. Holmes
• (this is, perhaps, one of the harder book series in the this reading list)
• The Zack Files series written by Dan Greenburg and illus. by Jack E. Davis
• My Weird School series written by Dan Gutman and illus. by Jim Paillot
• Arthur series written by Stephen Krensky and illus. by Marc Brown
• Judy Moody Megan series written by Megan McDonald and illus. by Peter H. Reynolds
• Alvin Ho series written by Lenore Look and LeUyen Pham
• Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth written by Jane O'Connor and illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser
• Junie B. Jones series written by Barbara Park and illus. by Denise Brunkus 
• Clementine series written by Sara Pennypacker and illus. by Marla Frazee
• The Magic Tree House series written by Mary Pope Osborne and illus. by Sal Murdocca
• The Jigsaw Jones Mystery series written by James Preller and illus. by John Speirs
• The A to Z Mysteries written by Ron Roy and illus. by John Steven Gurney
• Calvin Coconut series written by Graham Salisbury and illus. by Jacqueline Rogers
• The Time Warp Trio written by Jon Scieszka and illus. by Lane Smith
• Hank Zipzer series written by Henry Wrinkler and Lin Oliver and illus. by Jesse Joshua Watson
• Disney Princess series written by various authors and illus. by various artists
• The American Girls series by various authors and illus. by various artists
• Disney Fairies series written by various authors and illus. by various artists
• The Rainbow Magic series written by by Daisy Meadows (there are 21 different fairy types!) and illus. Georgie Ribber

All these, with the exception of Jane O'Connor's new Nancy book, are book series. Some are books that could be read alone with confident readers while others may require more parent/child reading together time. Either way, if a child loves the first book there are more with the same characters to carry on the new chapter book exploration.