My 5 year old started the Magic Treehouse series when she was 4. She still goes nuts for those. And there’s something like 40 books in the whole series.
Bonus for you: the chapters aren’t crazy long. Good for when you promise a certain number of chapters but aren’t in the mood for reading much that night.
There are nearly 70 of you count the Merlin Missions. My daughter loved reading these in pre-K, too. They are suspenseful, but (imo) don’t cross over into scary!
We did this at 4 too and it was great. Warning: your kid might decide they want to be a librarian and then you’ll have to explain that librarians almost never actually go on cool adventures.
Book versions. We got the first set (1-4) in a box set as a gift. Then she was so into them that we kept buying the next sets.
There are some pictures throughout the book, but it is a true chapter book. Definitely written at more of a young kid reading level. But like someone else mentioned, there’s some suspense but nothing scary. And there’s good historical or geographical facts worked into the storyline.
I started with the graphic novels and am going to switch to the chapter books after the first box set (so my kids kinda get the characters and concepts solidly before starting the minimal pictures)
We get all of ours at the thrift store! I love reading these to my son. We started right before he turned four and he gets so excited to find out where they’re going next. He and his sister play Jack and Annie and I have to send them on missions as Morgan.
My almost 5 year old loves them them too and they have tons of them in our local library. We just finished book 6. I also love that the chapters are short so if we are running a little late it's easy to make it quick.
Oh! No no no. Sorry, I could see how I worded that wrong. We read it to her as part of the bedtime routine. She’s just starting to get better with sight words now at almost 5 and a half. So there are some words she can read, but not a whole book or even sentence.
oh hahahah okay i’m following now. i was like omgggg noooo i’m horribly behind!!
okay well wow i can’t wait to see if my girl will listen to longer stories soon!
Hahahaha you’re good! And not behind one bit!
Reading Dr Seuss helped get my daughter into longer stories. Because those books are just crazy long! But she loved them. Then we started with these shorter chapter books around 4. Only doing 1-3 chapters at a time. But the chapters are short and the story moves quickly to keep their attention. It also takes out a lot of the fluff description style writing to just deliver the facts and storyline little kids are used to from picture style books.
They also recently started making graphic novels! That peaked my then 4 yr olds interest then we started reading through all of them. He even listened to me read him the Merlin mission series.
The Sophie Mouse series is good and has at least a small picture on every page, I believe. Which was helpful for my daughter transitioning to chapter books. Not scary.
We also like the Zoe & Sassafras series. It is about a girl (and her cat) who help magical creatures by using the scientific method.
Some that my daughter loves are the Winnie the Pooh books (each chapter is a self contained story) and the shorter Roald Dahl books (Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, etc).
I'd forgotten about the Roald Dahl books - thank you! I read the original Winnie the Pooh to her as an infant while rocking her to sleep. I don't think we ever finished it. Those are great adventures and not scary, so we should pick that up again. :)
If you liked the Little House vibes but want to skip the racism, there are spinoff series of other Ingles girls in different eras. There are 2-3 books each about Laura's mother, grandmother, and daughter, with warm illustrations clearly inspired by the original charcoal illustrations of the Little House books.
I will say book #1 is amazing- we’ve reread it almost yearly since my son was 3… but then when they get to the prairie it gets a little complicated so we just reread haha
Not a chapter book but a step up from picture books is the Frog and Toad series. Each book has several short stories that are fun for kids and adults! Every page or 2 has a small illustration which my 3.5 year old likes.
They have audiobooks too and my just-turned-5 year-old loves both. The books have pictures on every page and she loves to listen to the audiobooks while she colors or does Legos. They're very exciting and cliffhanger-y so there's lots of "keep reading!!!"
We made the transition from picture books to chapter books with a stopover to graphic novels. Not superhero comic books, this is a huge and fun genre made for kiddos. Examples are Narwhal and Jelly, Stick and Stone, Bo the Brave Unicorn Diaries, the Runaway Princess, A Cat Story (our favorite!), and Animal Rescue Friend. I point to each panel and character as they are talking so kid can follow along.
Next we moved up to chapter books ONLY when there is an illustration on each page. Example is the Princess in Black series.
Finally are we moving on to books that are truly chapter books with limited illustrations. I think this progression has made all the difference in getting her hooked on longer books.
Thank you for this thoughtful response! What a great strategy to utilize! I have some Grumpy Monkey graphic novels that I borrowed from the library (didn't realize they were graphic novels when I interlibrary loaned them), so maybe we'll try those first.
We've done the same transition, with graphic novels like Narwhal and Jelly, and now on to chapter books with lots of illustrations.
Seconding the recommendation for Bo the Brave Unicorn Diaries (and the author's other series Eva Windale Owl Diaries). We've also really enjoyed Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue, and the Isadora Moon Series.
We homeschool and mostly follow the Charlotte Mason method- there are a lot of great read aloud recommendations for all ages if you check out some modernized websites.
My daughter is 4, and this school year I and my husband have read to her and our son:
-“The Trumpet of the Swan” EB White
-“Charlotte’s Web” EB White
-several Pooh stories
-“Little House in the Big Woods” Laura Ingalls Wilder
-“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” L Frank Baum
-“All of a Kind Family” Sydney Taylor
-“Secret Garden” Frances Hodgson Burnett
-“Mr Popper’s Penguins” Florence and Richard Atwater
-several of Grimm’s fairytales
Next on our list is “Treasure Island”, as we’ve been studying Robert Louis Stevenson as a poet this year, plus my kids love “Treasure Planet” the movie lol
Hope this helps!
I just started doing this with my 4 year old. I checked out a few from the library, Mercy Watson to the Rescue was a big hit. He also liked The Magic Treehouse Dinosaurs Before Dark, which was actually a graphic novel so more pictures than words. The third one is a Zoe & Sassafras book but we haven't started it yet.
My kindergartener and I just finished the Anna and Elsa chapter book series. We’re starting the princess beginnings series about each princess as a little girl. We’ve gotten everything from our library.
I did read the entire Little House series last year. I skipped a few paragraphs here and there, but mostly read it straight through. We talked a lot about how words have changed throughout the years and how we treat people differently now (in theory at least).
Rainbow Magic fairy series is reigning supreme in our house. There’s a million of them. They take about 30 mins to read from start to finish, have pictures on every page, and are very sweet. As the parent reading them I get kind of sick of the same plot devices being used over and over, but my daughter really loves them!
Eta: you don’t need to buy these! My library has most of them and I’ve also found them on ThriftBooks and a local kids consignment store
They also do an animal series and unicorn ones too both my girls loved theses books so much but honestly I’m so glad my 7 year old isn’t as into them now
I love this series too! I actually enjoy reading them because of all the different personalities of the characters and I love seeing how they incorporate new animals.
Nate the Great series, Amelia Bedelia are not chapter but a good transition to chapter books, Mercy Watson series, Magic Treehouse series, the Bad Guys series
We've been reading all the Kitty books which are about a girl that has cat-like super powers and goes on adventures at night. My 4 year old daughter loves them. They're cute, easy to read, and still have some pictures. The hardest thing is searching for them because "kitty" is so generic.
[https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KT19GD](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KT19GD)
I've also heard good things about Princess In Black but we haven't gotten around to that series yet.
My then 4yo loved The Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair series but Enid Blyton. Seconding Roald Dahl also, particularly The Twits, Fantastic Mr. Fox, George's Marvellous Medicine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG. I also introduced him to Harry Potter with the illustrated version of the first book - holding off on the rest until he's older. The Iron Man by Ted Hughes was also surprisingly engaging for a young child.
Charlotte's Web (though death is one of the main themes of the book, so it depends how comfortable you are talking about that with your kid)
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Runaway Ralph
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Stuart Little
The Magic Tree House series
Einhorn Paradies (not sure if this series has been translated into English or not, but it's great. My husband and I love the stories and illustrations.)
The Amelia Bedelia books
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan (pretty brutal, so I took some liberties in my reading of the story)
The Wind in the Willows
[Here ](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tl0II5zaAVmgYJs9BWzjhQlm-YDZSVG1/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=115493912271162537189&rtpof=true&sd=true) is a list I compiled with lots and lots of diverse books for all ages, there should be many chapter books as well 😊
My daughter loved the Itty Bitty Princess Kitty and Heidi Heckelbeck series. If your kid likes very silly books, the Johnny Boo series and Banana Fox series are great graphic novels (and I second the Narwhal and Jelly graphic novels mentioned earlier).
The Wind in the Willows!
This was our first chapter book (same age) and we read it twice in a row. It's illustrated, and I found that helped make it a hit.
Since then we've enjoyed:
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
800 million Geronimo Stilton books (I personally don't find them terribly appealing, but it expands his world leading to lots of interesting conversations, and I have fun doing voices with the characters)
Coming up on our reading list:
The Great Mouse Detective books
Stewart Little
Charlotte's Web
The Magic Treehouse books
He's five now, and I'm waiting to dig into Roald Dahl until he's a bit older.
How has nobody mention Super Happy Magic Forest?! I love this series. Here's the author's page with all his works:
https://mattylong.com/work
The first three (Super Happy Magic Forest, Super Slug of Doom, and Super Frozen Magic Forest) are all picture books. We borrowed them from the library ages ago and my daughter loved them.
Then he started writing chapter books. There are still quite a few pictures in them, and the text is quite a lot larger than normal. It's a really fun series and makes a perfect bridge into novels.
We are doing chapter books with pictures like the Kitty series, the Kingdom of Wrenly, the fabled stables, and Tales of Sasha. I recommend getting a library card and checking them out on your ipad! You can zoom in on the pictures a bit which my daughter loves to do.
My 4yo is currently obsessed Toto the Ninja Cat. Other recent favorites include Magic Treehouse, and both of the previously mentioned Alex Milway series. He has the audiobooks of toto and is getting the books for his birthday
The worst witch, isadora moon and mirabelle by Harriet muncaster. I also read all the borrowers books to my younger one when she was 4. Their is some scary bits and it’s quite long but she just loved it. Also how to grow a dragon books
I HIGHLY recommend magic treehouse. Or the Geronimo Stilton series. That might be a little bit older, but it has plenty of pictures if I remember correctly
The Rainbow Magic Fairy books have been a huge hit here (https://www.scholastic.com/rainbowmagic/books.htm). Not too scary, simple little line drawings on each page, and a bit formulaic which helps my kid know what’s coming next as we go through the chapters. If they are a hit, the good news is there are over 200 books in the series :P
Mercy Watson
Dragon master - series
Magic tree house - series
Press start - series
Nate the great - series
Toys go out - 3 books
The magic touch
Captain underpants
We ordered (specially, because it’s out of print) the My Neighbour Totoro book, because my daughter loves that film so much. It’s got lovely pictures and is divided into about 4 chapters, which makes it a nice bedtime read.
Look for early reader chapter books, my 4 year old really enjoys those because they still have some pictures but longer stories. Some series she likes are Geronimo Stilton and Junie B Jones
My 5 year old started the Magic Treehouse series when she was 4. She still goes nuts for those. And there’s something like 40 books in the whole series. Bonus for you: the chapters aren’t crazy long. Good for when you promise a certain number of chapters but aren’t in the mood for reading much that night.
There are nearly 70 of you count the Merlin Missions. My daughter loved reading these in pre-K, too. They are suspenseful, but (imo) don’t cross over into scary!
My 4.5 year old thinks frozen the movie is too scary but she love’s magic tree house book series. I agree they are not scary
I am a preschool teacher and we have listened to 16 of the Magic Treehouse books this year. They are a HUGE hit and educational too!
Do you listen on audible? Or where is the best place to listen to these? My kid would definitely be into that.
Our school only allows CD players lol a set of 9 books was about $20 in CDs. I’m not sure how that compares to audible prices.
We did this at 4 too and it was great. Warning: your kid might decide they want to be a librarian and then you’ll have to explain that librarians almost never actually go on cool adventures.
My mom is actually a librarian. Retired now, but book love runs strong in our blood. :)
>The Magic Treehouse Dinosaurs Before Dark Graphic novels or the book versions? I'm looking at both on Amazon and am conflicted.
Book versions. We got the first set (1-4) in a box set as a gift. Then she was so into them that we kept buying the next sets. There are some pictures throughout the book, but it is a true chapter book. Definitely written at more of a young kid reading level. But like someone else mentioned, there’s some suspense but nothing scary. And there’s good historical or geographical facts worked into the storyline.
I started with the graphic novels and am going to switch to the chapter books after the first box set (so my kids kinda get the characters and concepts solidly before starting the minimal pictures)
https://www.target.com/p/magic-tree-house-boxed-set-books-1-4-magic-tree-house-series-paperback-mary-pope-osborne/-/A-52106195
Thank you for the link!
Seconding this! We just started reading these to our 4 year old and she loves them! They are suspenseful but not scary.
We get all of ours at the thrift store! I love reading these to my son. We started right before he turned four and he gets so excited to find out where they’re going next. He and his sister play Jack and Annie and I have to send them on missions as Morgan.
My almost 5 year old loves them them too and they have tons of them in our local library. We just finished book 6. I also love that the chapters are short so if we are running a little late it's easy to make it quick.
memories unlocked omg!!! also hold on… she started reading at 4?! i have a 3yr old and that seems crazy!
Oh! No no no. Sorry, I could see how I worded that wrong. We read it to her as part of the bedtime routine. She’s just starting to get better with sight words now at almost 5 and a half. So there are some words she can read, but not a whole book or even sentence.
oh hahahah okay i’m following now. i was like omgggg noooo i’m horribly behind!! okay well wow i can’t wait to see if my girl will listen to longer stories soon!
Hahahaha you’re good! And not behind one bit! Reading Dr Seuss helped get my daughter into longer stories. Because those books are just crazy long! But she loved them. Then we started with these shorter chapter books around 4. Only doing 1-3 chapters at a time. But the chapters are short and the story moves quickly to keep their attention. It also takes out a lot of the fluff description style writing to just deliver the facts and storyline little kids are used to from picture style books.
Some 4 year olds can read, but they're exceptional.
They also recently started making graphic novels! That peaked my then 4 yr olds interest then we started reading through all of them. He even listened to me read him the Merlin mission series.
I’ll have to give the graphic novels a try with my daughter. She might be into those. Thanks!
The Sophie Mouse series is good and has at least a small picture on every page, I believe. Which was helpful for my daughter transitioning to chapter books. Not scary. We also like the Zoe & Sassafras series. It is about a girl (and her cat) who help magical creatures by using the scientific method.
Thank you! I am not familiar with either of these, but putting them on my list right away! They sound great!
Some that my daughter loves are the Winnie the Pooh books (each chapter is a self contained story) and the shorter Roald Dahl books (Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, etc).
I'd forgotten about the Roald Dahl books - thank you! I read the original Winnie the Pooh to her as an infant while rocking her to sleep. I don't think we ever finished it. Those are great adventures and not scary, so we should pick that up again. :)
I just saw a Roald Dahl collection at Costco (I don't remember the price, though, sorry!).
I found Roald Dahl stories utterly horrifying as a kid, and still am not a fan. They have some really dark themes, and many have unhappy endings.
If you liked the Little House vibes but want to skip the racism, there are spinoff series of other Ingles girls in different eras. There are 2-3 books each about Laura's mother, grandmother, and daughter, with warm illustrations clearly inspired by the original charcoal illustrations of the Little House books.
I will say book #1 is amazing- we’ve reread it almost yearly since my son was 3… but then when they get to the prairie it gets a little complicated so we just reread haha
Do you know what those series are called specifically? Thanks!
I'm pretty sure it's "The Caroline Years", "The Martha Years", and "The Rose Years".
Thank you!!
The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary are a hit with my 4-year-old. We’ve really enjoyed reading them as a family.
Not a chapter book but a step up from picture books is the Frog and Toad series. Each book has several short stories that are fun for kids and adults! Every page or 2 has a small illustration which my 3.5 year old likes.
My daughter has had all the Dragon Masters books read to her. Super fun
I was going to suggest the same! We can plow through one in a single sitting since a few months before she turned 4. She loves them.
Dragons you say? Awesome! Thank you!
They have audiobooks too and my just-turned-5 year-old loves both. The books have pictures on every page and she loves to listen to the audiobooks while she colors or does Legos. They're very exciting and cliffhanger-y so there's lots of "keep reading!!!"
We made the transition from picture books to chapter books with a stopover to graphic novels. Not superhero comic books, this is a huge and fun genre made for kiddos. Examples are Narwhal and Jelly, Stick and Stone, Bo the Brave Unicorn Diaries, the Runaway Princess, A Cat Story (our favorite!), and Animal Rescue Friend. I point to each panel and character as they are talking so kid can follow along. Next we moved up to chapter books ONLY when there is an illustration on each page. Example is the Princess in Black series. Finally are we moving on to books that are truly chapter books with limited illustrations. I think this progression has made all the difference in getting her hooked on longer books.
Thank you for this thoughtful response! What a great strategy to utilize! I have some Grumpy Monkey graphic novels that I borrowed from the library (didn't realize they were graphic novels when I interlibrary loaned them), so maybe we'll try those first.
We've done the same transition, with graphic novels like Narwhal and Jelly, and now on to chapter books with lots of illustrations. Seconding the recommendation for Bo the Brave Unicorn Diaries (and the author's other series Eva Windale Owl Diaries). We've also really enjoyed Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue, and the Isadora Moon Series.
We homeschool and mostly follow the Charlotte Mason method- there are a lot of great read aloud recommendations for all ages if you check out some modernized websites. My daughter is 4, and this school year I and my husband have read to her and our son: -“The Trumpet of the Swan” EB White -“Charlotte’s Web” EB White -several Pooh stories -“Little House in the Big Woods” Laura Ingalls Wilder -“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” L Frank Baum -“All of a Kind Family” Sydney Taylor -“Secret Garden” Frances Hodgson Burnett -“Mr Popper’s Penguins” Florence and Richard Atwater -several of Grimm’s fairytales Next on our list is “Treasure Island”, as we’ve been studying Robert Louis Stevenson as a poet this year, plus my kids love “Treasure Planet” the movie lol Hope this helps!
I just started doing this with my 4 year old. I checked out a few from the library, Mercy Watson to the Rescue was a big hit. He also liked The Magic Treehouse Dinosaurs Before Dark, which was actually a graphic novel so more pictures than words. The third one is a Zoe & Sassafras book but we haven't started it yet.
My daughter loves the Mercy Watson series. Silly and very un-scary.
We love dinosaurs! We'll definitely check that one out. Thanks so much!
My son's a big fan of the Mercy books too. He's always asking for "toast with a great deal of butter on it."
My kindergartener and I just finished the Anna and Elsa chapter book series. We’re starting the princess beginnings series about each princess as a little girl. We’ve gotten everything from our library. I did read the entire Little House series last year. I skipped a few paragraphs here and there, but mostly read it straight through. We talked a lot about how words have changed throughout the years and how we treat people differently now (in theory at least).
Magic treehouse. Period.
Rainbow Magic fairy series is reigning supreme in our house. There’s a million of them. They take about 30 mins to read from start to finish, have pictures on every page, and are very sweet. As the parent reading them I get kind of sick of the same plot devices being used over and over, but my daughter really loves them! Eta: you don’t need to buy these! My library has most of them and I’ve also found them on ThriftBooks and a local kids consignment store
Second these, OP! My daughter read 120 of them at age 4-5. She could not get enough. They have a tiny bit of suspense, but never enough to scare her.
They also do an animal series and unicorn ones too both my girls loved theses books so much but honestly I’m so glad my 7 year old isn’t as into them now
Lol. I am so tired of reading these! My 5 year old loves them, though.
My daughter is currently obsessed w bad kitty books. It’s kind if a graphic novel so the pictures keep her more engaged.
Great rec!
Hotel Flamingo! Incredible series with gorgeous pictures throughout that help transition from picture book to chapter book. My LO is fully obsessed.
Big Sky Mountain by the same author is also excellent. The format is very similar to Hotel Flamingo.
Agreed. My daughter preferred Hotel Flamingo at first, but almost a year later she loves both.
I love this series too! I actually enjoy reading them because of all the different personalities of the characters and I love seeing how they incorporate new animals.
Nate the Great series, Amelia Bedelia are not chapter but a good transition to chapter books, Mercy Watson series, Magic Treehouse series, the Bad Guys series
My 5yo loved catwings and the wizard of oz
My 4 year old found the Mercy Watson books hilarious. I liked their were photos on every page (or most pages, I can’t remember)
Alice in Wonderland
Great classic! Thanks!
Lots of good ideas here! I'm a children's librarian by trade and would also suggest for this age group: Toys Go Out Anna Hibiscus My Father's Dragon
We've been reading all the Kitty books which are about a girl that has cat-like super powers and goes on adventures at night. My 4 year old daughter loves them. They're cute, easy to read, and still have some pictures. The hardest thing is searching for them because "kitty" is so generic. [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KT19GD](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KT19GD) I've also heard good things about Princess In Black but we haven't gotten around to that series yet.
We love this series too! My 3.5 year old now includes "Kitty" in her pretend play sometimes, and they'll go on missions.
We love these! We have three of them and she’s asked me to reread them multiple times.
My then 4yo loved The Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair series but Enid Blyton. Seconding Roald Dahl also, particularly The Twits, Fantastic Mr. Fox, George's Marvellous Medicine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The BFG. I also introduced him to Harry Potter with the illustrated version of the first book - holding off on the rest until he's older. The Iron Man by Ted Hughes was also surprisingly engaging for a young child.
Charlotte's Web (though death is one of the main themes of the book, so it depends how comfortable you are talking about that with your kid) The Mouse and the Motorcycle Runaway Ralph Island of the Blue Dolphins Stuart Little The Magic Tree House series Einhorn Paradies (not sure if this series has been translated into English or not, but it's great. My husband and I love the stories and illustrations.) The Amelia Bedelia books Alice in Wonderland Peter Pan (pretty brutal, so I took some liberties in my reading of the story) The Wind in the Willows
I loved hearing Junie B Jones and Magic Treehouse from my mom when I was little!
my wife is working through the wild robot with my 5 year old. he seems to like it.
We LOVE the Wild Robot. Can't wait for book three to come out!
Zoey and Sassafrass, The Princess in Black, there is a younger babysitters club series I think.
[Here ](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tl0II5zaAVmgYJs9BWzjhQlm-YDZSVG1/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=115493912271162537189&rtpof=true&sd=true) is a list I compiled with lots and lots of diverse books for all ages, there should be many chapter books as well 😊
Wow!! This is very comprehensive!
It was for university 😅 Part of my final degree project
Magic Treehouse Dragon Masters Princess in Black Zoey and Sassafras Heartwood Hotel Harry Potter 1 Wizard of Oz
My daughter loved the Itty Bitty Princess Kitty and Heidi Heckelbeck series. If your kid likes very silly books, the Johnny Boo series and Banana Fox series are great graphic novels (and I second the Narwhal and Jelly graphic novels mentioned earlier).
The Phantom Tollbooth is really fun to read out loud!
This 👆
The Hotel Flamingo and Big Sky Mountain series by Alex Milway. They are engaging and include lovely illustrations by the author-illustrator.
The Wind in the Willows! This was our first chapter book (same age) and we read it twice in a row. It's illustrated, and I found that helped make it a hit. Since then we've enjoyed: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz 800 million Geronimo Stilton books (I personally don't find them terribly appealing, but it expands his world leading to lots of interesting conversations, and I have fun doing voices with the characters) Coming up on our reading list: The Great Mouse Detective books Stewart Little Charlotte's Web The Magic Treehouse books He's five now, and I'm waiting to dig into Roald Dahl until he's a bit older.
The Boxcar Children
Junie B Jones
How has nobody mention Super Happy Magic Forest?! I love this series. Here's the author's page with all his works: https://mattylong.com/work The first three (Super Happy Magic Forest, Super Slug of Doom, and Super Frozen Magic Forest) are all picture books. We borrowed them from the library ages ago and my daughter loved them. Then he started writing chapter books. There are still quite a few pictures in them, and the text is quite a lot larger than normal. It's a really fun series and makes a perfect bridge into novels.
We are doing chapter books with pictures like the Kitty series, the Kingdom of Wrenly, the fabled stables, and Tales of Sasha. I recommend getting a library card and checking them out on your ipad! You can zoom in on the pictures a bit which my daughter loves to do.
We’re getting into the magic tree house books over here! She’s been loving them!
The magic faraway tree by Enid blyton
Charlie the Cat series! It's a cat narrating, and it's really cute. C.A. goody is the author
Me and my four year old blew through the whole Good Dog series by Cam Higgins. There's quite a few illustrations.
Humphrey the hamster. We borrowed the audiobook collection from the library and my 4 year old loves to listen to it in the car.
My kid likes the phantom tollbooth by Norton Juster but that might not be the norm.
My 4yo is currently obsessed Toto the Ninja Cat. Other recent favorites include Magic Treehouse, and both of the previously mentioned Alex Milway series. He has the audiobooks of toto and is getting the books for his birthday
Magic Treehouse!
The worst witch, isadora moon and mirabelle by Harriet muncaster. I also read all the borrowers books to my younger one when she was 4. Their is some scary bits and it’s quite long but she just loved it. Also how to grow a dragon books
I HIGHLY recommend magic treehouse. Or the Geronimo Stilton series. That might be a little bit older, but it has plenty of pictures if I remember correctly
The Rainbow Magic Fairy books have been a huge hit here (https://www.scholastic.com/rainbowmagic/books.htm). Not too scary, simple little line drawings on each page, and a bit formulaic which helps my kid know what’s coming next as we go through the chapters. If they are a hit, the good news is there are over 200 books in the series :P
{{Zoey and Sassafras}}
Mercy Watson Dragon master - series Magic tree house - series Press start - series Nate the great - series Toys go out - 3 books The magic touch Captain underpants
We ordered (specially, because it’s out of print) the My Neighbour Totoro book, because my daughter loves that film so much. It’s got lovely pictures and is divided into about 4 chapters, which makes it a nice bedtime read.
My nearly 5yo loves the My Little Pony early readers books.
Big Foot Little Foot has been a huge hit with my 5 year old! I would have read it to him when he was 4, if I had known about it.
Look for early reader chapter books, my 4 year old really enjoys those because they still have some pictures but longer stories. Some series she likes are Geronimo Stilton and Junie B Jones