{"id":1977,"date":"2024-01-12T14:48:05","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T14:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.scholastic.ca\/scholasticblog\/?p=1977"},"modified":"2025-10-31T17:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T17:52:50","slug":"why-you-should-start-reading-chapter-books-to-your-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.scholastic.ca\/scholasticblog\/2024\/01\/12\/why-you-should-start-reading-chapter-books-to-your-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Should Start Reading Chapter Books to Your Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Plus, when to do it and how to make it a seamless transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You might be eager to make the leap from picture books to chapter books during story time with your kids\u2014after all, you probably have favorites from your own childhood!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a good idea: Reading chapter books aloud to your child introduces them to equally enriching yet more complex storytelling that helps develop inferential reading skills. The great news is that you can start reading early chapter books as soon as preschool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou are building listening skills and the awareness of an arc of storytelling,\u201d says Karen Baicker, executive director of the Yale Child Study Center-Scholastic Collaborative for Child &amp; Family Resilience and publisher for Family and Community Engagement (FACE) at Scholastic Inc. \u201cIntroducing chapter books will also excite young children who have seen their older siblings reading them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you make the transition to chapter books with your child, here are four things to keep in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:7px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-us.googleusercontent.com\/yis5ftx2EmQCv3H8t2rUSUrbeLz2kQw7VWFr7Vt-4NTvRPewPoc__QKHqim2-PFA1XhlkeIKX-GF_bOm77yz-RDcoXiqS-9NKwYuYS5D86SKQQhI2EMgPg9NDFX2GGubcrzr_Ija8cKV4BNQPoJAtD4\" width=\"483\" height=\"483\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:9px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Consider age-appropriateness in more ways than one.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not just about watching out for language or violence. For instance, unless your child is in third grade or above, you should probably wait on a series like Harry Potter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lot of parents want to jump right into the Harry Potter books when their kids are in first or second grade,\u201d says reading specialist Brooke MacKenzie. \u201cBut I would wait, unless your child has a really strong ability to visualize, because it&#8217;s such an intricate fantasy world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MacKenzie recommends chapter books targeted at early readers instead. <a href=\"https:\/\/bookclubs.scholastic.ca\/en\/search?q=Branches&amp;prefn1=itemType-cec-ca&amp;prefv1=N&amp;prefn2=languageCode-cec-ca&amp;prefv2=English%7CFrench&amp;start=0&amp;sz=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Branches books<\/a> are great for this, because they\u2019re specifically designed to help kids transition from picture books to chapter books. With slightly older children, you can\u2019t go wrong with <a href=\"https:\/\/bookclubs.scholastic.ca\/en\/search?prefn1=itemType-cec-ca&amp;prefv1=N&amp;prefn2=languageCode-cec-ca&amp;prefv2=English%7CFrench&amp;prefn3=moreSupplies-cec-ca&amp;prefv3=Award%20Winners%20and%20Classics&amp;start=0&amp;sz=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">classics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Don\u2019t pack up the picture books completely.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Since young children are used to picture books and still rely on images to help them visualize the story, don\u2019t make the transition to chapter books too quickly. \u201cWith students in first and second grade, it\u2019s important to continue reading picture books as well, even though they&#8217;re becoming more independent readers,\u201d says MacKenzie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you <em>are<\/em> reading a chapter book, help your child create an image in their minds based on the words. \u201cStop and ask them what they picture something looked like, and model using your own imagination,\u201d says Baicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Make it interactive.<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Just like you would for picture books, have conversations with your child about the plot and characters, and encourage them to make predictions about what will happen next. MacKenzie also suggests vocalizing your own thoughts about the story (such as \u201cHmm, I wonder what he&#8217;s nervous about?\u201d) to model the think-aloud process. This will help deepen their reading comprehension and engagement in the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:5px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. Continue story time with your kids as they grow older!<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Read out loud to your children through at least fourth or fifth grade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cParents often want kids to transition to reading to themselves as they become more independent readers, particularly in third grade,\u201d says MacKenzie. \u201cBut it&#8217;s still important to read to the child, because it exposes them to books they might not be able to read or comprehend on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shop popular chapter books for kids below! You can find all books and activities at <a href=\"https:\/\/bookclubs.scholastic.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Scholastic Book Clubs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:7px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>Originally published by Scholastic Parents on Jun 26, 2023. Versioned for Scholastic Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plus, when to do it and how to make it a seamless transition. You might be eager to make the leap from picture books to chapter books during story time&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[5,6,90,84],"class_list":["post-1977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reading-tips","tag-book-clubs","tag-book-fairs","tag-chapter-books","tag-families"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why You Should Start Reading Chapter Books to Your Kids | Scholastic at School Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scholastic.com\/parents\/books-and-reading\/raise-a-reader-blog\/start-reading-beginner-chapter-books-kids.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why You Should Start Reading Chapter Books to Your Kids | Scholastic at School Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Plus, when to do it and how to make it a seamless transition. 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