chapter books

Through the years, we have filled our shelves with countless picture books for the kids. Both Aaron and I are huge fans of books in general {from the smell and touch to the story plots and knowledge learned...} Picture books for the kids say a thousand words - they like to look at each page before its turned and examine different things... point out expressions, or what "others" not in the story are doing. This makes reading with the kids the same book over and over again - timeless, which I think, is what makes a good book - wonderful.

But we're trying something new now - chapter books. While at a bookstore in Alys Beach, I came across a series of chapter books that looked like Judy Bloom kind of fun I remembered reading as a kid.  This series had big printed words, black and white sketches on every other page... could the kids sit with us long enough to listen? Could they follow along, or begin to recognize words used repeatedly?

So we gave Ivy + Bean a try. And the kids both sat through 40 pages in the first book {which took about 30 minutes because of the interruptions of questions they had. Good questions too}. The dialogue is what was missing from picture books. As if we were standing right there, we could "see" Bean's moaning facial expression when her older sister bosses her around. Or sense the excitement in Ivy's eyes when she pretends to be a witch and cast a spell. Its fascinating. Entertaining, and a whole new world for the kids - and us reading with them.



Aaron started reading book 4 last night, and even he enjoyed narrating the adventures of Ivy and Bean with their babysitter. I have to admit though - I'm a bit disappointed in some of the language, {stupid, dumb, ugly, etc}, but we catch ourselves beforehand and skip over these. Censorship is good at this age, but I'm afraid not ever lasting as they get older and can read on their own. Do seven year olds really talk like this? {I'm rolling my eyes}. That's the intended audience of these books. Oh goodness I hope not.

So we're looking for more conservative yet equally adventuresome and captivating chapter books - if anyone has any recommendations - please do share. We've stepped up our reading, and we can hardly put the chapter books down...