After the positive response to easy reader books that won't make parents groan, it seemed prudent to offer you an additional book list for your beginning readers. Parents may even remember reading some of these classic books when they were children.
I've noticed that classic easy readers tend to be longer than some of the contemporary books (especially those pesky licensed character books -- but let your kids read them if they want to!), so kids may need to finish them in more than one sitting. I've noted which selections are part of a series, because series are a great way to keep your budding reader interested in picking up additional books. Many of them can also double as a very first chapter book and all of these titles have also been fun read alouds for my pre-reader.
Click here for -->Â Â Easy Readers that are ACTUALLY easy!!
{Note: as always I choose books entirely based on my -- and my kids' opinions. If we don't like a book, it's not on the list! Affiliate links are included should a title spark your interest.}
Classic Early Reader Books:
Owl at Home. Most parents are familiar with the Frog and Toad series, but don't overlook Arnold Lobel's other books. Owl at Home contains 5 funny stories and New Kid especially liked "Strange Bumps" in which Owl cannot figure out the source of the bumps under the covers of his bed! Parents should also bring home Grasshopper on the Road and Uncle Elephant for further giggles.
Henry and Mudge. (Series) Several people mentioned Henry and Mudge in the comments of last week's easy reader post but I was saving it for this list since Rylant's series is certainly a modern classic. In the first book Henry is lonely. He had no brothers or sisters, no close friends. His parents tell him he can get a puppy (and Henry rewards them with a hug!) so he searches for the perfect pooch until he finds Mudge. Mudge, however, quickly grows up to be a very large dog! Rylant has several other very, very early chapter book series including the beloved Mr. Putter & Tabby, one of the very first early readers my older son ever read.
Morris the Moose. (Series) I remember reading about Morris's "moose-take" when I was a kid. Morris insists a cow must be a moose because it has four legs and a tail. He makes the same error with a deer. This leads to a lot of round-about squabbling amongst the animals which is finally solved by the simple act of looking at their reflections in a stream. If your child likes Morris, he will find further moose books by Wiseman in the library.
Grizzwold. Syd Hoff is most famous for Danny and the Dinosaur but check out this silly easy reader about a bear who is on the hunt for a place to live after loggers clear his forest home. Nothing seems quite right, though! Should he live in the city? Become a rug? Where can he find some trees? In the end, he not only finds a forest, but his life's calling.
The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat. Okay. This is not old enough to be considered a classic. I put it on the list, thinking it was published much earlier than it actually was. Turns out it was first published in 1998. 15 years of staying power is still pretty good so let's call it a "modern classic" and leave it at that. A fat cat belonging to a witch sits on a mat and a hat, bat, and rat do their best to convince him to get up. This book had my pre-reader in stitches and I couldn't help smiling at the ending. This book is a nice combination of substantial length and simple vocabulary for kids who can read for a chunk of time but still need to work with easy words.
The Fire Cat. Ester Averill wrote a series of chapter books about a black cat named Jenny who made friends in the city with the help of a local Cat Club. (Side note:Â Jenny and the Cat Club makes a great chapter books read aloud for this age group!) One of those cats was named Pickles and Averill gave him his very own story in an easy reader format. Pickles is a naughty cat, but Mrs. Goodkind sees his potential and gets the firehouse to adopt him. With the right training and some good friends, Pickles learns the value of kindness and helping others.
I Like Bugs. At first glance you won't realize this is a classic by Goodnight Moon author, Margaret Wise Brown. The short story was first published in The Friendly Book
, a compilation of short stories and poems, in the 1950s. This poem is all about (you guessed it) different kinds of bugs, from bugs "on the sidewalk", "in a rug" and "buggy bugs." This book is very spare on text, so it's great for level 1 readers. The new illustrations by G. Brian Karas are delightful and add nice dose of humor.
Little Bear. (Series) Illustrated by Maurice Sendak, Little Bear was the very first I Can Read Book (I never realized that). Elsa Holmelund Minarik wrote 5 books, each with several connected stories. I love how the stories reinforce values of friendship and family in an unassuming manner. My favorite story is "Little Bear Goes to the Moon," in with Little Bear decides to make a trip to the moon in his new DIY space helmet. His mother simply responds, "be back for lunch!" With delightful writing and gentle humor, these are easy readers you will want to have in your home library.
Put Me in the Zoo. Robert Lopshire is an author I used to get confused with Dr. Seuss because of the branding icon on the top corner of his books! Please don't tell me I'm the only one! In lively rhyme, a leopard tries to convince a pair of kids he belongs in the zoo. He can change the color of his spots but the zoo still rejects him! How can that be? Fortunately, everyone realizes the "circus is the place to be."
Are You My Mother? I confess I had not read this classic book before sitting down to make this list. This book wins the prize for sweetness. A mother bird sits on her egg and when she realizes her egg will soon hatch but she has no food for the newborn she flies off to fetch some. Of course that is the moment the egg hatches; the chick falls out of the tree and goes in search of his mother, asking everyone and everything he meets, "Are You My Mother?" You and your kids will be happy (and not surprised) to know that he does, indeed, find his mother.
What is your favorite classic easy reader? Do you have a favorite from when you were learning to read? Do you have any idea how HARD it is to not make every book list 50 books long???
P.S. I also have a Pinterest Board for Easy Readers (it's a bit slow-growing, but I add my finds here and there).
You may have noticed that Dr. Seuss is conspicuously absent from this list. I run a great risk in telling you this: I don't like Dr. Seuss. Did I just lose all my book cred? You be the judge.
Natalie F says
Great list. I see now that we used mostly "classic" readers when I taught my daughter to read. Minarik and Rylant series were our favorites!
The Cath in the Hat says
My favorite classic early reader is the first on your list--Owl at Home. Lobel rules when it comes to easy readers.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I completely agree!
writersideup says
Wow, I've only read 3 of these! One of them I read repeatedly as a child (in the 60s!). I still am not sure why I loved that book SO much! 😀
writersideup says
OK, it MIGHT have helped if I actually NAMED the book! lol ---- ARE YOU MY MOTHER? 😀 I guess, as you can see, I must've loved it so much as a child because I sensed that, as an adult, I would show signs of not being able to recognize my mother *sigh*
Erica MomandKiddo says
It's a fun book. I can't believe I'd never read it before.
maryl1 says
I entirely agree about Dr. Seuss. Although there are some books of his I like (mostly his earlier ones I think: Bartholomew and the Oobleck, the 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Horton Hears a Who, and a couple of others), the rest annoy the heck out of me. I like the early readers you've listed; I have almost all of them in my classroom. We are just about to start with Cynthia Rylant as our next author mentor.
Erica MomandKiddo says
They are just sooooo long! I don't want to listen to my kid sound out the whole book. I know that sounds awful, but it's true. I also haven't read every single Seuss book, so there may be some that won't drive me crazy.
maryl1 says
Well, Bartholomew Cubbins has an actual plot; Horton Hears a Who as well. They don't rely on making up massive amounts of nonsense words in order to rhyme.
Erica MomandKiddo says
I'll have to read Bartholomew Cubbins now.
Mary says
We tie Bartholomew and the Oobleck with our unit on Matter. It is a longer book, and is probably a read-aloud for anyone under 3rd grade. We make our own 'oobleck' with cornstarch and water. It's great stuff: stiff when you squeeze it and then it melts through your fingers. It dries back to cornstarch, so it is an easy clean-up.
Mary Lynne Foster says
For a book to be a good tool for the reader it must be just above their comfort level. 90% of the words should be easily read by the child, Better yet 95%. A book with low readability will cause the child to struggle and slow down and also interfere with comprehension. A high readability book will give the reader a chance to read fluently, a great, confidence building feeling ,and lead to better comprehension. Both fluency and comprehension are both super important and can develop along side reading vocabulary. If the child can read most of the words, when an unknown word appears they can use the rest of the sentence to think about what would make sense and make a good guess. Also, I know we were taught the 'sound it out' method, but as readers advance past K it becomes less and less useful as most of our common words are not phonetically regular. The first graders were always taught "What makes sense" as a first strategy, then "say the letters, does your guess fit? Sorry to butt in like this. I hope the information is useful to you.
Pragmaticmom says
I love all the easy readers by Arnold Lobel too. Mouse Soup and pretty much anything by him. And Frog and Toad. LOVE Frog and Toad!
Pragmaticmom says
Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff too! Anything by Syd Hoff actually!
Cathy Ballou Mealey says
Yes Syd Hoff! Excellent addition to a list that could indeed go on and on...
And Seuss (spelled correctly - yay!) does write many, many words in some stories. I became expert in picking out a few rhyming couplets per page and reading the long books "Mommy-style" at bedtime!
Erica MomandKiddo says
I included Grizzwold because I thought Hoff's other books were better known. And I did think of your comment about the spelling when I wrote this post!
AJ says
I didn't read all of the comments - but some have listed Dr. Seuss books that aren't his early readers - kids still love Hop on Pop, One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish, The Foot Book, Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, etc. Also, don't forget they also love to read Theo Lesieg early readers - which are still by Dr. Seuss - just his real name Theodor Geisel backwards!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Those are very popular books and many kids love them, thank you for mentioning them!
AJ says
Also, if you are going to talk about early readers by Arnold Lobel, you should include his Frog and Toad series (again, someone may have mentioned this already - I read some comments but not all - :-]) I appreciate your love of children's books and your taking the time to share so many good ideas with others - well done!!
Erica MomandKiddo says
I like to do is include books that are not as well known. Most lists of easy readers for kids mention great books like Frog and Toad so I like to expose parents to even more titles, which is why I chose Owl at Home. I am so glad people take the time to leave comments here with other books so thank you!
JDaniel4's Mom says
Owl at Home is a favorite. I love the chapter about bumps in his bed.
Erica MomandKiddo says
It's such a funny story, isn't it?
Meg says
Thank you for the list! I'll follow your pin board too - it's hard to find "easy readers" for my son - he's second grade but on par with a PKer, and he is adamant he doesn't want "baby books."
PS...I don't like Dr. Seuss either.
Cheryl says
We have been liking the Usborne phonics readers. They have nice illustrations, each book has a sound "focus" so he can start to read on his own but they are not "mind - numbing" for me
Erica MomandKiddo says
Good to know! Thank you for the suggestion!