My eldest, Luke, has always been taken with books. So, just imagine his delight when he started to learn how to read on his own! Suddenly, there were endless worlds to explore!
I noticed though that a lot of our books were not meant for early readers. So, I started to purchase books that were meant for children starting to learn how to read. Sharing today some of our favorites. Maybe your little one will enjoy them too!
PS. For those who asked, Luke started reading these books at 5 years old.
Frog and Toad Series
Luke started confidently reading with these books early on. He genuinely enjoyed the stories and would laugh out loud at how silly the characters were.
I personally love how lighthearted and enjoyable the storylines were. Definitely one of my top book recommendations for kids learning how to read.
*Got our copies of the books from various second hand bookshops online. Available at Amazon here.
Little Bear Series
Another classic is the Little Bear book series. These are sweet, charming stories that have been around since the 1950’s and have been proven to delight children through the years, my own son included!
What I love most about these books though are how the words used are very common and easy to read for early readers. There are a lot of beginner books that contain words that are a bit advanced, which can get really frustrating! But there’s none of those in this set. I love that it is very age-appropriate in that sense.
*Got our copies of the books from various second hand bookshops online. Available at Amazon here.
Magic School Bus Readers
We are big fans of Magic School Bus and have completed all the basic book sets. When I saw these readers, I knew I had to get it for Luke! And he was overjoyed when he saw it for the first time! 😀
I think what I love most about these readers is that the stories are different from the other book sets that we have. The words are simpler and the sentences are easier to read too, compared to other Magic School Bus books.
*Got this set from Bookery for Kids and Mums (Check out their Instagram Page here)
Ready-to-Read: You Should Meet Books
Like the Step Into Reading books, you have to carefully choose the titles as well! Not all Ready-to-Read books are made equal! Hehe.
One I highly recommend though are the books from their “You Should Meet” series. So far, we have the one on Katherine Johnson and Women of the Computer Age and they are great starter biographies. My son was so taken with these books that he would often go back to them once in a while. In fact, I plan to get more titles from this series (especially the one on Mae Jemison, for my NASA-obsessed child!)
This set contains Level 3 books aimed at kids age 6. It has short chapters.
*Got our copies of the books from various second hand bookshops online. Available at Amazon here.
Step Into Reading Books
I am wary when it comes to purchasing reader book sets like Step-Into-Reading because there is a lot of twaddle to sift through. But I recently got Luke an entire set of Step Into Reading Level 4 because it had a lot of great non-fiction titles! There were even stories and simple biographies on notable people of history and science.
Some of my top picks from the set include:
- Ben Fraklin and the Magic Squares
- Hellen Keller: Courage in the Dark
- Discovery in the Cave
- Pompeii Buried Alive
- The Great Houdini
There are different Step Into Reading levels. Level 4 is aimed at kids age 7. It has relatively longer chapters than other beginner readers.
*Got this set from Bookery for Kids and Mums (Check out their Instagram Page here)
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