First Chapter Books

This is part of an early chapter book series responsible for turning many young children into independent readers.

Isadora Moon is half fairy, half-vampire and each book in the series follows her adventures with friends and family. In this book, Isadora has reached school age and has an important decision to make. Her mum wants her to attend fairy school, and her dad wants to send her to vampire school. Isadora tries out each school, with their very different priorities and curricula, and in the process answers some important questions about her own heritage and identity.

This is a humorous chapter book, with attractive black-and-pink illustrations and a high appeal to modern young readers.

This is part of an award-winning and hugely popular series about a loveable dog called Claude and his hapless companion Sir Bobblysock. These short, colour-illustrated chapter books are perfect for newly independent readers transitioning to chapter books.

In this story, Claude stumbles across a circus and cannot help but inadvertently become the star of the show. This entertaining series is full of slapstick humour and amusing illustrations that hold a high appeal to new readers aged 6-8 looking for a fun, accessible read.

Highly recommended!

There’s a new superhero in town and her name is Kitty! This series features a girl called Kitty and her crew of felines as they embark upon brave rooftop adventures in the moonlight. Illustrated in cool blacks and oranges, these fun-filled mystery adventures with talking cats are likely to be a purrrfectly popular independent reading choice among ages 6-8.

We highly recommend the Marv series, about an ordinary boy who finds that his superhero skills are in very much in need!

The story starts with Marvin as an ordinary school boy. When he finds a superhero suit in the attic, he transforms and is required to put his new superhero powers to the test to stop a super-villain with a giant robot from causing destruction.

The book is packed full of illustrations that accompany the action and the story contains themes of friendship, forgiveness as well as endless determination. It also has humour and a real warmth in the characterisation.

Kate on the Case is an absolutely gorgeous introduction to the mystery genre for young readers. This smaller-than-average chapter book is illustrated and a brilliant choice for readers just getting to grips with chapter books.

Kate is an aspiring reporter, and finds herself embroiled in a mysterious locked-room mystery about a train.

This is a really sweet story, with enough mystery to keep readers excited but nothing too scary. Readers will enjoy the animal and human characters, the moments of humour, the gently unravelling mystery and the unexpected twist in the tale. There’s also a Teachers’ Resource pack to download, that would make this book a great choice for guided reading in Year 3.

These stories are perfect very first chapter books for young readers. The text is larger and wider spaced than most chapter books and the pages are fully colour-illustrated with a bright and bold palette.

Princess Minna is an adventurous, modern princess who is full of life and keen to use her resourcefulness to help whoever is in need along the way. From dealing with dragons to saving a prince in distress, Minna always has an adventure to tackle head on.

Not short of funny moments, this early chapter book series makes for a highly entertaining reading book for children ready to move on from picturebooks to something short and illustrated with multiple chapters.

One for fans of Harriet Muncaster’s Isadora Moon and Sarah MacIntyre’s Grumpycorn, this is the first story in a series of illustrated short chapter books about Princess Pea and her rather un-royal palace pet – Unipiggle! A madcap and muddy adventure with high-energy design in full colour and tips to draw your own Unipiggle too.

If you enjoy an epic quest and love an illustrated early chapter book, this book is for you!

With five loveable, happy heroes, a faun, unicorn, fairy, gnome and mushroom, there is a character for everyone. The book is a visual delight with detailed, colourful illustrations, which are scattered throughout the book, which also includes double page spreads of scenes. There are strong themes of friendship and working together on how to overcome the evil Fungellus before he takes over the Super Happy Magic Forest with his toxic spores. Humour is present throughout the illustrations, writing and speech bubbles, leading to lots of giggling together.

This book is fun to read aloud and is also good for readers starting to read chapter books. In addition to the text, there are speech bubbles from characters all throughout, which are popular with children to read aloud.

Suitable for a class read aloud from Early Years but especially suitable as a class read for KS1, where you can immerse yourself into adventure, silliness and lots of fun! It is part of a series of books, so be prepared to read other adventures by Matty Long. It has also recently been made into a new television series due to its popularity.

In this short, illustrated chapter book, Pedro is an endearing main character. His longing to have an adventure, and the obstacles to achieving that, will strike a chord with many KS1 children. They will be cheering him on, through danger and disappointment, to his enrolment as a fully signed-up member of the Adventuremice team.

Here is a fantastically imaginative addition to the growing bank of illustrated chapter books available to newly independent readers, perfect for fans of Alex T Smith’s Claude books and Harriet Muncaster’s Isadora Moon series.

Anna Dupont arrives at the dilapidated Hotel Flamingo after inheriting it from her Great Aunt Mathilda, who left it to her in her will. Shocked at the state of the “sunniest hotel in town”, Anna is disappointed to see dirty floors, cracked windows, broken doors and layers of old cobwebs.

A determined and optimistic protagonist, Anna decides to restore the hotel to its former glory and sets about the enormous task of cleaning, fixing, planning and hiring. Restoring the reputation of an old hotel is no easy challenge, and soon Anna and the team face a host of challenges, including rival hoteliers, strange dietary requirements from the animal guests and a visit from a hotel inspector. At every step, Anna keeps her focus on teamwork, inclusion and good old hard work and soon the hotel is celebrating the kind of success it deserves.

Imaginative, accessible and a little bit wild, Hotel Flamingo is a fabulous early chapter book that will appeal to readers aged 5-8. 

A fun and easy-to-read book, and a good addition to the Year 2 book corner for enhancement when looking at fantasy creatures or adventure narratives.

Matty Long – known for Super Happy Magic Forest – has an iconic illustrative style that appeals to younger children. The main character Croaky Hopper is funny and the storyline moves quickly. Croaky is different to other frogs and not content to stay home when his dreams of wild adventures are just a leap away – especially when he signs up for Woggle Scouts and ends up on an expedition to find the legendary Sasquatch.

We love the vibrant character of Croaky and his energetic personality will resonate with readers in the age group of the intended audience – his thirst for adventure, his frustration at not being able to bound away and recklessly follow his dreams and his impulsive spirit that causes him to sometimes leap before he thinks. This story sells the benefit of being part of a club or team, and shows how different personalities can achieve their goals in different ways through working together.

The book feels like a chapter book, but the printed format is familiar to those who like picturebooks or early graphic novels. Children enjoy the full-colour illustrations and ease of reading. The text is large and the sentence structure is easy enough for children to understand and read in a short session.

This story from well-loved author-illustrator Nick Sharrat is full of warmth and humour. After a fire at the castle, the King and his cat move to 37, Castle Close where life is very different. Normal tasks like shopping and setting the table for dinner are unfamiliar to someone used to having servants at their beck and call. Fortunately, the king’s loyal cat is close by to lend a hand. A funny book with a wide appeal, especially written for emergent readers.

It’s not easy having a dad who is the greatest superhero in the world. For six days a week, Stanley ‘s dad works hard at saving the planet from disasters and supervillains, but Friday is his day off and that means father-and-son time. But one Friday, Stanley finds himself caught up in some superhero adventures of his own. This exciting adventure story makes a brilliant first chapter book for children who love superheroes!

Captain Firebeard has been destroying beautiful Monkey Skull Island and its inhabitants in his search for lost treasure. Molly Rogers – daughter of the famously fearsome pirate Barbarous Bertha – is not going to stand for Firebeard’s antics any longer and soon embarks upon a pirate rescue mission of her own. A fun, swashbuckling adventure with vibrant illustrations.

This story from Eoin Colfer and Katy Halford is part of Barrington Stoke’s ‘super-readable’ Little Gems series, which are short, illustrated chapter books specifically designed for readers just taking off with independent reading. This one is bags of fun and tells the tale of young Mariella, whose imaginative story champions girls engaging and leading in STEM. Mariella has a passion for inventing and a head brimming full of creative ideas to solve everyday problems, but the only remaining problem is that there are not enough hours in the day and Mariella wishes that she did not have to go to sleep!

Shifty and Sam have exchanged their life of crime as burglars (and not very good ones at that) for a new venture selling homemade cupcakes. Their criminal know-how soon comes into its own when they take it upon themselves to solve mysteries and catch crooks. This chapter book contains three humorous short stories brought to life by Steven Lenton’s cheerful illustrations.

We love the fact that both picturebooks and illustrated short chapter books are available in this series, making it the perfect story series for children crossing the bridge into early chapter books.

Alanna and Austin are at their Aunt Kessie’s art studio and find a magic face painting set that transports them onto a pirate ship and takes them on a grand adventure. As the two see a small ship approaching with two thieving pirates, they take on the task of protecting the New Leaf pirates.

This magical story is so vibrant and full of imagination. It is exactly the kind of story that children with wild imaginations love. This story transports the reader to a whole new  world with something as simple as a magic face-painting set

This book would make a fantastic independent reading book for those just starting out with chapter books and is also perfect for anyone with a vivid imagination or who loves adventure stories.