Tag chapter books

The book cover shows a young woman walking with an elder; both are wearing winter coats, scarves, and hats. There are four bare trees in the background with snow on the branches, and several buildings in the distance with snow on the roofs.

Winter Reads for Kids

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The picture shows a child in a blue snowsuit with a blue and white striped scarf and mittens walking with a colorful cityscape in the background, with red, peach, and yellow buildings and a lamppost. There are piles of snow on the sidewalk and snowflakes falling from the wintry blue sky above.

by Eliana H.

Winter is here! Are you ready to snuggle up with a seasonal book to share with your child? You can find a few of my favorites for various ages below, and feel free to call or visit any HCLS branch to ask for personalized recommendations. Whatever you choose, we wish you a safe, warm, and joyous winter season. 

For youngest readers (board books): 

A Winter Walk in the City by Cathy Goldberg Fishman 

An unnamed narrator walks through a diverse city, counting objects they see along the way, from one to ten. The items seen show that residents are celebrating a range of holidays spanning the winter season. 

The book cover shows some cartoonish mammals with big eyes - a polar bear, a fox, a chipmunk, and a squirrel - surrounding a snowman against a snowy but sunny backdrop. Another chipmunk is scaling a tree limb above the gathering.

Hooray for Snowy Days! by Susan Kantor 

Cartoonish woodland creatures celebrate many parts of a snow day. Getting ready to go outside, enjoying fun snow activities with friends, and cozying back up at the end of the day are all included. 

To share together (picture books): 

The book cover is a photograph of a blue jay perched on a snowy branch of a bare tree.

Best in Snow by April Pulley Sayre 

Beautiful, detailed photographs showing nature and animals in real snow and ice accompany rhyming text in this appealing volume. Enjoy the opportunity to take a closer look at what might be a familiar experience, while using some terms that you may not usually choose to talk about snow. Bonus snow facts at the end can help answer questions for curious readers! 

The book cover shows a young woman walking with an elder; both are wearing winter coats, scarves, and hats. There are four bare trees in the background with snow on the branches, and several buildings in the distance with snow on the roofs.

Ten Ways to Hear Snow by Cathy Camper 

Lina wakes up to a world transformed by an overnight blizzard blanketing everything in snow. But that won’t stop her from going to help her grandma, Sitti, who has trouble seeing, make grape leaves. On the way Lina notices different sounds associated with the snow. After they make the stuffed grape leaves, she shares them with Sitti, and they find one final way to hear snow together. 

For older readers (chapter books): 

Cornbread & Poppy by Matthew Cordell 

The book cover depicts two mice in winter clothes, seated at a table with a teapot and teacups. They are next to a window that shows a snowy mountain in the distance.

Cornbread and Poppy are best friends, but they are very different. While Cornbread prepared for winter well in advance, Poppy was too busy enjoying other activities. Now winter is here, and Poppy is not ready! Cornbread would never let her go hungry, but he doesn’t have enough for both of them. The two set off on a surprising adventure to find food to last Poppy through the winter. Enjoy colorful illustrations from Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell in this beginning chapter book, a great choice for a family read-aloud as well. 

The cover depicts a child seated at the edge of a body of water, with snowy pine branches extending all around and raindrops falling into the blue-green water. The child wears a red duffle vest and a red bobble hat.

The Sea in Winter by Christine Day 

Maisie Cannon is having a hard time. She has been taking ballet since the age of four, and her studio has been her sanctuary and second home. Now twelve, Maisie is months into hard work at physical therapy after an injury, trying to resume her training and catch up with her friends. As Maisie’s family, of mixed Native American backgrounds, prepares for a midwinter trip to connect with their heritages, Maisie struggles with feelings of frustration and disconnection. Although it lacks a simplified happy-ever-after, Maisie is supported by her family and working to find a path through her struggles at the story’s end. 

Eliana is a Children’s Instructor and Research Specialist at the Elkridge Branch and co-chair of the HCLS Equity Committee. She loves reading, even if she’s slow at it, and especially enjoys helping people find books that make them light up. She also loves being outside and spending time with friends and family (when it’s safe).

Three books propped upright by the bubble wall in the Elkridge Branch children's area: The Yeti Files, Aven Green, and J.D. and the Great Barber Battle

Fun with First Chapter Books

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Three books propped upright by the bubble wall in the Elkridge Branch children's area: The Yeti Files, Aven Green, and J.D. and the Great Barber Battle

by Eliana H.

At least once a week, typically more often, I walk a library guest over to my favorite children’s collection: First Chapter Books. Since you’re not at the Elkridge Branch visiting me in person, welcome to my virtual tour of this great option for young readers. 

A few things might lead us over to First Chapter Books. Maybe someone is asking about their second grader who has progressed past early readers but is still intimidated by the longer texts in Children’s Fiction. Perhaps a grown-up wants their child to read more than only graphic novels. Possibly a young reader is looking for some funny books, and they read quickly, so they want to know there are more book in the series waiting for them. Any of those requests are likely to prompt me to invite you to follow me as we head toward our First Chapter Book collection. 

You may be asking, so what is a First Chapter Book? First Chapter Books are chapter books, as you might have guessed, but they still have illustrations. The collection has a range of levels, but they all contain a bit less dense text than Children’s Fiction, where the rest of our chapter books live. Some have pictures on every page and maybe only a few sentences per page, while others may have a few pages of text before another illustration appears. First Chapter Books are not for a specific age. I’ve suggested the collection for readers throughout elementary grades. While all the books fit within a certain range of reading levels, they are not arranged by difficulty. As with most of our other collections, titles are shelved alphabetically by author name. Most of our First Chapter Books are part of series, so enthusiastic readers can continue to follow the adventures of favorite characters. Many of the books engage your sense of humor, and fantasy and magic are common themes as well. Plenty of options are available for children who want to read stories about kids just like them. 

So the next time you are looking for a fun book that won’t be too taxing for a fairly fluent reader, ask your friendly library staff member where you can find the First Chapter Book collection. If you have a reader between the ages of six and nine in your house who wants to talk about First Chapter Books with others, join me for Paragraph Pals, which meets monthly at the Elkridge Branch. You can register for our next meeting here starting March 2. 

Eliana is a Children’s Research Specialist and Instructor at HCLS Elkridge Branch. She loves reading, even if she’s slow at it, and especially enjoys helping people find books that make them light up. She also loves being outside and spending time with friends and family (when it’s safe).

This illustrated book cover shows two Black children on bicycles, framed by white ghostly pillars and colorful strange plants. The title type is wiggly hand-drawn in a purple to orange fade.

Spooktacular Chapter Books for Kids

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By Jessica L.

This illustrated book cover shows two Black children on bicycles, framed by white ghostly pillars and colorful strange plants. The title type is wiggly hand-drawn in a purple to orange fade.
Ghost Squad cover

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

Claribel Ortega’s debut novel is perfect for middle grade readers who love the paranormal, magic, adventure, and a little mystery. This book celebrates Dominican culture and lore, while also providing beautiful examples of caring adults and loving relationships among families and friends.This book also explores themes of grief, loss, and found family. 

Twelve year old Lucely Luna lives a pretty supernatural life in a haunted house with her father, who gives ghost tours in St. Augustine, Florida. She is surrounded by the spirits of her loved ones who have passed. These spirits, familial fireflies, assume their ghostly human forms to comfort and care for Lucely. Something strange happens to her beloved grandmother’s spirit and Lucely and her best friend, Syd, inadvertently awaken malicious spirits in their efforts to help bring back her grandmother’s spirit. These malevolent spirits not only threaten the existence of Lucely’s fireflies, but desire to drag St. Augustine into the underworld. Lucely, Syd, Syd’s abuela Babette (a real witch), and Babette’s chonky kitty, Chunk, must work together to make everything right once more.

The book cover shows Willa in a green dress with a bear cub at her side in a spooky forest, with dark tree trunks and a purple-twilight background.
Willa of Dark Hollow cover

Willa of Dark Hollow by Robert Beatty

This is the second installment in the Willa of the Wood series by Robert Beatty. However, it’s also a standalone story, so you won’t miss anything if you haven’t read the first book. This story stresses the importance of conserving our natural world and the invaluable relationships we build with family and friends. Themes of found family and the complexity of doing what’s right abound.

Willa is among the last of an ancient Indigenous people of the Great Smoky Mountains, the Faeran. Willa is deeply connected with the forest and the animals with which she can communicate via her Faeran language. Her magical abilities also include camouflage and making trees grow instantly. She is, after all, a young teenage wood witch trained and brought up by her grandmother against the harmful norms of Faeran society. Willa feels helpless against the industrial loggers who continue to destroy the forest in the name of progress. She discovers a dark hollow with strange and beautiful creatures, but the mystery and danger grows as she learns how these dark forces are hunting humans. But are these hunters the right answer to dealing with the loggers as their handiwork endangers her own adoptive family? Can Willa find a way to save her family, the forest, and the animals she loves all by herself?

Other titles and series for kids who enjoy the paranormal and supernatural, fantasy and magic, mystery and adventure: 

Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol by Andres Miedoso
Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Regan Barnhill
The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown
The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix is the first in the Greystone Secrets series
My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O’Hara
The School is Alive! by Jack Chabert is the first in the Eerie Elementary series
The Witches of Benevento by John Bemelmans Marciano
Short & Shivery: 30 Chilling Tales by Robert D. San Souci
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark: Three Books to Chill Your Bones By Alvin Schwartz
That One Spooky Night (Graphic Novel) by Dan Bar-el
Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories by Jeff Kinney
Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

JP has worked for HCLS since 2006. She loves playing with her new orange tabby kittens, Mando & Momo.