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Chapter Books We Love

As my children get older I more often find myself reading longer chapter books instead of picture books. Nora and Henry, in particular, want to listen to longer stories and stick with books for a longer period of time. And, I have to say, I don't mind cuddling up to my big kids and reading for awhile! The tricky part is finding a book that I feel like I can read and that they like as well. Not every chapter book is created equally! 

Montessori friendly chapter books that we've been enjoying


Another tricky part is finding chapter books that don't include fantasy. We stick with realistic books until around age 6 when we introduce fantasy. So, while my kids have liked chapter books from about age 4.5 on, we stay clear of those including fantasy for awhile. 

Here are a few of the chapter books we enjoy in our Montessori home, and a few that are on our "to-read" list. 

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Reality Based 

Tanglewood Animal Park - Book 1, Book 2, Book 3 - this is a major family favorite 
Anna Hibiscus Series - Book 1, Book 2 (there are 7 total)

Want to Read: 
Meet Yasmin! (this is also a series) 

Fantasy Based

The Secret Pet - Waldorf inspired and phonetic, this also has several other books in the series 
Magic Treehouse series - this is a super favorite with Nora and Henry

Want to Read:

This list is by no means meant to include every possible Montessori friendly choice. I'm sure there are tons of others that could be on this list! What chapter books have you been enjoying with your children?
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Comments

Lauren said…
We need to revisit Anna hibiscus. I read it with my daughter when she was a bit younger. Now at almost 6, she is loving the jada Jones series.
July 15, 2020 at 1:28 PM
Anonymous said…
The Magic Tree House audiobooks have gotten us through the pandemic thus far. They are read by the author and she's so great.

My 5.5-year old is also a huge fan of the Great Illustrated Classics.
July 15, 2020 at 1:34 PM
Shirley said…
We love Jane O Connor's Nancy Clancy series (they feel very realistic to our current lives). As much as I love Beverly Cleary, some things are rather outdated whereas Nancy Clancy deals with things like YouTube in a regular ordinary way 😂. Nancy Drew the Clue Crew are fun, and we have an out of print Clue Jr book they love too (yes, the oldest loves mysteries).
July 15, 2020 at 3:54 PM
sarahbereza said…
Just requested a bunch of these from our library - thank you for the wonderful list! One series to check out for the fantasy list - Zoey and Sassafras - lovely, kind family with realistic science experiments, except the experiments are with magical creatures and plants.
July 16, 2020 at 1:43 PM

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