Cynthia Rylant is totally awesome for this age, though--she has some really sweet early chapter books that are gentle as could be but not dumb.
There are a few Puppy Mudge (level 1, or maybe pre-level 1) books, too, for kids who are just starting out.
DD is started to level out of Rylant's books, and I think I will miss Henry and Mudge and Mr. Putter.
Arnold Lobel has some wonderful books: the Frog and Toad series is my favorite, but we also enjoyed "Fables" and many of his others.
When DD was 4, she had a hard time listening to regular chapter books for some reason. The first chapter book she really got into, when she was 5, was "Beezus and Ramona" (in which Ramona is 4yo). After that we read through several more Ramona books, then went on to the first few books of the Little House on the Prairie series.
Dr. Seuss is always good, and can lead to conversations about characters and feelings and morals.
