The books of Dr. Seuss were not properly chapter books. But they were was a kids book series that inspired me to love reading. It tapped into my passion for living in a world of utter creativity and fun. Actually this is the real magic of chapter book series for older kids. These books can tap into and open up your child to an expansive learning experience. They allow your kids to explore things that excite them and that they are passionate about.
Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series was my first chapter book love. To me, this was a “sense-making” series of books that helped me understand the world around me and even see myself. I was a little boy – but I was mischievous like Beezus. (First time I ever shared that out loud!) And I had a lot of friends who were girls – so it didn’t feel odd to me to have a female heroine. Plus Ramona had a friend named Henry.
After Ramona, I went through a long dry season where I couldn’t find a chapter book series that expressed the “who-I-am-ness” that I was living. I read lots of books – but nothing that spoke to me. It was only much later that I came across Clair Bee’s Chip Hilton chapter book series. I read these books over and over between the ages of 9 and 13 – because sports were my whole world at that point. These books helped me frame up the tensions of heading into teen-ager-dom. They also helped me understand the hyper-competitive world of atheletics, by exploring a range of characters and their reactions to competitive situations.
In future posts, I plan to right about many different chapter books (old and new) that are out there. I will describe each in terms of their values and characters – and the affinities your kids might find in them.
As the author of the DaVinchy Chapter Book Series, I know that all kids are different. As a parent who home schooled our kids, I know that kids change fast…and you have to pick the right kids books for the exact right moment of your child’s life. So I’d like to give back and help create a simple approach to finding the best chapter book series for your kids.
Coming soon to future posts.