This year I am hoping to add some more read-aloud time to our homeschool day. Up until now, with toddlers and babies in the room, it has been fairly impossible. But then last semester I discovered that by printing out a few coloring sheets or pulling out the play doh I could distract the toddlers just enough to maybe get a chapter or two in a day. I hope that remains true. I decided to put together a list of chapter books that would pair well with the various picture books in our Five in a Row curriculum. It was a little bit tricky because 1) they had to be short enough that I could plausibly read them in a week and 2) appropriate for a K-2 audience (with some toddlers mixed in). I thought it might be helpful to share these with you. Today I'm featuring Volume 1 books. Come back later this week for Volumes 2 and 3. *I have not actually read every book on this list, but I did read the reviews for age-appropriateness and I was helped immensely by recommendations people have shared on the Five in a Row forums. ** I have included a few books that are longer. These are usually classics that were just too good to miss. Listening to these books on audiobook would be a great option. I have also included some books that are Easy Readers. I marked those with (ER). I have had success using these as read-alouds for very young children, or you could have an older child in the family read them. Five in a Row Volume 1 The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese Little Pear by Eleanor Frances Lattimore Bird Boy by Elizabeth Starr Hill The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin Lentil by Robert McCloskey Homer Price by Robert McCloskey Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans The Family Under the Bridge by Nathalie Savage Carlson Charlotte in Paris by Joan McPhail Knight A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills Happy Little Family (Fairchild Family Series) by Rebecca Caudill The Rackety-Packety House by Frances Hodgson Burnett Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson George Washington Carver: Man’s Slave Becomes God’s Scientist by David Collins Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner (ER) Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne Maestro Classics: Mike Mulligan (this is a CD that combines music and commentary. Excellent!) 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provensen The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation by Quentin Reynolds The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois First Flight: The Story of Tom Tate and the Wright Brothers by George Shea (ER) How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman Alvin Fernald, Foreign Trader by Clifford B. Hicks Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say The Ink-keeper’s Apprentice by Allen Say The Old Man Mad about Drawing by Francois Place The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dagliesh Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen Another Celebrated Dancing Bear by Gladys Scheffrin-Falk Paddington at Work by Michael Bond The House on Walenska St. by Charlotte Herman Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley Catwings by Ursula K. LeGuin The Cats in the Doll Shop by Yona Zeldis McDonough Very Last First Time by Jan Andrews The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola Who was Leonardo da Vinci? By Roberta Edwards The Door in the Wall by Marguerite De Angeli Looking for Home by Arleta Richardson What a Year by Tomie dePaola Storm in the Night by Mary Stoltz Go Fish by Mary Stolz Stealing Home by Mary Stolz Coco Grimes by Mary Stolz Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton Schoolhouse in the Parlor by Rebecca Caudill Anna, Grandpa and the Big Storm by Carla Stevens The Snow Walker by Margaret and Charles Wetterer Night of the Moonjellies by Mark Shasha Seabird by Holling C. Hollins Pagoo by Holling C. Hollins Welcome to the Grand View, Hannah by Mindy Warshaw Skolsky Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (with illustrations by Susan Jeffers) Swinger of Birches: Poems of Robert Frost for Young People Robert Frost: America’s Poet by Doris Faber