First readers, easy readers, leveled readers, or whatever you want to call them are great books for beginning readers. Short text, use of common sight words, and simple stories that are easy to comprehend are things you will find. While definitions of each level vary slightly from publisher to publisher, leveled books all gradually build in both word count and complexity and prepare children for longer text. Levels usually range from 1-3, but many publishers have pre level or "my first" level books. Then there are non leveled books that are still considered easy reader or introductory chapter books. The books I am highlighting today are a bit more advanced than your basic primers (i.e. Bob Books) and letter sound books, but are still something a new reader can realistically work towards. Here you will find a mix of some classic series titles as well as some newer ones. To know whether or not your child is reading on an appropriate level, I like to talk about the five finger rule. This can apply to other books as well. If you count more than five words on a page that you are struggling to read, this could be an indicator that the level might be too high. In addition to the books listed below, young readers are able to find more and more leveled readers based on favorite characters, movies, or television shows. My library kiddos love superheroes, Lego, Star Wars, Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, and Disney themed first readers among others. What can you find at your library?
Frog and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, Frog and Toad All Year, and Days with Frog and Toad /Arnold Lobel
I absolutely loved these books as a child and continue to recommend them to new readers. I love that my kids have read them too! These definitely fall into the category of classic titles.
Amelia Bedelia series / Peggy Parish
Amelia continues to thrive today. Along with the classic first reader titles, the same character can be found in new picture books and chapter books for older readers written by Herman Parish! She is just as wonderful as ever!
Books by Cynthia Rylant
- Henry & Mudge
- Mr. Putter & Tabby
- Annie & Snowball
- Brownie and Pearl
- Poppleton
Good heavens, Cynthia Rylant is one busy woman! She has written over 100 children's books, and a quick Google search tells me that she is only 66 years old. Wow! She has picture books, first readers, and chapter books that can be found all over your local library.
Nate the Great series / Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
These are a great introduction to the mystery genre!
Fly Guy series / Tedd Arnold
My 2nd grader has plowed her way through every Fly Guy book she could get her hands on. They made up a big part of her AR test reading list!
Elephant & Piggie series / Mo Willems
Gerald and Piggie are two of my favorite children's book characters of all time! I got plush versions of them as a gift at my first baby shower that my girls still play with to this day! We LOVE these books in our house.
The Berenstain Bears series / Stan and Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain
In addition to the many picture books featuring our favorite bear family, there are leveled readers too!
Biscuit series / Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Sweet little Biscuit! These books were a hit with my girls when they first started reading. This is another series they couldn't get enough of.
Danny and the Dinosaur series / Syd Hoff
I mean, it's a dinosaur. Need I say more?
The Adventures of Otto series / David Milgrim
Similar to how my one daughter hit all the Fly Guy books in her quest for AR greatness, my oldest went through this entire series when she was in 1st grade!
Dear Dragon series / Margaret Hillert
I don't know what it is about this series, but I can't seem to keep them on the shelves of my library!
We Both Read series / written and adapted by Sindy McKay
This is an awesome series for caregivers and children to read together. The adult reads one page and the child reads the other. These books are geared towards kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. I've seen them in both fiction and nonfiction titles.
Books by Dr. Seuss
Where do I begin? I love them all! You can't go wrong with any of them, but if I had to choose, these are some of my favorites.
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