Reading To Improve: Easy Spanish Chapter Books
Beginning chapter books are an important part of reading in any language. Depending on your goals, there are many ways to use easy Spanish chapter books. You might want to use them to practice your own Spanish reading, or perhaps you’re teaching your child to read in Spanish and need books that are accessible for them.
I’ve found that beginning Spanish chapter books have been a great way to help my daughter read longer and more complex books in Spanish independently. They are also fun for me to read aloud to her to boost her Spanish listening skills!
Welcome to another post in my “Reading to improve” series! Reading is one of the best ways that I’ve found to increase my fluency in Spanish and help my daughter to learn Spanish. For more posts in this series check out these:
Reading to Improve: Spanish Chapter Books To Read Aloud
Reading to Improve: Beginner Graphic Novels in Spanish
In this article I will go through the ways that we use beginning Spanish chapter books, how to pick books that are a good fit for your learning goals and which Spanish chapter books are our family favorites!
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Table of Contents
What is a beginner chapter book?
There are a lot of times to use beginning Spanish chapter books. Since my daughter is starting to read more complicated texts in Spanish, beginning chapter books have been important for us to have around. So what is a beginning chapter book?
Beginning chapter books often have simple plots that are resolved by the end of the book. They typically have a few, easily described characters and the characters stay constant throughout the story.
When children read easy chapter books, they learn the structure of longer stories without needing to have the stamina for a longer tale.
Also, the lexicon of the book tends to be more basic, with fewer complex sentences and higher vocabulary than that of a traditional chapter book.
When to use beginning Spanish chapter books?
As an adult learner of Spanish, I actually don’t enjoy learning through beginning chapter books. Even though the readability is good for a person who is learning the Spanish language, the text is boring an often repetitive for a teen or adult.
For teens/adults who are learning Spanish and are looking for accessible Spanish texts, I’d recommend starting with graphic novels. You can read more about my reasons and top picks for Spanish graphic novels here!
Easy Spanish chapter books are perfect for kids who are Spanish readers and are working on transitioning from beginning readers to traditional chapter books. Beginning chapter books help them to learn the structure of a more complicated plot and allow them to build up stamina for reading across chapters.
Beginning chapter books in Spanish are also good for families that are learning Spanish as a minority language and are looking for a text to read aloud to their children.
The plot and text is simpler than a traditional chapter book and often includes context clues for learning higher vocabulary and can even include picture support in some of the chapters.
The best easy Spanish chapter books to read
In recent years, there have been more beginner Spanish that have been published. When you’re looking for a good fit book, it’s important to think about a few details.
Do you want a story that you already know in English that has been translated into Spanish or an original story told in Spanish? Are you looking for a story that is a stand alone book or is part of a series?
Here are my top picks for beginning chapter books in Spanish. I hope that you find something that fits your Spanish reading preference and if you have any other suggestions let me know!
La Pandilla de la Ardilla (Series) – “El Superpoder de Rasi”
By Begona Oro
This series is originally written in Spanish by Begona Oro, a Spanish writer from Zaragoza. She has written and translated dozens of books, but her “Rasi” series is our favorite!
Rasi is the name of a squirrel who is featured in each of the books in the series. Though he doesn’t talk, he finds ways to communicate with the group of four kiddos who form “La Pandilla de la Ardilla” (the squirrel club). The club goes on adventures and solves mysteries.
While these stories are not traditional chapter books, in that they aren’t actually split into chapters, they are beginning chapter books because of their reading level and plot structure.
Most of the books have text on about half of the page and the other half includes beautiful full color illustrations. Each story has a relatively simple problem that is resolved by the end of the story. The books vary in page length but most are around 65 pages.
If you’re looking for a cute adventure series that was originally written in Spanish and not translated – this is the series for you!
Billie B Brown (series) – “Billie B es una campeona”
By Sally Rippin
We love the Billie B Brown books and have almost the entire series! These books are written by Sally Rippin, an Australian children’s book author, and have been translated into Spanish.
Each book follows Billie B Brown and her best friend and neighbor, Jack. The two of them have adventures and exciting school days. The series has an order, and while it isn’t hugely important, it does build upon itself a bit so it’s nice to start at the beginning.
The Billie B Brown books are very traditional and great beginning chapter books. Each book actually has two “mini books” or episodes inside, each about 4 chapters long. Each episode is about 45 pages, making the entire book about 90 pages.
I love that the text is a big larger and nicely spaced, and most pages contains mini images to support the story. There is a lot of dialogue which makes the story more accessible to young readers and the reading level isn’t too high.
Billie B is a very relatable character with situations that most 1st/2nd graders can relate to: younger sibling breaking a school project, being afraid of swimming lessons, arguments with friends at school, etc. My daughter and I had so much fun reading these books!
Serie de Enigmas (series) – “El Tesoro de Barbazul”
By Angels Navarro
This series is published by Bambu and has a few different authors. One of the books that we most enjoy is, “El Tesoro de Barbazul” by Angels Navarro, but there are other authors in the series as well. Angels Navarro is a Spanish author who has written several children’s books and often focuses on logic or brain teasers.
The series isn’t connected by characters, but rather by design. Each book contains clues and logic puzzles for the reader to solve as they read along which makes them fun and interactive.
Unlike a traditional chapter book, these books are not split into chapters but follow the same structure of a basic chapter book. Most of the books in this series have around 45 pages and include beautiful color illustrations that are sometimes part of the puzzle to be solved.
Our favorite book in the series, “el Tesoro de Barbazul” follows the pirate Barbazul as he searches for a treasure that is cleverly hidden. As you read you can help him decipher the map, answer the enigmas of creatures blocking the way, and enjoy in his adventure
Princesa de Negro (series)
By Dean Hale and Shannon Hale
Shannon and Dean Hale are from Utah and have written dozens of children’s book series together. “La Princesa de Negra” is our favorite and is a Spanish translation of the English version “The Princess in Black”.
Princess by day and superhero by night, Princess Magnolia alternates between her daily princess duties and fighting monsters by the castle. There are several books in the series though it doesn’t seem to be terribly important that you read them in order as there isn’t a larger plot.
These books are a perfect example beginning chapter books. Each chapter is short (around 7 pages), the text is split up by colorful illustrations making it easier to read, and the books are relatively short, most end around 90 pages.
If you’re looking for a fun and easy read, check out this series!
If you liked this post, check out more of my “Reading to Improve” series here:
Reading to Improve: Spanish Chapter Books To Read Aloud
Reading to Improve: Beginner Graphic Novels in Spanish
Reading easy Spanish chapter books is a great way to improve your child’s Spanish reading skills and stay engaged in Spanish language learning. Have you read any of these series? Leave me a comment!
Happy Learning!
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