Chapter Books that Pair Well with Five in A Row Volume 1

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