3 Fantastic series to start your children on chapter books

The transition from picture books to chapter books can be a daunting one for many parents. When should we start? What should we start with? are common questions around this subject. We all want our children to enjoy reading and I firmly believe that the key to this is to read them quality fiction from as early an age as possible. I began reading chapter books aloud to my children when they were about 4 and  a half years old. And these series are the ones we started with. A series is especially engaging because you always want to read the next book. These series all have in common strong, likeable main characters; emotionally engaging or exciting storylines and high quality writing. My older children have enjoyed reading these themselves at the same time as I am reading them aloud to younger children. Do seek them out. You will enjoy reading them and your children will absolutely love the characters and  be desperate to know what happens next...

The Sophie Stories, by Dick King Smith

Sophie is probably my favourite character in children's literature. She is 4 years old when the series start, and "small, but determined". She is a wonderful character for girls to relate to: confident, funny, adventurous, loyal and determined, and my son liked her too. She absolutely loves animals and her ambition is to become a lady farmer. These books are humorous and heartwarming, with a fabulous and lifelike family dynamic portrayed throughout. A real joy. I am sure Sophie will become a big hit in your household too. A perfect introduction to chapter books.

Sophie's Snail is the first book in the series.

The Anna Hibiscus Stories, by Atinuke are a recent discovery in our family, recommended by a friend here in Kenya and we have spent the last 3 months or so reading them at bedtime with my 4 year old daughter (although my 10 year old daughter and 7 year old son have been hooked too!). We were all very sad when we reached the end of the series. I cannot praise them highly enough and believe they should be read by all children, everywhere. Anna Hibiscus lives with her extended family in a large white house in an African city (while never made explicit, it would seem to be Lagos, Nigeria). Her mother is Canadian and her father is African. The series begins by introducing her family and giving the reader a feel for life in the large white house and then moves through various adventures such as singing for the president, visiting her grandmother in Canada and going to stay in the African village where her grandparents were born. Anna is another strong character that children can relate to and look up to: she is compassionate, friendly, funny and very likeable. 

These books portray Africa so well, and do not shy away from the difficulties of living on the African continent - nothing is picture-book perfect in these stories. The wealth gap in Africa is dealt with in a sensitive and age-appropriate way throughout the series and Anna's compassionate nature comes to the front to help people less fortunate than herself many times. This means that there are many sad moments in the books, and many talking points as you are reading them with your children.

For us living here in Africa the books talk about day to day life and what it is actually like to live here and for African children this is a fantastic series with a heroine who is just like them, someone they can really relate to. There is not much children's literature out there set in modern Africa with African characters, so this series is a real gem. And for children living in the rest of the world these books show them what Africa is really like (not the mud huts, lions and famine view that is so often perpetuated) with all its colour, noise and contrasts. 

Please, please, please find them and read them to your children. You will laugh, you will cry, you will learn about modern Africa and you will absolutely love the little girl that is Anna Hibiscus.

Anna Hibiscus is the first book in the series

The Akimbo Stories by Alexander McCall Smith 

These are also set in Africa and do not need to be read in any particular order. Akimbo lives in a game reserve where his father is a ranger and the series follows him through many adventures trying to protect the wildlife and the habitats he loves so much. Each book focuses on a different animal: lions, baboons, snakes, elephants and crocodiles and they contain a lot of information about each species. They are fast paced and adventurous and there are some scary parts (think snakebite, Ivory poachers etc,) and again, plenty of talking points. My children said that Akimbo and the Snakes was their favourite as they learned the most from this one.

A real plus point to the Akimbo books for me is that they contain a male leading character, as well as being very well written, exciting and appealing for children and enjoyable for grown ups to read aloud. I have really struggled to find another series that is as engaging for my son. There are many books and series out there that appeal to him, with action and adventure and male characters, but the writing is not as good, the plots are formulaic, the characters are 2-dimensional  and they are just not as appealing as an adult to read aloud, or even for him to want to return to again and again (an exception to this is the "How to Train your Dragon" series by Cressida Cowell, but these are not really suitable as first chapter books).We all know that good literature cries out to be re-read and the series' I have mentioned above have all been read and enjoyed many times in our house. I would really appreciate it if you have any recommendations for quality series' that appeal to boys! Please!