Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks. – Dr. Seuss

For lots of parents, there’s a stage when their children are learning to read that requires gritted teeth and plenty of enthusiasm, when we try our hardest not to say things like: ‘But we sounded out this word fifteen seconds ago!’ Once that stage is over, which varies hugely from child to child, you need a good supply of books that appeal to different interests and gradually move them onto a new stage of reading without intimidating them.

So here are 5 new books we highly recommend for children from 4-8, with illustrations to show you the level of text per page so you can match it to your child’s ability.

Fly Guy’s Amazing Tricks
(simple + slapstick + highly-illustrated)

Tedd Arnold’s Fly Guy series does a lot of things really well. The story is split into very short chapters, which gets kids used to that concept and makes them feel good (‘I’m reading a chapter book!’). The sentences are also very short, there’s good use of dialogue, and fun with words and sounds. There are full-colour illustrations throughout and great slapstick humour. The biggest success is that each story is really satisfying. In the latest, Fly Guy’s Amazing Tricks, Fly Guy’s owner, Buzz, uses his clever friend to chase away a bully. Although this is a series, you can read them in any order.

Murilla Gorilla and the Hammock Problem
(gentle + humorous + animal kingdom)

Murilla Gorilla has the look and feel of a beautiful picture book (the gorgeous palette and style will appeal to fans of Anna Walker) but it’s presented as a chapter book. Murilla is a charmingly laid-back and slightly hapless detective. Some of the pages are mostly illustrations, while others provide more of a challenge for early readers, but the sentences are simple and short, and the clues to the mystery in Murilla Gorilla and the Hammock Problem are nicely spaced out so that the reader can watch it unfold while they manage the increased level of text. This is a great one for children who are keen on animals.

Pigsticks and Harold and the Tuptown Thief
(humour + friendship + mystery)

This is one of those series (a new one again, only two books in so far) where you can tell that the author had a really good time creating it, and probably made himself laugh quite a lot in the process. Well, they certainly make me laugh. Pigsticks and Harold have a great relationship, a bit like a slightly more grown-up Elephant and Piggie. The main body of the story requires a more solid reading foundation and fluency, but there are also lots of speech bubbles and other text asides, so you can always split the job of reading, taking different parts, which makes for a very rewarding shared experience. The first book in the series is Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey.

The Princess In Black
(superhero + princess + action-packed)

For children who reserve the right to love princesses and unicorns one minute, and monster-busting superheroes the next, this is the start of something beautiful. The reader gets to share Princess Magnolia’s secret: that she transforms, along with her unicorn Frimplepants, into a brave duo. In this first adventure, they save goats from being eaten by the hollering, bumbling monsters of neighbouring Monster Land. Sweet and daft with kitschy illustrations.

The Cleo Stories
(creative + cozy + familiar)

From one of my favourite author-illustrator teams in Australia, Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood, this very appealing hardback contains two stories that introduce us to a creative young girl named Cleo. The stories take place in a down-to-earth family setting or at school, and although they have an old-fashioned feel the detail shows us that these are here-and-now, Australian stories.

Also try (in order of reading level, from easiest to more challenging):

• Squishy McFluff: Supermarket Sweep
• The Not So Little Princess: Best Friends!
• Lucky Thamu
• The Royal Babysitters
• Regal Beagle

Browse our collection for more ideas.