#Road2Reading suggestions for beginning readers & chapter books (ages 6-9)

Our panel discussion at AASL was fascinating. As Fran Manushkin noted, series provide her with friends for life as a young reader. She loved the Betsy, Tacy and Tib stories:

"Because there was more than one book about Betsy, Tacy and Tib, they became my friends! I got to know so much about them, and I could revisit these stories whenever I needed the comfort of an alternate family. I was mastering reading and I was finding a great source of continuity and comfort.

To me, this is the glory of series books for beginning readers: as the boys and girls build reading confidence, these new readers also find a new collection of friends, and these friends keep them reading. Reading confidence an a bunch of new friends: this is a double whammy of joy!"

I especially loved the range of ideas that panelists and the audience suggested for books to share with beginning readers. Below I have embedded the Padlet that we created during this session. Feel free to add other suggestions if you'd like.

If you want to keep exploring books for beginning readers, definitely check out these resources:

• ALA's Geisel Award & the blog Guessing Geisel
• #Road2Reading posts at Kid Lit Frenzy & Mrs. Knott's Book Nook blogs
• CYBILS 2017 nominations for beginning readers & early chapter books

©2017 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books