Read-Aloud Books for 5-Year-Old Children

I was happy to receive a question about read-aloud books for 5-year-old children. My first inclination was to recommend chapter books, but thankfully I took some time to think. I thought about the chapter books that I read to my two oldest daughters, starting around age five and six. Although the girls enjoyed listening to the stories, they remember none of them. They do remember the picture books that I read to them. I thought about the books that my husband reads to our children at night.  Our older children like listening to them. Sometimes, the younger children like to stay and listen, too, but other times, I sneak away with my little ones and read them picture books.

What stories have my five-year-old children enjoyed hearing?

In addition to the various picture books mentioned on this page and elsewhere on my blog, some of the books that my five-year-old children have enjoyed listening to are:

Barry: The Bravest Saint Bernard by Lynn Hall

Billy And Blaze: A Boy And His Horse by C.W. Anderson and the other books in this series.

Devotional Stories for Little Folks and by Nancy Nicholson

George Washington and the other picture books in this series by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire.

Happy Times in Noisy Village and other books in this series by Astrid Lindgren.

The Little Caterpillar That Finds Jesus: A Parable of the Eucharist and some of the other Precious Life books by Susan A. Brindle, Joan A. Bell, and Miriam A. Lademan

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Paddington Treasury by Michael Bond

Pooh Library original 4-volume set This set by A.A. Milne includes Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, and Now We are Six.

Treasure Box books edited by the Maryknoll Sisters (a series of picture books)

In addition to reading picture books to my younger children at night, I also try to read to them each morning. When I do so, I have noticed that my older children will invariably stop what they are doing and listen to th story. Some of them will even come and stand or sit close to me, so that they can see the pictures. While I definitely think that chapter books should be read aloud and I appreciate listening to my husband read them to our children, I am enjoying reading picture books with my younger (and older) children. I know that there will be plenty of time to  read books like these to my little ones. Picture books tend to lend themselves to cuddling up and reading together, fostering an early enjoyment of reading that will most likely continue as the children grow.