Once my daughters could comfortably read words with Magic E, they were ready to move beyond early decodable books.

Several publishers make leveled readers. My favorite was HarperCollins' I Can Read! series, but the best books are the ones your child is excited to read. Penguin's Step Into Reading series also has lots of familiar characters, like Disney Princesses and Marvel superheroes, and some kids really love that.

At first I wrongly assumed that every Level 1 book was about the same difficulty…But they aren't. Two Level 1 books can be very different. Luckily, I Can Read! books also include a Guided Reading Level on the back. If one book is Level D and another is Level F, you know the Level D book is easier. 

When my daughter finished a book comfortably, I'd remember its Guided Reading Level and look for the next one that was only a step or two harder. That kept reading challenging without becoming frustrating.

These books also introduced us to many new phonics patterns.

We gradually learned patterns like:

• WH

• CK

• NG

• CH

• SH

• QU

• IGH

• AR

• OW / OU

Whenever we came across a new pattern she didn't know yet, we'd bring out the phonics cards and the whiteboard. We'd practice it for a few minutes, then go right back to the story.

Around this stage, reading can suddenly feel much more complicated.

Your child may now be trying to remember:

• CH

• SH

• TH

• CK

• QU

• long vowel patterns

• Magic E

• sight words

That's a lot!

If my daughters forgot a pattern, I never took it as a sign that they weren't learning.

It just told me they needed more opportunities to practice.

I'd remind them of the pattern, help them sound out the word, and we'd keep reading.

Over time, those reminders became less and less necessary.

We also spent a lot of time reading “My First” and “Level 1” readers from the library.

Looking back, I think we stayed at this stage longer than almost any other. We read lots of level 1 books, and I never worried about moving on quickly.

Those books gave my daughters the repetition they needed to become confident, fluent readers.

And we also kept practicing common sight words. The more words my daughters recognized instantly, the less mental energy they had to spend sounding everything out. That made reading feel smoother and let them focus more on enjoying the story.

If we ever did pick a book that turned out to be too difficult, we simply chose an easier one next time. There was no harm done. Reading isn't about getting to harder books as quickly as possible. It's about building enough confidence so each new challenge feels exciting rather than overwhelming.

Leveled readers start with "My First" or "Level 1," but they gradually grow more challenging until you reach Level 4, which is described as "the perfect bridge to chapter books."

A Level 4 reader is basically a short chapter book. It still has plenty of pictures, and the vocabulary is generally simple, but the text includes some more challenging words and the chapters are a few pages long. Compared to anything else your child has read at this point, it may feel like a big jump. There are more words on each page, and the books themselves are longer.

Just like before, it's okay if your child doesn't finish the book in one sitting. Do what feels right. If they're starting to lose focus, tell them they did great and that you'll pick up where you left off next time. As always, the goal is to end with them feeling good about their abilities.

There aren't many Level 4 readers out there, but you don't need many. These books are meant to be a transition. Once your child can comfortably read a few of them, they're probably ready to try their first early chapter book.

Once my daughter could comfortably read Level 4 readers, I knew she was ready to try her first chapter book.

Picking Out Their First Chapter Books

Not all chapter books are equally difficult. There's a huge difference between an early chapter book written for a brand-new independent reader and a longer chapter book written for an older child.

For those first books, I looked for a few things:

• Short chapters

• Plenty of pictures

• Larger text with plenty of space on the page

• Simple vocabulary and sentences

• Most importantly, a story she was excited to read

I also learned not to pay too much attention to the number of pages. A 70-page book with large text, lots of illustrations, and short chapters can be much easier than a shorter book with dense pages and difficult vocabulary.

Reading Their First Chapter Book

Moving to chapter books was a big milestone, but I didn't suddenly change the way I supported my daughter.

We still read together. If she came across a word she couldn't figure out, I helped her sound it out. If she forgot a phonics pattern, I reminded her. And if she was getting tired, we stopped and picked the book back up another day.

I definitely didn't expect her to finish a whole chapter book in one sitting. Sometimes we only read one chapter. Sometimes we stopped in the middle of one. The book might take us several days to finish, and that was completely fine.

What mattered was that she was doing more and more of the reading herself.

And something really exciting started happening around this stage. As reading became easier, she needed me less. Eventually, she didn't always wait for our reading lessons anymore. She would pick up a book and start reading because she wanted to know what happened next.

But reading that first chapter book wasn't the end of the process. She still needed lots of practice before longer, more text-heavy books started to feel easy. Just like with leveled readers, we didn't rush ahead to harder books. We spent a lot of time reading books around the same difficulty while she built her fluency and confidence.

Once my daughter could read her first chapter books, I didn't immediately start looking for much harder books. Just like when she was learning to read leveled readers, she needed lots of practice at this new level.

We read many chapter books that were around the same difficulty. With every book, she was getting more comfortable reading longer sections of text, following a story across multiple chapters, and figuring out unfamiliar words on her own.

At this stage, finding books she actually wanted to read became especially important. There were plenty of books that were at exactly the right reading level that she simply didn't like. Sometimes we'd start one and she'd lose interest. I didn't make a big deal out of it. We'd put that book down and try something else.

This was also when my daughter started discovering her own taste in books. Now that she had so many more books available to her, she was figuring out what kinds of stories and characters she actually enjoyed.

And I learned pretty quickly that finding the right book wasn't only about reading level. My daughter was reading chapter books at a young age, and she was still bringing a five-year-old's perspective to the stories she read.

For example, she loved Stella & Marigold by Annie Barrows, but didn't like the Ivy + Bean series by the same author. She didn't like when the friends were mean to each other or when the characters did things they weren't supposed to do. The books weren't too difficult for her to read. She simply didn't enjoy the stories.

If your child is reading chapter books early, it's important to think about the content of the stories from their perspective. Just because they can read a book doesn't necessarily mean it's a good fit for them yet.

Will they find the story scary or upsetting? Does it deal with things like bullying or friendship drama that might be written with an older child in mind? Are there parts of the story they might not understand yet, or simply won't relate to?

If you're a parent trying to support a struggling older reader, you may be facing the opposite problem. You need books that are easy enough for your child to read successfully, but that will still hold their interest and don't feel too “baby-ish.”

Either way, reading level is only part of the equation. You also need to think about your child's age, their interests, and what kinds of stories they actually want to read.

This is also a great time to make more trips to the library. As my daughter became a stronger reader, I noticed she wasn't as interested in reading the same books over and over again. She was looking for novelty. She might read a book a couple of times, but then she was ready for something new.

The library was perfect for this stage. We could try lots of different books, authors, and series without worrying about whether she'd love every one. If she didn't connect with a book, it wasn't a big deal. We'd return it and try something else.

I also became much more selective about which books I bought. I usually waited until I knew she loved a particular book or series and would want to read it again. We used the library to explore, and bought the books we knew were worth having at home.

At this stage, I wanted my daughter to read a lot, and the easiest way to make that happen was to help her find books she genuinely enjoyed. If she connected with a series, even better. Suddenly, we had several more books at about the right difficulty that she was already excited to try.

Gradually, she became comfortable with books that had more text and fewer pictures. But I never felt like we needed to rush toward harder books. If she was happily reading chapter books on her own, all of that reading was helping her become a stronger, more confident reader.