Since SA's reading took off in January of this year, he has read sixty-three books, some of them more than once. I've already shared some of them here and here, but I'd just like to go through our chart and pick out some of his favourites for the record (and for you, if you're looking for early reading books!). It always amazes me how many mediocre books I have to wade through at the library to find a few good ones, even in the early reading section!
SA really enjoyed the "Puppy Sam" series from Kids Can Press, and read most of the titles in our library. I did not love them enough to consider buying them sometime in the future, but if your library carries them, they're worth adding to the line-up. We also read two "Pup and Hound" books from the same publisher, but did not enjoy them as much.
Books meant for little children can often be easy to read for early readers. Some of our favourites were Snow Bears by Martin Waddell, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? by Eric Carle, and Bringing Down the Moon and This Way, Ruby! by Jonathan Emmett. Big Red Barn and Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown were also good choices. Oliver Finds His Way was a favourite read-aloud when SA was little, and he enjoyed the chance to read it himself now.
Mouse Soup has already supplanted Emmett's Pig as SA's favourite book ever. I'm sure as he keeps reading he will continue to find more and more favourites. This one is now on my to-buy list. It is cute, and funny, and absolutely wonderful. SA felt compelled to read the whole thing to his father when he came home from work that day, just so he could enjoy it too. And it was written by Arnold Lobel, of "Frog and Toad" fame. The Frog and Toad books are also favourites with SA.
Two more series we have discovered recently are the "Little Bear" series by Else Minarik, and the "Henry and Mudge" series by Cynthia Rylant. SA has just read the first book of each of these, but since he liked them, we have more reserved at the library. Books by P.D. Eastman (Are You My Mother?) are fun as well.
Last, but certainly not least, is this great little book I found at Value Village one day. It is the only non-fiction title SA has read to date, but he really appreciated the factual information and pictures. It made me realize that I need to find more books of this type for him to read. It seems like most early reading books are stories.
Do you have some favourite books for early readers that you'd like to add to this list? Please comment! I'd especially be interested in any non-fiction title you've found worthwhile for early readers.