The Governess Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Dd7's reading volume really took a jump this summer. I brought home a bunch of books for her and am now nearly out. In the last 2 months she has burned through 5 Beverly Cleary books, the first Sisters Grimm book, two Lemony Snicketts, the first Mysterious Benedict Society, and a couple Road Dahl books, plus some others. I have two more waiting for her and then I am out: Ella Enchanted and The Penderwicks. I can always get more of the series books for her but would love to see her branch out as well. Can you recommend some other books at this reading level that are appropriate for a 7 year old? In the past six months she has gone from balking at anything that couldn't be read in one sitting to happily picking up a thick book and sneaking a chapter in multiple times a day. I'm so excited to see her really get into it. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 You might like to look at the books on my Amazon lists. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I'll dig up my reading list for this year when I'm at my computer, but to get you started I liked some of the Sonlight lower core read-alouds, as they are age appropriate but more advanced in reading level. For example, we did Detectives in Togas (core B? I forget) this summer. It's reading level 7.3, but it's in a core meant to be read to 1st-2nd graders. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 How about older books: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm The Little House series 1950-s Nancy Drews, Sue Bartons, Cherie Ames, Bobbsey Twins, etc even older Honey Bunch series Rollerskates Homer Price some Landmark books (others are harder) Coolidge's Odyssey and the Trojan War. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) Anything by these great authors: Eleanor Estes Edward Eager Cornelia Funke E. Nesbit Astrid Lindgren (Children of Happy Village, Emil, Karlson and Pippi) Elizabeth Enright Marguerite Henry Eva Ibbotson Dick King-Smith (dd LOVED the Sophie series at that age) Steig Goudge EB White Joan Aiken (start with Arabel's Raven) Mandy and Last of the Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews The Ordinary Princess by Kaye Chronicles of Narnia Moomintroll series by Jansson Diamond in the Window series by Langton Freddy Goes to Florida etc. by Brooks Poppy series by Avi Bunnicula series by Howe Nurse Matilda The Worst Witch series (had to order set on ebay; awesome, especially for younger readers) The Borrowers series by Norton The Great Good Thing - Townley The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rupp Wizard of Oz Edited October 13, 2011 by lisabees Oops. Wrong author for Diamond in the Window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Ok, here's our reading list this year, and I'll try to stick grade levels there too: Detectives in Togas 7.3 Henry Huggins 4.2 Homer Price 7.3 Mr. Popper's Penguins 4.9 Mrs. Piggle Wiggle 4.5 The Sword in the Tree 2.2 The Minstrel in the Tower 4.8 Follow My Leader 5.1 Caddie Woodlawn 5.3 The Happy Hollisters ?? 101 Dalmations (by Dodie Smith) 6.1 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 5.9 Redwall 7.8 The Phantom Tollbooth 5.4 The Book of Three 5.5 Also, I like to use Scholastic Book Wizard to find comparable books to something my son likes to read. You can also tell to find a book with a higher reading level if it's time to bump her up. ;) We are not doing the above list in order of reading level. In fact, Detectives in Togas was the first book we did. I like to mix it up, having some harder books and some easier books. I also get plenty of history and science readers from the library. A lot of those are reading grade level 3-4, so they're easy and fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Here are a few my dd read last year that I know where favorites: anything by Bulla - especially A Lion to Guard Us Black Beauty anything by Marguerite Henry American Girl series - easy, but there are a lot of them Little House series Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass Nancy Drew - she got into right before she turned 8 last month and she's obsessed I love these threads. I'm also coming up empty with fresh ideas for dd right now.:bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Have you looked at Ambleside Online's reading lists? I get a lot of great ideas from there (try the literature and free reading list at the bottom of this page. http://amblesideonline.org/02bks.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 My DD is 7, as well, and her favorite things to read have been Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, and she's now reading through Lord of the Rings. Would your DD like any of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Here's dd's list of assigned books from the year she was eight (and we were covering early modern history -- so some of the titles relate to that). I don't have a record of all the things she read on her own... Finn Family Moomintroll (series) The Saturdays (Enright -- first of a series) The Moffats (Estes -- series) Shadrach (deJong -- this is a wonderful read-aloud, though my dd didn't enjoy reading it on her own as much) Castaways in Lilliput (good to read a children's retelling of the Lilliput portion of Gulliver's Travels first -- I chose Gulliver in Lilliput by Margaret Hodges) The Sisters Grim (series -- great fun if she has some familiarity with fairy tales) The Wizard of Oz Ramona books (Beverly Cleary -- also her Henry books) Detectives in Togas Anne of Green Gables All of the Harry Potter books The Chronicles of Narnia The Cat Who Went to Heaven The Dragon of Lonely Island A Little Princess The Secret Garden The Tale of Despereaux The Wheel on the School Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks Because of Winn-Dixie Amos Fortune, Free Man Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Caddie Woodlawn A Wrinkle in Time At the Sign of the Sugared Plum The Tarantula in My Purse Homer Price Calico Captive The Witch of Blackbird Pond The Jungle Book Just-So Stories In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson Peter Pan Mr. Revere and I Ben and Me Stowaway (Hesse) Island of the Aunts (and others by Eva Ibbotson -- she also wrote some young adult romances, tame as these are, you'll want to stick to her *children's* books) Ella Enchanted (and others by Gail Carson Levine) The Twenty-One Balloons Swallows and Amazons (series) The Phantom Tollbooth The Cricket in Times Square Fantastic Mr. Fox, Matilda, and others by Roald Dahl Redwall (series) The Penderwicks Five Children and It (series by E. Nesbit -- also Railway Children and others by the same author) Half-Magic (Eager -- inspired in part by E. Nesbit's series above) All-of-a-Kind Family Harriet the Spy Pollyanna Mary Poppins 101 Dalmations The Giants and the Joneses Her Majesty, Grace Jones The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet The Girl Who Could Fly The Borrowers (series) Gregor the Overlander (series) For some additional lists, try: Logos School Elementary Literature List http://logosprincipalspage.com/?cat=37 Great Books Academy curriculum book list http://www.greatbooksacademy.org/curriculum/curriculum-book-list/ Highlands Latin School summer reading list http://thelatinschool.org/summerreading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunriseiz Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 Anything by these great authors: Eleanor Estes Edward Eager Cornelia Funke E. Nesbit Astrid Lindgren (Children of Happy Village, Emil, Karlson and Pippi) Elizabeth Enright Marguerite Henry Eva Ibbotson Dick King-Smith (dd LOVED the Sophie series at that age) Steig Goudge EB White Joan Aiken (start with Arabel's Raven) Mandy and Last of the Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews The Ordinary Princess by Kaye Chronicles of Narnia Moomintroll series by Jansson Diamond in the Window series by Hall Freddy Goes to Florida etc. by Brooks Poppy series by Avi Bunnicula series by Howe Nurse Matilda The Worst Witch series (had to order set on ebay; awesome, especially for younger readers) The Borrowers series by Norton The Great Good Thing - Townley The Dragon of Lonely Island by Rupp Wizard of Oz Awesome list! I would agree with almost all of them and add the Indian in the Cupboard series, the Phantom Tollbooth, and mysteries by Carol Marsh. I think you will find series to be your friend! ETA, dd has also enjoyed many of the Childhood of Famous American biographies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 Thank you, thank you, thank you!! What a great assortment of suggestions. I have already been to Amazon and five titles are now on their way to my house: The Railway Children, Ginger Pye, Five Children and It, Babe: The Gallant Pig, and The Moffats. I also ordered her the next Sister's Grimm. These should keep her busy for at least the next month...right? Abbeyej, your daughter's list is so impressive! That is the kind of reading I am hoping is in my dd's future. :D I remember the days when any book that didn't have pictures or was too long to be read in one sitting would be met with groans and sighs. Now she is tearing through them left and right. I am so glad to no longer be the sole bookworm in this household! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 (edited) When my dd was that age I used TQ (TruthQuest) for history reading. The VP catalog also has very good lists. It sounds like your dd is reading quickly but isn't necessarily moving into more challenging material. What I always tried to do (and still do actually) is to keep a broad variety of books around. You NEVER KNOW what will catch a child's attention. My dd at that age was very into BoxCar Children and would act it out, but she was equally into Swiss Family Robinson (much higher reading level, hehe). Both had an imaginative quality that appealed to her. She would do the same thing with history reading, stretching to reading something more challenging if she really liked it. Kids are funny like that. She'll balk at a lower level book and then engross herself in some adult-level biography. (Right now it's "Ice Maiden" by Reinhard.) It's the genre, the cover, how well it's written, whatever it is that captivates them, kwim? So when she was in 2nd grade I would have books in her basket that spread from say 2nd grade level through 9th. That way she had easy stuff all the way to stretch. Now I pull for her books from say a 5th gr through adult. It's fascinating to watch what she choses. The main thing is to put before them books that are well-written, because it develops their taste for good writing and their ear for the language. Then you're looking for a genre that interests them. (fairy tales, history, humor...) Edited October 14, 2011 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 Dd7 just read The Secret Garden -- which was quite a stretch for her. We took it slow and she did great. We don't read books like The Penderwicks or other 'pop culture' titles. I reserved The Penderwicks to check it out. I looked at it for 2 minutes and gave it back to the librarian -- not due to the reading level. The content, story-line and vocab was unimpressive, imho. Not worth the time nor energy (which is precious around here). Classics/modern classics only here. Just a thought.... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 When my dd was that age I used TQ (TruthQuest) for history reading. The VP catalog also has very good lists. It sounds like your dd is reading quickly but isn't necessarily moving into more challenging material. What I always tried to do (and still do actually) is to keep a broad variety of books around. You NEVER KNOW what will catch a child's attention. My dd at that age was very into BoxCar Children and would act it out, but she was equally into Swiss Family Robinson (much higher reading level, hehe). Both had an imaginative quality that appealed to her. She would do the same thing with history reading, stretching to reading something more challenging if she really liked it. Kids are funny like that. She'll balk at a lower level book and then engross herself in some adult-level biography. (Right now it's "Ice Maiden" by Reinhard.) It's the genre, the cover, how well it's written, whatever it is that captivates them, kwim? So when she was in 2nd grade I would have books in her basket that spread from say 2nd grade level through 9th. That way she had easy stuff all the way to stretch. Now I pull for her books from say a 5th gr through adult. It's fascinating to watch what she choses. The main thing is to put before them books that are well-written, because it develops their taste for good writing and their ear for the language. Then you're looking for a genre that interests them. (fairy tales, history, humor...) So far her favorite genres seem to be fantasy and anything humorous. She loves books with a suspenseful storyline. During the school year, I assign her history reading based on where she is in the cycle. Sometimes I am hesitant to hand her a great higher-level book because I think to myself, "gosh, if she reads this a couple years from now she would get sooo much more out of it." It's like I'm afraid to waste an amazing book by having her read it before she has the maturity to truly get it (above and beyond basic reading comprehension). Maybe I shouldn't be worried about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted October 15, 2011 Author Share Posted October 15, 2011 Dd7 just read The Secret Garden -- which was quite a stretch for her. We took it slow and she did great. We don't read books like The Penderwicks or other 'pop culture' titles. I reserved The Penderwicks to check it out. I looked at it for 2 minutes and gave it back to the librarian -- not due to the reading level. The content, story-line and vocab was unimpressive, imho. Not worth the time nor energy (which is precious around here). Classics/modern classics only here. Just a thought.... :) My own reading is a mix of classics, history, and pop culture titles. So I don't have any problem with her having a mix of titles to choose from. I have been touched by many stories that wouldn't be considered literary masterpieces so I like to leave her options open (to an extent, anyway).We do read a lot of classics around here, but many I reserve for read-alouds so my younger daughter can listen along. We are reading The Wizard of Oz right now and I may get more from the series for her to read on her own. The Secret Garden may be our next read aloud, she was given a beautiful version by a friend for her birthday. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 15, 2011 Share Posted October 15, 2011 My dd rereads her favs, so I've never worried about the "better now or later" thing. Sometimes it happens with historical fiction that she maybe doesn't have enough background to catch what I wanted her to catch. But for regular fiction reading, I just don't worry about it. There are lots of levels to good writing, and they take something different from the writing each time they read. My dd enjoyed the Sam Campbell books at that age. They're nature stories but very funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxbridgeacademy Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Nathanial Fludd: Beastologist 3rd grade level? Mine love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsidian Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 She might like The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. It's fantasy and funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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