The Best Early Chapter Books
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Do you have a reader ready for chapter books? The first chapter book is such an exciting milestone! Some children may dive in right away, others may slowly read a few chapter books along with early readers. Both are okay! If your child is not quite ready for first chapter books but is ready to move past decodables check out that blog post as well!
I created this list to share our favorite first chapter books that I found appropriate for my young reader. My son is a young reader who was ready for first chapter books around 3.5. Still at 5, he is a bit young content-wise for a lot of the chapter books on the market. I wanted to find books for him that are age-appropriate while still meeting his reading needs. Personally, that meant avoiding potty humor and some of the behaviors you see in many early chapter books, for example. It also meant there were some books that maybe he could read but would not connect with life experience-wise. I created this post in particular for people who may have younger early readers and are looking for chapter books appropriate for a 3, 4, or 5-year-old, since I know that challenge. However, these books are not “babyish” in any way and are absolutely appropriate for (and written for!) an elementary-age audience. I tried to be careful about the behaviors shown and words used in the books. Not every book is totally perfect there, but I left out some of my own childhood favorites that did not make the cut behavior-wise for us.
Best First Chapter Books
These first chapter books have-full color illustrations and are a good first dip into chapter books.
Mercy Watson: Mercy Watson is such a cute chapter book series, and the first chapter book my son ever read. It follows the adventures of a lovable pig, Mercy Watson, and her doting owners. It is filled with humor. This book moves beyond simple language, adding some more high-powered or harder-to-decode words that children may be less familiar with. Mercy is called a porcine wonder, for example, and one of the characters is named Eugenia. There are full-color illustrations on every page.
Cornbread and Poppy: The Cornbread and Poppy is another lovely early chapter book series. As with many in this genre, it follows woodland creatures and focuses on friendship as they have sweet adventures. The illustrations are lovely with full-color drawings on every page. It is a series that would be wonderful to read aloud to younger children as well. In other words, it stands well on its own, not just as an early chapter book.
The Princess in Black: The Princess in Black was my son’s favorite series last summer. It features a princess who is no damsel in distress, but a hero herself. She fights monsters and saves others. It has full-color illustrations on every page. My son loved these last summer in particular and I encourage you not to count them out if you have a boy!
Orris and Timble: The Orris and Timble series is another woodland-creature and friendship-themed early chapter book series. It also features particularly gorgeous full-color illustrations on every page, a well-written story, and lovely characters. It is a series I hope my children look back at as part of their early reading journey. I think it will be a classic someday and is truly one of my favorites.
Sydney and Taylor: Sydney and Taylor is another cute woodland friendship adventure book. Sydney and Taylor are very different, but they are friends anyway. They find a balance between adventures and coziness at home. The Sydney and Taylor series is full-color with pictures on every page.
Wallace and Grace: Wallace and Grace is a great introduction to the detective/mystery genre for young children. It is about an owl detective agency and has full-color pictures on every page.
Owl Diaries: The Owl Diaries series is written in a sort of graphic-novel style. It has colorful pictures on every page, but shifts more toward the feel of a standard book than some of the introductory chapter books. It is, overall, a very clean and sweet book series. There is a bit of talk calling characters “mean” and things like that in a few we have read. Unicorn Diaries is another similar one that I think has less of that. While my son loves Owl Diaries, they also have Pug Diaries, which is written to appeal more towards boys, if your son cares about that (mine does not).
Best Early Chapter Books
These books do not have full-color illustrations and represent a next step for early readers. They still have illustrations on most pages, but they are not in color or on every page. In these books children will start to encounter full pages of text.
Nate the Great: Nate the Great is another first mystery series. While it has color photos on most pages, they are not as full-color and are a good first transition toward more standard chapter books. Nate the Great solves all sorts of mysteries, including many seasonal and holiday ones.
Sophie Mouse: Sophie Mouse is a sweet series about a mouse and her woodland friends. It has strong themes of friendship, including acceptance of someone different. The Sophie Mouse series has black-and-white drawn photos on most pages, but is not filled with photos in full color. This makes it a great transition series toward higher-level chapter books.
Ratnip: Ratnip follows the journeys of Ratnip, a city-dwelling mouse. Ratnip is the perfect early chapter book for readers ready to move beyond colorful illustrations on every page, while still offering large print and black-and-white illustrations on most pages. These pages shift to standard book pages. The reading level and layout are very similar to Sophie Mouse.
Heidi Heckelbeck: Heidi Heckelbeck was homeschooled until second grade and then, in the first book, began school. She has a secret-she can do magic. The magic is light, making it still appeal to children who don’t have a lot of fantasy exposure. My son liked it despite having very little fantasy exposure when he read it. From the books I have read, it seems Heidi does not have the behavior issues we see in a book like Junie B. Jones (I loved Junie B. Jones as a child, but I will not be getting it for my children- the way she speaks and the way they discuss topics like cheating in first grade are not for us). My son loved this series despite not going to school himself. This series features black-and-white pictures on most pages and feels more like a standard chapter book.
Magic Treehouse: I loved Magic Treehouse as a child, and my son loves it now as well. This series follows Jack and Annie, who explore different time periods and places in history. There is a lot to learn in it, especially if your child likes the fact trackers as well! There are pictures on some pages but not on all. The book feels like a standard chapter book, and the pictures are all black-and-white.
Zoey and Sassafras: My son recently started reading Zoey and Sassafras and was instantly hooked. These books introduce science concepts in a way that is actually educational! They also have magical creatures, which my son finds fun. The protagonist is curious about the world and is a great role model. This series has more full pages of text and fewer illustrations. I would say Zoey and Sassarfas is a slightly higher reading level than some of the other early chapter books, such as Magic Treehouse and is a great next step.
Magic School Bus Chapter Books: We love the Magic School Bus books, and my son has learned a lot from them! They also have a series of early chapter books, perfect for children who are reading chapter books and love science! Unlike the regular Magic Treehouse Books, these have black and white pictures (and pictures are not on every page).
Flat Stanley: My son has enjoyed the Flat Stanley books he has read, but has been particularly interested in the worldwide adventures series. In those books, Flat Stanley travels to different places in the world. These are a great way to introduce children to some different famous landmarks.
