Okay, I have a 4 year old son & 2 year old son.  I've been reading a lot of your posts talking about how you guys started reading chapter books to your kids at around 4 years old.  I was thinking my son would never sit through a real chapter book yet but I thought what the heck I'll give it a try now that it is summer & we are going to participate in the summer reading program at the library.  So I take my boys to the library & we check out books & the one chapter book I thought I'd start with is Stuart Little.  While my 2 yr. old was napping today I took out Stuart Little for my 4 yr old.  We read chp. 1 & talked about it & I was going to stop there & he asked for another chp. So I read chp. 2, we talked about it & then he asked for another one. Here I was thinking he may not be able to handle a chp. book yet & we've already read 3 chapters!  I am so thrilled!  Thank you all for your posts, you can't imagine what kind of door it has opened for us!  I can't wait to start on the first couple Ramona books next!  Keep your suggestions coming, they are definitely going to good use!

Shayla I actually started reading chapter books to the children as soon as they were able to sit up in the tub without help.  I would perch on the toilet and read while they were playing in the tub. DD still asks me to read to her while she's in the bathtub and she's  6.

I remember reading the Winnie the Pooh books to DD while she was in her swing as well.

Stuart Little is a great one to start with!

Isn't it cool? I'm totally sharing your excitement! DS just asked last night for another chapter instead of our usual one. I think Stuart Little is going to be our next book, it will be fun to read the whole thing to him and then rent the movie (which he hasn't seen).

Alex,

My son has seen the Stuart Little movie 1 & 2 (that is one of the reasons I started w/ that book) and what is great is he can tell me how the movie & book are different.  (I forgot to put that in my first post)  After we finish the book we'll probably check out the 3rd movie & see if he can tell me differences in that one vs. the book also. 

And I guess when I was at work this afternoon my husband walked into the living room to see my son thumbing thru the book & he can't wait until we read another chp.(s) tonight. 

Isn't it so exciting to see our children get excited about READING!!!!!  :)

The very first read aloud I did with my niece at about four or five was Heidi.

After that she found the Shirley Temple movie and was hooked.

Read it again with my daughter and it was just as facinating. I don't remember reading it with my son but I'm not sure why not.

I read lots of chapter books to my son too, he loves to be read aloud to but has a reading disability. I just for the life of me can't remember which ones I do know he was completly entralled with Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder and anything by Matt Christopher becuase they were about sports. Not sure if he got the plot of the story but he loved the portions that involved describing game action as he could totally relate to that.

When my son was younger I would let him play as I read to him. This went on until he became a teenager. He would play with his cars on the floor while I read chapter books to him. I would stop periodically to ask a question or make a comment. Even when they don't look like they are paying attention, they really are!

Find the book "The Read Aloud Handbook" by Jim Trelease. It's a great book with suggestions of how to read to your kids and all the benefits of doing so.

Pat I have Trelease's newest version of that book on my WL & it has been for a long time but it doesn't seem to be moving...I'm thinking I may have to go buy that one.  I have an older version but would LOVE the new one!