Chapter Book Success

Dean and I have attempted to read to Grace from chapter books in the past. It all started on a Disney trip when we neglected to bring picture books to read at bedtime. To solve our conundrum Dean decided to read aloud from the novel he brought along. It worked - Grace was content "imagining the pictures" in her mind.

With this success, Dean took her to the bookstore and they selected several chapter books - one being "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling. When it was Dean's turn to read with her at night, he read from one of the books they purchased. But, boredom soon set in - so it was back to picture books.


Now with Grace being a bit older, we decided to give chapter books another try. We chose a book that had won a Newbery Honor and was about something she's very interested in, dragons. The book (well, it's actually three stories in one), "Three Tales of My Father's Dragon", written by Ruth Stiles Gannett, was a hit to say the least. Between Dean and myself we read entire book, all 242 pages, to her in five days. And as an added bonus, the book has inspired a wealth of discussions, pretend play and of course, artwork.

The next book we plan to read is, "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin, who happens to be one of our favorite picture book writers/illustrators. It's a Newbery Honor book too (this year), so we can't wait to get started reading it aloud. Hooray for chapter book success!