Do you have any children between the ages of 6 and 8 that are advanced readers?
By advanced, I mean that they are ready to read chapter books.
I had children like that. Both of mine learned to read early and got interested in chapter books at an early age.
This was both wonderful and difficult. Wonderful because they were such good readers. Difficult because it isn’t always easy to find suitable chapter books for young readers.
My youngest loved The Hobbit. I read it to her and her sister when they were around 7 and 8. She wanted MORE by that author. I told her the other books by Tolkien would be too difficult for her.
I should have known better.
Telling her that only served to make her MORE determined to read Tolkien’s books.
Later that year, after she turned 8, she snuck a copy of The Lord of Rings off of my mother’s bookshelf.
She loved it.
I was impressed.
But I knew that I’d have to find her and her sister other chapter books to read and that they’d have to be “safe.” Not that Tolkien isn’t safe. His books are amazing. But there were other chapter books out at the time that had content that I didn’t deem appropriate for young minds.
Thus began my hunt for safe chapter books.
This all happened more than 10 years ago, but I still remember most of the books I found back then for my girls to read. I thought I’d share with you a list of some of those books so that you can share them with your kids.
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Safe Chapter Books
The Oz series by L. Frank Baum – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz isn’t the only book written by L. Frank Baum. There are 14 Oz books in all and each is its only wonderful adventure.
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne – Jack and Annie learn about science, history, literature, and different parts of the world as they go on their adventures through the Magic Tree House.
The Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol – Encyclopedia Brown is a clever boy who solves mysteries in this series of books.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster – This fantasy adventure is full of wit and wisdom that both child and parent will appreciate.
The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner – Four orphaned children live in a boxcar until they are found by their grandfather in the first book of this series. In subsequent books, the four children have many adventures and solve lots of mysteries.
The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel – Frog and Toad are good friends who have a wonderfully caring relationship.
The American Girl collection – Children can learn about history through the eyes of American girls with this collection.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis – Four children discover the magical land of Narnia by accident when they step into a wardrobe in the first book of this series. Other books in the series relate other events in Narnia.
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