Books to read aloud

[I was going to post this in Parenting, but realized I'd probably get more suggestions if I posted here.  Mods, feel free to move it if you feel it should be.]

In a nutshell, I'm looking for books to read aloud to my son at night.  He's getting to the age when picture books aren't quite enough (he'll be six in the fall), but he's not quite ready for something as involved as, say, The Hobbit.

Ideally I'd like something not too scary, but I'm having the darndest time coming up with anything save for The Wind In the Willows.

Help!

ETA: Before everyone suggests it, the Harry Potter series isn't an option quite yet.

  When my son was a few years younger, he LOVED when I would read "The Magic Treehouse" series of books to him at night.

Maybe some of the kid-friendly fairy tales (i.e. not the Brothers Grimm versions!), or Aesop's Fables, classic Winnie the Pooh? Just So Stories? I recall having all of those around that age. Also, Shel Silverstein?

I second Shel Silverstein, I always loved him!

When I was about the same age, my dad started reading Greek Myths to me.  I loved them so much he found more books with Myths from all over the world.  (My favorite was one from China) I'll see if I can find them in the house.  (I'd love to read them to Josh when he is older)

We read aloud Charlotte's Web and some of the less scary Roland Dahl - James and the Giant Peach the BFG, etc.

I also loved to read the "Ramona" books by Beverly Cleary. They were my favorite as a child and he loved them almost as much as I did.

  When my son was a few years younger, he LOVED when I would read "The Magic Treehouse" series of books to him at night.

Excellent suggestion!  He's a bit of a non-fiction lover, so I think he'll like the history bent they have.

Maybe some of the kid-friendly fairy tales (i.e. not the Brothers Grimm versions!), or Aesop's Fables, classic Winnie the Pooh? Just So Stories? I recall having all of those around that age. Also, Shel Silverstein?

Winnie-the-Pooh is one I already have - thanks for reminding me.

When I was about the same age, my dad started reading Greek Myths to me.  I loved them so much he found more books with Myths from all over the world.  (My favorite was one from China) I'll see if I can find them in the house.  (I'd love to read them to Josh when he is older)

OMG.  Myths are the best idea.  I'm a bit of a geek about them, especially the Norse ones (which I'll... ahem... postpone for a few years).  Although he's probably a bit young to appreciate Edith Hamilton, huh?

I also loved to read the "Ramona" books by Beverly Cleary. They were my favorite as a child and he loved them almost as much as I did.

To this day I can't hear the "Star Spangled Banner" without hearing "the dawnzer lee light".

Also, "NOSMO KING"! 

This is the Greek Myth book that James read aloud to the girls.  It's pretty good.



I'll see if he remembers what they read around that age.  I know they were reading Narnia for years.

I loved Russian fairy tales as a kid and the illustrations in the books were always fascinating.

I'm trying to remember the books I loved hearing my mother read to me. Worzel Gummidge, Swallows and Amazons, Five Children and It, The Borrowers, The Tales of Olga da Polga, etc.

My mum and I used to read the Enid Blyton books and series together when I was young; things like Famous Five, The Secret Seven, Magic Faraway Tree, Malory Towers, St. Clare's and Naughtiest Girl (the last three are series set in 1950's girls boarding schools, so might be more suitable for a girl rather than a boy though). I also remember Swallows and Amazons, Anne of Green Gables, Ramona, Five Children and It, The Railway Children, Stig of the Dump, The Borrowers, The Family from One End Street, Ballet Shoes, What Katy Did/What Katy Did Next, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, Paddington Bear, the Milly-Molly-Mandy series, Mary Poppins, Narnia, The Worst Witch series... wow, the more I think about my old childrens' books, the more of them I remember !

I was just coming back to add this:

Paddington Bear

 

More great kids books- "Number The Stars" by Lois Lowry, "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, "Island Of The Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell, "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson. I swear these books changed my life, when I was 9.


Thinking back to all of these is making me so nostalgic!