My mom worked the library to within an inch of its life, so I do, too. My mom checked out adult travel photo books from around the world, snuggle to a book about Tibet. Try science or social science books that could be for teens or adults. The child will let you know when they're done. (!) And ask your librarian for ideas. On a different day, ask a different librarian.
What about books on tape or CD? They teach amazing things, give you a break. Tacky the Penguin has amazing rhythmic patterns. There are CD's with incredible drama reading African tales, CD's of Latin stories or music, (learn some Spanish), CD's of basic nursery rhymes. Get a used boombox or similar, so your child has the power to choose which books/tapes/CDs to listen to. (You can use in car also.)
AFA chapter books, the Boxcar Children. Collections of myths, Native American tales. Authors: Rosemary Wells (Max series), David McPhail, Lobel. Series: George and Martha, Professor Xargle (funny for adults!). Totally fun: "Humphrey, Albert, and the Flying Machine," and "Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies".
The secret to starting chapter books, think about how many words are on one page of a chapter book, vs how many words in entire "beginning book". More words are on one page of a chapter book. You may need several sittings to get through a chapter book, which is fine. I did 2 books at bedtime, and one of them began to be part of a chapter.
