When I was younger I always struggled to find a good easy to read chapter book instead of picture books. These three books are great transitional books for boys and girls who are also struggling to find a good chapter book.

The Miniature World of Marvin and James by Elise Broach and Kelly Murphy is a fictional novel about a young boy, James, who is packing for a  trip. His beetle friend, Marvin, is helping him pack. Marvin is stuck playing with his annoying cousin Elaine and they get into all sorts of trouble. They eventually jump into an electronic pencil sharpener and he is worrying about James. He is afraid James won’t want to be his friend anymore and make a new best friend. The Miniature World of Marvin and James is a great story about a beetle, Marvin, who is anticipating if his human friend James would make new friends while he was on a vacation.

The Junie B. Jones Series by Barbara Park is a comical chapter book about a 6 year old girl who loves to do weird but funny things. On her first day of school, Junie is nervous and scared about the “meanies” on the school bus. When it is time to go home, Junie is so scared of the bus and the “meanies” that she doesn’t go home. When she gets a new brother, her friends are giving her everything they own just to see him. Junie thinks out of all this that maybe she can bring her brother to Pet Day at her school. Junie B. Jones is about a little girl who has a different perspective on the world than others.

The Magic Treehouse Series by Mary Pope Osborne is a historical fiction and fantasy series about two kids, Jack and Annie, who play in a treehouse and whenever they do play there, they always get transported back in time to, for example, the time of the dinosaurs. Jack is the main protagonist of the series and is the brother to Annie. He is pretty timid and always worries about what he and his sister have to do on their missions. Annie is the female main character and the younger sister of Jack. She has a problem with her lungs so in order to breath she has to have a regulator in her mouth.