Good Learn How to Read Books..

Hi J., I baught my daughter BOB books, each box comes with about 10 books and the boxes are divided into skill level, they are great for new readers and helped my daughter to read. I baught them at barnes and nobles, but you could also get them online,.
Good Luck, Raena

I'm a first grade teacher. Some of the books in my classroom include...

Authors:
Jan Brett
Eric Carle
Dr. Seuss
Leo Lionni
Kevin Henkes
Shel Silverstein

Series:
Clifford
Franklin
Berenstain Bears
Curious George
Magic School Bus

Song books

Poetry

Non-fiction topics:
land & ocean animals
dinosaurs
planets
weather
plants

In the end, any book that gets your child interested in books is a good one but "easy readers" and "picture books" (as opposed to chapter books) will be the best place to start your early reader off. Ask your librarian to point you in the right direction. Alternatively, ask your child's first grade teacher for a few recommendations. Good luck!

J., how much does your son already read? What is he interested in? That should be your guide for what books to get from the library.

When my son was a young pre-reader (reading pictures, not words in books) we sat together and read as much as I could - at least a few books everyday. We read a lot of Dr Seuss type books (Go Dog, Go! is not by Dr Seuss but is like it. Others were ABC and Green Eggs & Ham, Cat in the Hat, etc. Also Where The Wild Things Are, Max and Ruby books, (a lot of board books at this age, maybe your son still enjoys them or maybe he is a little past that) Berenstain Bears books are popular (and often teach a good story as well, so I love them as well) Clifford, and so many others.

Anyway, one thing I think that really helped him get started reading on his own is when we read together, after the story was familiar to him, I would pick out a word or name (something that is distinctive and easy to pick out at first. zoo or Max were good starter words, dog is a little harder until they know their letters really well. Anyway so we'd read (for example, Put Me In The Zoo, and pick out the word zoo) and I'd show him that word and tell him it was his word to read (this was all a game, not a quiz or you gotta do this type thing) and then we'd read and I'd point to the words as I read then when I came to "his" word (zoo in this example) then I paused until he "read" it and he enjoyed it.

Start easy (ie, just reading together) then add on (I started pointing to the words as we read since I wanted him to know that the black squiggles were words, where the story came from) and when he understands, move on (I started having him read one word that appeared often in the story and was easy to see/find/recognize) then moved on when it became easy to longer words/phrases (ie, Little Red Riding Hood was "his word" to read) then we move on to him reading a sentence or page then me reading a sentence/page in the easy books that were familiar to him, then on to books with more than several sentences on the page. Now he read chapter books on his own all the time (he is 7)

J., I would be happy to give you some more specific book suggestions when I know what his reading level is. I love to go to the library and I found a section there that has "easy reader" or "beginning reader" books (they are labeled level 1, 2, 3) and start with 1 if that's where your son is at. Check out a variety of books, some easier than the level he is at and some that are at his level to slightly challenge him. (Goal is not to overwhelm him and make him not enjoy reading. We adults enjoy reading books like Twilight and Harry Potter, etc that are middle school age level, so of course kids enjoy easy reading where it doesnt strain their brains. Still, give them some challenging interesting books too!)

I don't really know the level your child is reading at, but I usually suggest rhyming books like Dr. Seuss collection and then move on to Clifford, Arthur and Franklin collections. At this age, kids love science books, too. Have your son pick his set of books and have him read it to you to figure out which ones he can read independently and which ones you need to read to him. Good Luck!

One of my son's favorite authors in first grade was Cynthia Rylant. She wrote the Henry and Mudge series as well as Poppleton books. Here is a link to a website about her and her work. http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/authorsillustrato/a/cy...

Her books are interesting and fun to read.

I work in a first grade classroom part time and I can tell you there is a very wide range of reading abilities in that group. Your son's teacher will be able to tell you exactly which books are just right for his level, so she is your best resource.
On a personal note, my first grade favorites are Dr. Suess, Frog and Toad and the Little Bear books :)

On top of my list is books relating to something the child is interested in. For one of my boys who doesn't like reading, it's Star Wars, but maybe yours likes dinosaurs or sharks...Think about this and then take him to the library to look for his interests, and browse around.