Favorite Chapter Books for Reluctant Readers

When I get a student for reading during their 3rd or 4th grade year, it has been a common experience for them to be hesitant towards a chapter book.  I start them out really slow.  My favorite one to begin with is The Big Bad Wolf and Me by Delphine Perret.

The book is written in comic book fashion with chapters in it.  The size of the book is large like a picture book however.  At first glance, my students don't believe me that it's a chapter book.  When they open it and see "Chapter 1", they smile.

The story is wonderful and requires some inferring skills.  The boy takes in a big bad wolf that has lost his scary characteristics and decides to retrain him. The very last page allows you to talk in depth about the perception of others in the book and that of the main character.  I haven't had a kid dislike the book yet!

My other favorite book has been Esio Trot.  It's an easy read and just plain silly.  A lot of my female students have loved reading it.  Because there are illustrations in this chapter book, the amount of pages don't seem to overwhelm them as much.  I am so thankful for Roald Dahl for that very reason!

The last title I wanted to share is a Pirate School by Mark Dubowski.  Another short "chapter" book with pictures.  I like to ease them into this whole chapter book world and then we start in with books that have less and less pictures.  This book is plain old fun and silly.  The rules for school are super funny too.

If you have an older student (like a 6th -8th grader) who struggles with chapter books, try reading my post about ripped books.

I asked some of my teacher and tutor friends what books they have loved over the years.  I decided to use my InLinkz tool to help me organize all of them.  Each link takes you to Amazon, but you can look for all of these books at your local library.  Do you have a favorite book?  Go ahead and link it up below.  You can link directly from Amazon or your library.