Chapter Book Series for Early Readers

We are readers in our house.  We all read a lot.  Everyone reads before bedtime.  We often do our read alouds as a whole family, all snuggled together in Mommy and Daddy’s bed.  And, lately, we’ve been totally into audio books in the car and while we are doing chores.  One of the things that I have found is that great chapter book series have really kept our kids looking for more.  We often read the first one together and then Sunshine is off and running. So this week I thought I would share our favorite chapter book series for early readers.

These books are probably most appropriate for 6-9 year olds and they vary in difficulty.  My favorite series are actually the ones where the difficulty progresses as the kids work through the series.  The Magic Tree House series is a perfect example.  This series starts out at a first or second grade reading level but then progressively become more difficult as the readers get into the upper numbers of the series.

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Awesome Chapter Book Series for Early Readers

The Magic Tree House

This is series about a brother and sister, Jack and Annie. They stumble upon a magic tree house in the woods near their Pennsylvania home.  The tree house, which doubles as a library, takes them back in time to solve mysteries.  And of course, they are always aided by books from the tree house library.  They must learn about the time period in which they land in order to get home again.

There is a little something for everyone too:  dinosaurs, knights, pirates, ninjas, mummies and the Wild West.  The Magic Tree House  series by Mary Pope Osborne delights both Sunshine and The Boy (who started listening to these at around age 4). Often my high school students will ask what we are reading at home. And when it is The Magic Tree House, they always speak fondly of having read them when they were younger.  I remember having a conversation about them with a group of seniors. One gleefully exclaimed, “Oh have you gotten to the Morgan books yet?!”

The Boxcar Children

This series came recommended to us by a friend (hi Joyce!). She is a retired teacher who told us that these books were enjoyed by her as a child and then in their rerelease by her own children.  Sunshine loves The Boxcar Children books by Gertrude Chandler Warner.  There is a simple charm about these books; a charm of a more peaceful time when kids could be left alone to fend for themselves with only intermittent adult involvement.

In the fist book, four siblings have been orphaned, but fear their grandfather will reject them because he had disowned their parents.  (He didn’t approve of their marriage.)  The children who range in age from 5 to about 12 eventually find themselves living in an abandoned boxcar (hence the title).  And before too long, they are reunited with their grandfather.  We read the first two books together, then Sunshine started bringing them home from the school library to read on her own.  Her school’s librarian was happy to see them go out because it had been awhile since they had received the kind of attention they were getting from Sunshine.

The Chicken Squad

Imagine my delight when I discovered that one of our favorite picture book authors, Doreen Cronin (of Click, Clack, Moo fame) wrote a series of chapter books called The Chicken Squad.  And we also love the companion series about J.J. Tully, the search and rescue dog who watches over the Chicken Squad.  Oh, and they are so clever.  Four chicks named Sugar, Boo, Dirt and Sweetie have misadventures in the farm yard. These range from helping a “Weird Blue Chicken” (known to most as a blue jay) recover her home from a pesky squirrel and figuring out what is in the mysterious box in the yard.  It’s a perfect series for new readers and read alouds too.  There is plenty of irony and humor to keep adults engaged too.

Kung Pow Chicken

As long as we are talking about chickens, we might as well add another favorite chapter book series for early readers:  Kung Pow Chicken by Cyndi Marko.  This is probably The Boy’s favorite series on the list because who doesn’t love a super hero chicken named Kung Pow Chicken.  And his sidekick is his brother, Egg Drop, who of course, is an egg.  And in the tradition of many superheroes, Kung Pow Chicken gets his powers from a science lab mishap.  He and Egg Drop are supported by their super scientist uncle who makes just the right inventions to help them on their adventures in saving Fowladelphia from fowl criminals.

These books might actually be in the graphic novel genre.  They are filled with humorous comic book style illustrations which are perfect for young readers. Oh and, the chicken puns abound for the adults.  We already read the first four and hoping book 5 will come out in time for Christmas.

The Princess in Black

Another hero chapter book series for early readers is The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale.  Who wants to be boring Princess Magnolia when you can be the monster fighting hero, The Princess in Black.  The princess meets up with monsters and scary hordes of bunnies and has play dates that go awry.  This is another series that Sunshine and I began together as a read aloud. However, she quickly moved on to reading them independently so that she could get through them faster.  Oh, and now that Sunshine is a little older she loves another Shannon Hale trilogy called The Princess Academy.

The Cobble Street Cousins

We tend toward series that seem to be of a simpler time.  A time before the interwebs. And a time when people relied on people.  The Cobble Street Cousins Series by Cynthia Rylant fits the bill.  These stories are about three cousins who live with their aunt because their parents are traveling performers.  Their aunt runs a flower shop in a small town.  The girls are permitted and encouraged to do nice things for their neighbors.  The first novel starts with the girls planning a cookie company In Aunt Lucy’s Kitchen to earn money for their summer vacation.  As a result, they meet many of their neighbors who show up in the future books.  When we worked our way through this series, it was just right for first grade Sunshine.  We took turns reading a chapter each.  And although the main characters are girls, The Boy listened right along.

Piper Green and the Fairy Tree

And yet one more chapter book series for early readers that brags a simple and uncomplicated environment.  Piper Green lives on an island off the coast of Maine.  She doesn’t take a school bus to school.  Instead, she hops on a lobster boat that takes her to the neighboring island for school.  In the first book, she discovers a Fairy Tree in her neighborhood.  She leaves a gift for the fairies and in return they leave gifts for her.  Is it really magic?  Does Piper actually suffer from too much good luck?  Piper is smart and funny and has great little adventures in her island world.

One More Suggestion

The Story of Diva and Flea

This book is not a series.  But, I sure wish it was.  The Story of Diva and Flea is the first (and only, to date) chapter book by Mo Willems of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Elephant and Piggy fame.  We so love Willems books and illustrations.  Diva and Flea, is about a prim and proper little dog called Diva and a street smart stray cat named Flea. It was the first chapter book that really and truly held The Boy’s attention. (He had only just turned four the year he got it for Christmas). No one can resist a story about a cat and dog friends from two different worlds.  It has a sort of Lady and the Tramp air to it.  How can I beg Mo Willems to write more chapter books?

We are Readers

So, as I said in the introduction to this post, we are readers here at The Semiconservative Granola Girl.  It is just one of the many ways that my attentions are stretched.  And it so much fun to discover great chapter book series for early readers which help to peak their interests and keep them reading.  I hope you will take the time to discover some new chapter book series to love with your early readers and that you find this list useful.

Oh, and we would love to know what series you and your early readers have read together (or independently).  The Boy is really still an emergent reader, so there is still time for us to find new and great chapter book series for young readers.  Leave your ideas in the comments below.

Looking for the perfect Christmas Picture books, check out my post on our top picks for Christmas reads.

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