My youngest (1st grade) is showing an interest in reading. This series always gets good reviews as a good "chapter" book starter. My older kids have read a few of them here and there but they never totally clicked (nothing much clicks with my boys). But #5 seems to be liking this reading stuff (yea!). We read the first three books together, then we decided he could read them on his own. He's basically been reading a book a day. I will usually still grab the book and quickly read it myself (it takes 10-15 minutes, and I find I actually don't mind reading these little stories) and then we "discuss" them (I do want to make sure he understands and can remember what he read. Comprehension has always been a problem with my boys).

These are great little books for kids. Every one has 10 chapters. They build on each other (which also introduces youngsters to the idea of a book series ... #5 has been reading these out of order which drives me CrAZy). Each book introduces the reader to a different time or location. Mostly easy words, although every book has a few challenges (they are almost always given pronunciation and explanations as part of the story though) so they are good learning tools as well as interesting reads.

I won't be putting all the Magic Tree House books I'm reading here *Ü*, but DID want to mention I have been reading them myself, along with my 1st grader.