(I earn commission on purchases made via links in this post. Please see my disclosure policy.)

Great early chapter books really are the hardest of any to find, aren’t they?

It’s a massive jump.

Both when you step up from reading them picture books.

And when they step up from early readers.

And it can be so easy to lose their love for story in the jump.

They drift off when you’re reading and don’t want to finish.

Or become frustrated by struggling to read.

Now there are definitely a few absolute gems of early chapter books.

For me, their authors totally nail it.

There’s complexity but not too much.

New vocabulary but lightly sprinkled.

And the perfect length chapter.

That leaves every child demanding more!

I am sure you know Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox (USA).

It is THE stand out early chapter book.

In a way that even the other Roald Dahl’s aren’t.

I also massively recommend Gobbolino (USA).

I loved it as a kid and it was a massive hit with my daughter and her friends.

But beyond that, it does get difficult.

There are loads of brilliant chapter books for kids but many are just too tricky in that critical first 6 months or so of listening to or reading chapter books.

So what do you do?

Well I’ve gathered together here a whole load of recommendations from other parents of their favourite early chapter books, that your kids will love.

Early Chapter Book Recommendations

If you haven’t discovered Erica at What Do We Do All Day you need to!

She has so many brilliant book lists.

Including this list of best chapter books to read to pre-schoolers.

Erin at Bambini Travel also has a list of early chapter books for pre-schoolers.

Plus some thoughts on the right time to introduce them.

And how they fit with other reading.

And Becky at This Reading Mama has more early chapter books suitable for reading to 4s and up.

It’s easy to forget what a big step it is just listening to a chapter book.

Holding in your head that story from chapter to chapter is a big deal when you’re small.

So you really want some early chapter books with a bit of wow to them.

This list from Aly at What Moms Love is full of books with just that special sparkle.

And we all understand the attraction of a great series.

You get to the end of Harry Potter and you can race straight onto the next one.

Fantastic!

And luckily there are some fab series of early chapter books that will keep your kids reading and reading, including these from Beki at Chasing Super Mom.

And there are more fab early chapter book series in this list from Alison at
 No Time for Flash Cards.

And just in case you exhaust all of those.

There are even more early chapter book series here from Leah at as As We Walk Along the Road

Finally I love this list of classic chapter books from Childhood 101.

Including stories we read and our parents read.

Which makes them really special doesn’t it?

So there you go. Loads of fantastic early chapter books.

I would love to hear what you think.

Do share your favourites.

And for more great kids books do check out our other book reviews and book lists.