December 3, 2024 Comments Off on 2024 Gift Guide: Short Chapter Books (Ages 5-10)
After a break for the Thanksgiving holiday, we are back with another installment of this year’s Gift Guide, and this one is all about short chapter books. (In case you missed it, we’ve already done Novelty & Nonfiction and Picture Books.) In this post, you’ll discover a range of titles, from traditional early chapter books for those still mastering independent reading, to longer chapter books that would shine as read alouds for those ready to listen to longer stories. When selecting these titles, I have given priority to books that feel particularly gifty—not always an easy feat in this category—such as hardcover editions with special touches and captivating art.
I also want to mention that the books below, especially the ones towards the end, can also work brilliantly for kids who might test at a higher reading level but haven’t yet developed the stamina to delve into longer books in their own time. Parking a fixation on reading level and letting kids read what appeals to them in any given moment is the tried-and-true key to raising lifetime readers. If you read these books, you’ll see just what I mean: they’re a true delight, each and every one.
The books are loosely presented in order of ascending age/reading ability.
Katrina Hyena, Stand-Up Comedian
by Sophie Kohn; illus. Aparna Varma
Ages 5-8
The first two recommendations on this list are traditional early chapter books: just a few sentences on each page, with repetitive, decodable language and plenty of white space and engaging illustrations. Everyone knows that the way to a new reader’s heart is through humor, and both of these stories deliver in spades—this first from McSweeney’s writer, Sophie Kohn.
A clan of spotted hyenas in Kenya forms the backdrop of Katrina Hyena, Stand-Up Comedian, a story about going against the grain. Hyenas typically laugh to warn others of danger—“Help! I’m being stalked! By a HUGE lion!”—but Katrina Hyena laughs for a different reason. “She laughs because she thinks the world is sooooo funny.” She dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian, performing on stage and making all the animals on the savanna laugh, only the other hyenas aren’t having it. They need her to get with the program—and stop crying wolf when she’s not actually in danger. But then, Gary the lion, known for enjoying hyenas with a little hot sauce, enters stage left and Katrina ends up getting her moment in the spotlight, just not the way she expected.
Sophie Kohn’s comedic timing is accentuated by Aparna Varma, whose time spent living in Botswana influenced her art (and who gets mega props for her smug lion and skeptical hyena facial expressions).
Lone Wolf Goes to School
by Kiah Thomas; illus. K-Fai Steele
Ages 5-8
In a world where children are constantly being encouraged to smile like everything is hunky dory, nothing is more fun (and funny) than the forbidden fruit of a bona fide curmudgeon protagonist. Enter Lone Wolf, the Roy Kent of kid lit (as my friend Chrissie of @librarychrissie so perfectly put it), who can’t help but win us over with his unabashed grumpiness, even as many of us will relate to his desire to be left alone.
Lone Wolf Goes to School begins: “Wolf could count his friends on one hand. Three, two, one…NONE! And that was the way he liked it.” And yet, as we know, people can’t be avoided forever, especially in classroom 2B, where Wolf sits at his desk, “grrring” besides eight human children. When that doesn’t work out, he bails for the movie theater, where a tall man annoyingly blocks his view of the screen. Onto the beach, where the seagulls are pesky, and finally to the top of a mountain where a “jolly hiker” cramps his style. On and on we go, until Wolf devises a brilliantly subversive plan to get what his heart desires.
If you haven’t before experienced K-Fai Steele’s artwork—dry humor in spades—you’ll quickly realize you’ve been missing out. Psst: Lone Wolf Gets a Pet, the second in the series and already out, is just as big of a charmer.
Beti and the Little Round House
by Atinuke; illus. Emily Hughes
Ages 6-9
With Beti and the Little Round House, a beautiful ode to the natural world and the imaginative play it can inspire, we are getting into longer chapter books, ripe for newly confident readers or, perhaps even better, for reading aloud to children who are starting to sit for longer stories. The bookmaking here is gorgeous—120 pages, each exquisitely illustrated with Emily Hughes’ expressive pencil line work—and the story a personal one for Atinuke, inspired by her move from Nigeria to Wales in the UK, where she lived with her toddler son in a roundhouse built of straw and clay in the woods. “It was a life of magic, and of mud.” My heart!
“Beti lives in a little round house in the green woods under the mountains. She lives with Mam and Tad and baby Jac.” Told across four chapters, each representative of a different season, the story follows this curious, high-energy, occasionally mischievous child as she resists the party dress Mam has chosen for her birthday, befriends a naughty little goat, devises schemes with friends and then gets distracted by swimming in waterfalls, and stands up to a great big storm dragon to save her family’s horses.
Throughout all her adventures, Beti basks in the glow of rich connections with family, friends, and the wild wonders outside her door.
Stella & Marigold
by Annie Barrows; illus. Sophie Blackall
Ages 6-9
There are many experiences unique to siblings but my favorite has to be the intimate, imaginative, even secretive worlds that are born inside their play. My sister and I still talk in the same coded language we did as kids. And one of my greatest parenting joys has been to witness the way time and age dissolve when my own kids play with one another. Long after society deemed him too old for such pursuits, my son would dress up in ridiculous odds and ends, build forts, and play stuffed animals with his sister, their gleeful, giggling voices free of outside judgment.
And by golly! Annie Barrows and Sophie Blackall perfectly capture this tender, funny, sometimes oddball intimacy in their new early chapter series about two sisters, ages seven and four. I love the Ivy and Bean series as much as the next person, but it feels like a warm-up act compared to the sweet, fresh, nuanced storytelling—it’s all in the details!—they’ve achieved in Stella & Marigold. Humor and heart come through on every page, as much from the warmly expressive illustrations, which make creative use of the page, as from the earnest, matter-of-fact conversations the sisters have around magical bathrooms, snow monkeys, dream lions, sick blankets, a lost Vice President, and more.
In each episodic chapter, we get a tiny glimpse of the sisters’ lives independent of one another, but the focus is on the way their daily reunions soothe the hurts, calm the worries, or enhance their understanding of the mysteries of the world. Stella is the storyteller, Marigold hangs on her every word and delights in trying to keep up, and together they inhabit a world of their own creation.
The Egg Incident (Graphic Novel)
by Ziggy Hanaor; illus. Daisy Wynter
Ages 6-9
OK, I’m cheating a little with this title. The Egg Incident actually came out this past April—I typically limit the Gift Guide to fall releases—and was slotted for my Summer Reading Guide. But then the book went into reprint, its popularity exceeding its first print run, and it didn’t seem fair to get folks excited about a book they couldn’t actually get. So, I cut it. But I adore this quirky British import, a clever twist on the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme, and now that it’s available again, I had to include it here.
Our young protagonist, an egg named Humphrey, is diligent about following the rules of his over-protective parents: no running, no jumping, no climbing trees, and, above all, no climbing walls. After all, he’s Humpty Dumpty’s nephew, and we all know what happened to the uncle. So, when Humphrey takes his first stroll across his busy city streets and into a neighborhood park for a picnic, he moves as slowly and cautiously as possible. There, he meets a princess in a tree—“You can call me PJ”—who challenges him to a game of hide and seek, among other pursuits, which soon has Humphrey realizing he might not be as fragile as he thinks.
But when Humphrey doesn’t manage to exit the park before the gates are locked for the evening, the real question becomes, can he and should he climb the wall to get out? A fantastically funny take on learning to explore our limits—and teaching our parents a few things in the process.
Detective Beans & the Case of the Missing Hat (Graphic Novel)
by Li Chen
Ages 6-10
One of the most popular books on this year’s Summer Reading Guide was The Great Puptective, a graphic novel about a smug cat who tries to beat an overeager, self-proclaimed detective dog at his own game. The story is packed with capers and tons of fun, but I think the real reason why it did so well at the shop was that its format has such broad appeal. On the one hand, the limited, larger text on each page makes it feel accessible to newly confident readers; on the other hand, the high page count and sophisticated humor means even older kids can’t get enough. There’s a case to be made that Li Chen’s graphic series starter Detective Beans fits a similar bill, coming in at a whopping 206 pages but with easy-to-decode graphic panels. Plus, the story—this time about a feline detective with a tie and a trench coat and something to prove—is every bit as delightful.
Make no mistake: Beans is not the “cute lil’ jellybean” that his mom is fond of calling him; he’s a “hard-boiled detective, cleaning up this city one case at a time!” And when his hat goes missing, he sets out to prove just that, following clues that take him through the forest, a magician’s act, a vaudeville theater, a soup diner, and straight into the hands of…a real life jewelry thief?!
Detective Beans’ precocious confrontations with each party who has at one point detained his precious hat is worth the price of admission, but it’s Beans’ admirable persistence in the face of continual setbacks that ultimately steals our hearts. (Bonus props for a terrifically funny mom figure; it’s not easy parenting a prodigy, after all.)
Bog Myrtle (Graphic Novel)
by Sid Sharp
Ages 6-11
At a time when we are bombarded with children’s books that profess to teach kindness, I’d like to introduce you to my favorite graphic novel of the year, a perfect reminder that stories about kindness are most effective when they look nothing like stories of kindness. Bog Myrtle, by Canadian talent Sid Sharp, is certainly concerned with kindness—or lack thereof—towards humans, creatures, and the planet we share, but its message is second to its seductive storytelling. In the likes of creators like Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen, and Adam Rex, Sharp is serving up an original folktale that hits every irresistible note for our young readers: it’s a lot weird and a little spooky, a lot funny and a little gross, a lot clever and a little shocking. On top of that, its bold, beguiling art is fresh and inventive and only adds to the sublime storytelling. Oh, and did I mention the yarn is magic, the spiders go on strike, and there’s a witch obsessed with sustainability? Try saying THAT about any other books this year.
“Two sisters lived alone in a hideous, drafty old house on the edge of town.” Sister Beatrice is indefatigably cheerful, fond of passing her chores by making up songs about the industrious spiders who keep the house fly-free. Sister Magnolia, on the other hand, relishes scowling: her days are spent pulling the legs off of said spiders and bossing Beatrice around. When Magnolia complains about being cold, Beatrice sets off to source yarn for a sweater, a mission that takes her into the heart of the forest, where she catches the dangerous attention of a giant spider witch named Bog Myrtle. Beatrice’s honest charm not only keeps her from being eaten, it earns her something else from her new friend: a spool of magical silk pulled from her butt.
Back home, the sweater Beatrice and her helper spiders knit for Magnolia is so soft, so strong, so oddly glowy, that Magnolia orders her to make more, her eyes lighting up with dollar signs. But this get-rich-scheme quickly turns into an opportunity to explore fair practices, picket lines, sustainability, and, yes, a bit of sweet revenge.
Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery; adapted by Katherine Woodfine; illus. Isabelle Follath
Ages 6-11
Of all the protagonists across history, do any present a better balance of spunk and heart than our Anne with an e? If your child isn’t quite ready for L.M. Montgomery’s original text (in all its meandering glory) but wants more than the early reader level of Kallie George and Abigail Halpin’s Anne Arrives series, Katherine Woodfine has paired up with Isabelle Follath to produce a gorgeous, gift-worthy package that does the original book justice.
With the trim size of a picture book but with 96 sumptuously illustrated and text-filled pages, the thirteen chapters of this new Anne of Green Gables adaptation brings the original down from 100,000 to 11,000 words, while still remaining true to the entirety of the story (and much of the dialogue). Anne’s arrival at Avonlea, the lost brooch, the broken slate, the hair dye travesty: all the dramatic highs and lows are here, ready to delight a new generation.
The metallic accents on the jacket cover and the pink silk bookmark heighten the special factor. This one feels like it’s made for reading aloud—raspberry cordial not optional—because how could any of us grown-ups miss out on the fun of revisiting this favorite classic?
Felix Powell, Boy Dog
by Erin Entrada Kelly
Ages 7-10
I can’t think of many kids who wouldn’t be charmed by the first book in Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly’s newest illustrated chapter series. Felix Powell, Boy Dog is about a boy who dons a ratty old blanket that he finds in a thrift store and is transformed into a dog. Felix has always possessed the special ability to talk to animals, including his own dog, Puppins, but imagine the fun he can have now that he’s an actual dog, hanging out with his best buddy in their backyard!
But things quickly get complicated. Enter Gumbo, the snotty, snarky neighborhood cat, who insists on jaunting Felix and Puppins with superiority jabs. Gumbo might be easy to ignore if he didn’t turn out to possess the secret to Felix turning back into a boy again—at least, before his grandmother begins to worry about his whereabouts.
The beauty here lies in Kelly’s pitch-perfect delivery: short chapters with nary an excess word, laugh-out-loud banter, and a story that builds in suspense and comes through with a satisfying ending that also leaves us hungry for more. Did I mention the adorable spot illustrations that break up the text on nearly every page? At a time when kids are struggling with the stamina of reading, these are exactly the type of fun, accessible stories we need more of!
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