What are your 7/8 yr old DD's reading?

[parias1126]

I would love any reading suggestions for my DD8. We aren't using a curriculum this year with required reading as we did last year. I have just pieced together my own things. I need a few more books to add to our reading collection this year. At the moment, she is reading Prairie School and is doing well with it (she still struggles at times). The only series I have found that she loves is Billy and Blaze.

 

I would love other series suggestions or just anything really to get us through the end of the year (I am working on planning the whole year in advance).

[Whereneverever]

My DD is 6. ;) Right now she's reading Mathilda. Next she is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She just finished Charlotte's Web.

 

She reads a lot of the non-fiction Magic Treehouse guides. We also have and really like Mary Pope Osborne's retelling of the Odyssey.

[Alphabetika]

Betsy-Tacy!

[cheryl h]

American Girls are a hit here with dd7.

[Laurel]

7 yo just finished reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. She has started reading the Little House series. She LOVES Roald Dahl and has read almost all of his children's books. She liked the Ramona books too. Pippi Longstocking was a big hit here as well.

 

You might look at Sonlight's Readers 2 or Readers 2 Advanced for some more ideas. She enjoyed most of those books as well.

[MelanieM]

Some high interest series' you might look into:

 

Rainbow Fairies

Magic Treehouse

Amelia Bedelia

Little Bear

Frog and Toad

Flower Fairies

Geronimo Stilton

Disney Fairies

Edited September 19, 2010 by MelanieM
didn't pay close enough attention past the thread title, so original post not especially helpful

[parias1126]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

[IsabelC]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

 

I don't think you need to be worried, as long as your girl is making progress. I think the above suggestions are for more advanced than average readers. My 7yo son is reading Spiderwick Chronicles and finding that quite challenging, yet last time I tested he is a year ahead of his grade level for reading. I have concluded that average on this forum is probably at least 2-3 years ahead of average for normal (schooled) children. (Eg Harry Potter is for readers aged 9-12 or 9-13 according to many lists, but here it seems to be read by the 4-8 year old crowd.)

[Disney Dreaming]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

 

 

I was thinking the same thing about my dd after reading this. I am having dd read the leveled readers. She could probably go a little higher but she doesn't like reading, so I have her read for 20 minutes with easy readers. I have checked out a Rainbow Magic book for her that I plan on starting this weekend, I am interested in how she does with it.

[Guest TheBugsMom]

Junie B Jones

The Littles

Box Car Children

Mercy Watson

 

If these are too hard try:

Nate the Great series

Cam Jansen

[khall]

The only series I have found that she loves is Billy and Blaze.

 

I would love other series suggestions or just anything really to get us through the end of the year (I am working on planning the whole year in advance).

 

My daughter turned 8 this summer, and loves the Billy and Blaze series also, and it was just the right reading level for her during most of the year....so don't feel like your daughter is behind after some of the suggestions you've just received! Try the Amelia Bedelia series, they're funny, and are a good start with chapter books. My daughter also liked the Sneaky Pony series (try amazon for these...titles like "Keeker and the Sneaky Pony"). A more advanced series to plan for later in the year might be the books about the Littles. Look at the reading lists for Sonlight and we found that we were able to move through most of the regular 2 readers this year.

[abbeyej]

Some ideas she might enjoy:

The Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. They may be a little challenging, but shouldn't be too much. And Ramona's antics tend to connect with little girls in a delightful way.

 

B is for Betsy and all of the other Betsy and Eddie books by Carolyn Haywood. These are very sweet and old-fashioned. The children are kind, the parents are involved, but lots of funny episodes.

 

The first few Boxcar Children books are good for this level. The first one is really delightful. The next ones are mysteries. I find them repetitive after a very few, but it's worth it to read the first, and if she enjoys it, perhaps she'll be motivated to read some of the sequels.

[parias1126]

My daughter turned 8 this summer, and loves the Billy and Blaze series also, and it was just the right reading level for her during most of the year....so don't feel like your daughter is behind after some of the suggestions you've just received! Try the Amelia Bedelia series, they're funny, and are a good start with chapter books. My daughter also liked the Sneaky Pony series (try amazon for these...titles like "Keeker and the Sneaky Pony"). A more advanced series to plan for later in the year might be the books about the Littles. Look at the reading lists for Sonlight and we found that we were able to move through most of the regular 2 readers this year.

 

 

I bought some of the Sneaky Pony books over the Summer and they are now sitting on the shelf because the chapter books just have too much reading on one page for her. We will hopefully be able to pull the out soon.

[Crimson Wife]

I bought some of the Sneaky Pony books over the Summer and they are now sitting on the shelf because the chapter books just have too much reading on one page for her. We will hopefully be able to pull the out soon.

 

Try using an index card to cover up everything but the line being read. That really helps with kids who get intimidated by the amount of words on the page.

 

Another option is alternating reading pages with you. She reads the even numbered pages and you read the odd.

[Jen+4dc]

Ds8 read a lot of the Thornton Burgess animals books (The Adventures of Billy Possum, The Adventures of Old Man Coyote, etc.) and loved them.

 

He loved Ramona Quimby but I nixed those after a couple because she's a disrespectful little snot and he mimics her behavior much too easily (same goes for Junie B. Jones-she's worse!!).

 

Henry Huggins and The Mouse and the Motorcyle (also Beverly Cleary) are wonderful and don't have the same snarkiness that Ramona does.

 

Amelia Bedelia is a ton of fun!:)

 

Right now we're reading The Whipping Boy and he's enjoying that.

 

We just finished the Great Illustrated Classics version of King Arthur (to go with history while olders read Roger Lancelyn Green) and that reading level seemed to be fine. Perhaps you could find some of those at your library. My dd read Heidi and The Secret Garden in Great Illustrated Classics and enjoyed them at that age.

 

I also second the "popcorn" reading idea. It really helped my son to have a short break after each page while I read a page.

 

HTH:D

[shanvan]

she loved reading the Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant. They have short chapters, but not so much print on the page. Then she moved on to reading the Cobblestreet Cousins series, also by Cynthia Rylant. These have longer chapters with slightly more words on the page. I read the first one out loud to her and really enjoyed it. One of the girls writes a poem as an advertisement for the cookie business they are starting and one of the orders they get comes from a very old woman, so they decide not to charge her for the cookies. They are very sweet,fun books. They were great transitional books. After that DD was able to move on to the Ramona books.

 

I recall she also may have read some of the "Get Ready for Chapters" books from our library. I also offered her an incentive. She wanted desperately to read one of the Narnia books, which I felt was too above her. So, I told her she could when she finished the Cobblestreet Cousins books all by herself. They were the first longer chapter books she ever read.

 

Shannon

[Tree House Academy]

My 7 year old is reading the CLP Nature Reader and Sword in the Tree for school. On his own, he is reading "The Name of This Book is Secret" by Pseudononymous Bosch.

[Tree House Academy]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

 

I would not worry about your dd in relation to our suggestions. Each child develops in reading at their own pace. When it finally "clicks" for your dd, she will take off at a lightening pace. My almost 7 year old was reading at a 4th grade level at the end of last year. It "clicked" for him at the beginning of his 1st grade year and he hasn't looked back. I know other children, though, that are just as smart as he is, who can't read well until they are 8 or 9. Each child is different. I would not be worried as long as she is trying and there is progress.

[shanvan]

I would not worry about your dd in relation to our suggestions. Each child develops in reading at their own pace. When it finally "clicks" for your dd, she will take off at a lightening pace. My almost 7 year old was reading at a 4th grade level at the end of last year. It "clicked" for him at the beginning of his 1st grade year and he hasn't looked back. I know other children, though, that are just as smart as he is, who can't read well until they are 8 or 9. Each child is different. I would not be worried as long as she is trying and there is progress.

 

:iagree:I wouldn't be worried at all. I would do (and did) just what you are doing--look for books for her current level and books that will gradually increase in difficulty when she becomes ready for them. It's good to have her keep reading and maybe a gentle incentive to read more, but no real pressure. Make it fun. Read with her sometimes, and have her read on her own at other times. Read the slightly more difficult books out loud and let her read just small portions to show her that she can do it. I used to have a special snack or hot cocoa ready for DD's independent reading time. With DS he took off reading very early, but my DD took so much longer I began to worry. But the 'click' did happen. You can almost hear it when it does!

 

Shannon

[Holly]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

 

Your DD is right where mine is...so I really hope you don't need to worry. ;) I'm more concerned with getting DD to enjoy reading than what level she's reading. We're using HOD this year, I originally bought her the DITHOR level 2 books. I ordered the Emergent Reader set for DS, but when it got here I decided to have DD read it this year (and DS next year). I think she would have been fine with their DITHOR books, but the ER books looked like so much fun. It starts with easy readers, then ends with a few easy chapter books. You could glance at both lists on the HOD website to get some great ideas. We've read books from both lists and they've all been wonderful!

 

ER list: http://heartofdakota.com/emerging-reader.php

Level 2 list: http://heartofdakota.com/drawn-into-optional2.php

Edited September 17, 2010 by Holly

[LaissezFaire]

American Girls

Ramona

Some twaddle (which I am not going to worry about because the twaddle is what really made her take off in reading, even if it's insipid).

 

She just turned 7.

[meet me in paris]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

 

Don't fret! My 8yo was the same way at 7. She's almost 9 now, and still doesn't love to read, but she is reading for school and every now and then will pick up a book on her own. For her school reading right now it's Beverly Cleary, Betsy-Tacy and the like.

 

At 7... she was still doing the Step-Into-Reading / Frog and Toad type books. Veritas Press has two great list of readers at that level - First Favories Collection 2 and More Favorites. We also still read lots of picture books at that age. First Favorites 1 is a super selection.

 

Reading skills tend to come in leaps and spurts, so she may stay where she is for a long while and then something will click. Don't panic... it'll come. :)

[MamaofTwo]

He loved Ramona Quimby but I nixed those after a couple because she's a disrespectful little snot and he mimics her behavior much too easily (same goes for Junie B. Jones-she's worse!!).

 

 

 

:iagree: We had the same issues with Junie B.

 

My daughter is going through the Sonlight 2 Readers and enjoying them. A lot of them are leveled readers.

[mindygz]

My daughter really enjoyed the Rainbow Fairies books last year. The Pony Crazed Princess books are also fun. The Puppy Place books are good, too. Now that she has progressed a bit, she likes Encyclopedia Brown and the Ramona books.

 

Don't stress. Just have her keep reading every day. My dd8 is just now getting to the point where she will do a bit of reading for pleasure (I just introduced her to Calvin & Hobbes:001_smile:), but I definitely saw steady progress this last year with just having her do 20-30 minutes of reading aloud to me every day. Sometimes it was tedious, but I know it made a big impact on her confidence and ability.

 

BabyMouse and Fashion Kitty are comic book/graphic novels that are fun and picture heavy, so they can "read" a lot of pages without taking forever.

[RanchGirl]

I didn't see Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books listed -- they are perfect for that age!

[Beth in SW WA]

Never mind.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Beth in SW WA

[FriedClams]

Mine is a DS, 7, but he's reading through the Poppy series right now and other books by Avi - The Beginning A Muddle and an End, The End of the Beginning. He is a very strong reader and loves to read.

[thowell]

Dd7 is loving The Littles series. She also loves the Can Jansen books! She is a huge fan of the Saddle Club but the books are still a bit above her level. Dd9 is reading The Incredible Journey and Dd11 is reading The Sister Club (yes, I know this is twaddle but it is what she will read and that is what is important right now).

[angela in ohio]

Ok. So after reading some of these suggestions, I realize my DD8 is REALLY a struggling reader! :glare:

 

The Magic Tree House books are still too difficult and so are American Girl!

 

How worried should I be???

 

No, she's not. These threads always go this way. The people who open them to post are the ones who are proud of their dc's reading ability. They have dc reading above grade level. That's not an indication of the average child, just those who are posting in this thread.

 

Because I read all the way through your post ;) I figured out that you are actually looking for recommendations at about the level of Billy & Blaze, not a comparison of reading ability. :D

 

Here are some other books I think she would like:

Amerlia Bedelia

Mr. Putter and Tabby

Commander Toad (my dd adored these books, so funny!)

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain

Flat Stanley

Nate the Great

 

A bit more of a stretch, but soon:

Betsy-Tacy

The Littles

[hsbaby]

I agree, most of the suggestions seem to be for advanced readers. My son is NOT an advanced reader so I look over reading lists (like those at Sonlight) and check out what they suggest for your "average" grade level reader. We use a lot of the books on the list, which are a lot easier than what many poster's children are reading. I don't feel like he is behind....he's right about where he should be (even if he is 7 and reading Frog and Toad!). Check out something like that and you will likely be reassured that your child is not struggling as much as you think!!!:)

[anneinco]

My daughter will be 7 in a couple months and she loves Frog and Toad. She is slowing working through Magic Tree House and has just started Junie B. Jones. She also likes Cam Jansen. Amelia Bedilia is another she loved (still does).

[Embassy]

Check out this book list here. I put it together for my son this year. I've listed lexile levels and grade levels for each book. Prairie School is on my list too!

[WistfulRidge]

Frog and Toad

Little Bear

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Amelia Bedelia

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

The Boxcar Children

[NanceXToo]

At 8 my daughter liked:

 

American Girl

Junie B. Jones

Magic Treehouse

Choose Your Own Adventure Books

A to Z Mysteries

Pippi Longstocking

[parias1126]

No, she's not. These threads always go this way. The people who open them to post are the ones who are proud of their dc's reading ability. They have dc reading above grade level. That's not an indication of the average child, just those who are posting in this thread.

 

Because I read all the way through your post ;) I figured out that you are actually looking for recommendations at about the level of Billy & Blaze, not a comparison of reading ability. :D

 

Here are some other books I think she would like:

Amerlia Bedelia

Mr. Putter and Tabby

Commander Toad (my dd adored these books, so funny!)

The Bears on Hemlock Mountain

Flat Stanley

Nate the Great

 

A bit more of a stretch, but soon:

Betsy-Tacy

The Littles

 

Thank you so much for these suggestions! I am going to look up some of these now. Makes me wish everyone would bother to read a bit further before they post things such as, "My dd just got done reading so and so.... Dd loves to read and reads for four hours a day".

 

What I would do to get my DD to read for 4 hours a day! I wish she loves to read, but that's just not the case. I'm lucky to get 20 minutes out of her a day (other then what's required to be read while doing school).

 

Thanks to all of you that posted suggestions at my DD's level. I placed an Amazon order this morning. And to the poster that reminded me of the Sneaky Pony series....thank you! I had a couple of these and pulled them out yesterday after your post and that's what she is reading this week. She loves them!

[mamalbh]

A few other ideas...

 

I have never enjoyed reading chapter books (novels), and still don't. I lose interest after a couple of minutes. BUT I can read articles and short stories for hours. So, try checking out some kids' magazines from the library. There are also lots of easy to read non-fiction books she could try.

 

Before my oldest was even able to read, I instituted 'book time' at night. She could stay up and look at books as late as she wanted in her room (my oldest dd has insomnia issues, so for your dd you could set a time, like 1/2 hour of book time) During 'book time' she could either look at books or sleep, those were her only two options. This was a TREAT that could be taken away. We've always had an ample supply & wide variety of books (both in reading level & subjects) Now at ages 7 & 8 both my girls greatly value books, and surprise me at how much they enjoy reading non-fiction.

 

For early readers, I much prefer them to read books that are easy and enjoy it, than for them to read books that are too challenging and hate it.

[angela in ohio]

I'm lucky to get 20 minutes out of her a day (other then what's required to be read while doing school).

 

20 minutes a day is a lot. That's a few hours a week of reading. As she gets better with this practice, she will want to read more! :001_smile: