Book recommendations for 7 year old girl?#books

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Forum -> Chinuch, Education & Schooling

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newbie

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 12:37 pm

Good evening,

I am looking for reading recommendations for my almost 7 year old daughter. What do your daughters read and like?

gold21

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 1:17 pm

What's the child's reading level?

newbie

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 2:00 pm

She could technically read chapter books but doesn't like them too much, she still wants pictures in the book to look at. She likes comics for example.

perquacky

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 2:14 pm

Look for the Babymouse graphic novels. Really cute.

gold21

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 3:05 pm

newbie wrote:

She could technically read chapter books but doesn't like them too much, she still wants pictures in the book to look at. She likes comics for example.

I think comics are great for kids transitioning into chapter books. They fill that need for a more mature storyline, but with lots of pictures. I researched a bunch of different comic books online that are geared for younger readers until I found a series I felt comfortable with. (It was for a boy though, so it was a series with lots of action and superheros... Probably not something your daughter would go for.)

Besides for that, try the Nate the Great series.

gold21

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 3:17 pm

The Who Would Win series is also very popular with second graders.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 3:25 pm

I love Babymouse! There's a frum series of books that are kind of like American Girl stories. "Penina's Plan", and many others. Just search for that one, and the rest should come up as well. They are not cheap, but they have really sturdy covers. If treated well, they can be passed down for generations. The stories are all about Jewish girls living in different points of history, so you get an extra lesson in there, too. Really high quality writing!

"How Malka Gets Here Sword" is a graphic novel written by a frum guy, and DD loves his books.

For simpler books, we really liked "Messes of Dresses", "Just Right", and "Is it Shabbos Yet?" The "Ladybug Girl" series was a big hit, with lots of cute illustrations. DD read those over and over again, long after she'd outgrown them.

"A Series of Unfortunate Events" was DD's favorite for me to read to her, and I would do different voices for all the characters. With all the action going in, it does a great job of holding her interest.

"The Doll People" is very well written, with gorgeous illustrations. It's about a dollhouse where all the people come alive at night, but they have to lie still in the daylight. As soon as the lights go out, they go on adventures all over the house (where the cat keeps trying to eat them!)

"Stuart Little" is a classic, and so is "The Borrowers"

Read early, and read often, that's my motto! I told DD "I may not always say yes to candy, movies, or toys, but I will never say no to books."

tagelna

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 3:39 pm

The Golly Sisters, Nate the Great, Frog and Toad and Poppleton are all really good mini-chapter books with a ton of pictures. If those get too easy, try My Father's Dragon or some of the Magic Treehouse books

PinkFridge

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 4:39 pm

tagelna wrote:

Great ideas!
There are just soooooo many beautiful picture books out there. If you go to a public library and look in the easy reader section, you'll find smaller-sized books (think of Put Me in the Zoo, a lot of the Dr. Seuss books like Fox in Socks) and those books are generally easy reading, some of them almost scientific in their introduction of words and sounds and limited in vocabulary. (But not all of them, see tagelna's suggestions.) The picture books have broader vocabularies and great stories. At this age, it's absolutely fine. Let her just enjoy reading and don't push her. And don't be surprised if by the end of the year she'll enjoy longer books with fewer pictures.

BTW, about graphic novels, I.e. cartoon books. I'm not crazy about them as a steady diet but they're fine, let her enjoy them. Try to vary her choices, but don't make her feel that you're pushing her into books she's not ready for yet, e.g. Magic Tree House, A-Z mysteries, etc.

12rivkyk34

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 4:51 pm

Short chapter books are great like Amenia bedelia, frog and toad, fancy nancy readers...menucha Fuchs has short chapter books on various topics for this level. The missing tooth is a good short chapter book. You can also try kids speak stories at this time. The Jewish American girl series is higher then this level. More like end of 3rd grade. Regular American girl books may be better geared towards your daughters level.

amother

Papaya

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 5:23 pm

Another cute short chapter book is The 100th Day of School. My kids loved it.

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 5:55 pm

Agree with the Girls Around the World being too high for this level.

The Littles series is great for this stage, IMO. For non-Jewish, just go to the library and find the easy to read type -- e.g. Fancy Nancy, Arthur, etc

Jewish: Menucha Fuchs has an I-love-to-read-club series with books like The Banana Peel Slip-Up and other stories, The Yom Tov Collection, Who is Coming for Shabbos, Our Mitzvah Muscles (and one more, can't remember off hand) -- I think those would work.

There is also the Fun-To-Read books from Hachai, like One of a Kind Yanky; that is perfect. The Stupendous Adventures of Shragi and Shia by Yael Mermelstein, or PJ Pepperjay would also go over fairly well I think.

Last edited by Hashem_Yaazor on Mon, Nov 28 2016, 6:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Royalblue

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 5:55 pm

Great suggestions above. I'll second those my kids loved: Magic Treehouse series, The Borrowers, American Doll books, and the similar Jewish version mentioned above, Penina's sth and other historical books in the series.
The Fancy Nancy books are also fun with great pictures. Another series that really gave my children loads of general knowledge is "The Childhood of Famous Americans." It is blue-covered thin chapter books, each one featuring a great American, such as Abe Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Wright brothers, Abigail Adams, Betsy Ross, and more. I bought like a dozen at a time on Ebay some yrs ago and my kids' teachers are always impressed by how much they know about different periods.

monseymom25

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 6:00 pm

There is a series books about Russell and Elissa by Johanna Hurwitz. They're adorable. If they're too difficult you can read her a chapter a night.

librarygirl

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 6:29 pm

Princess in black series by Shannon hale is a very cute chapter book series with colorful pictures.
Heidi heckelbeck is another adorable easy read chapter book series.
Ff, it's called how mirka got her sword. I think it's too old for op's daughter, but I've always been curious about the author! Clearly is or was frum.

be good

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 6:52 pm

smile with avigayil books are cute, they have very short chapters- not too many words per page, and pictures on just about very page.

gold21

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 8:17 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

I agree.

Let your child enjoy picture books if that's the type of book she appreciates. Don't push the Level M, Level N, etc chapter books on her (Magic Tree House, etc) if she isn't ready yet. I find that many kids are ready for chapter books in second grade, but just as many are not, and only express interest in third grade. Either way is totally and perfectly normal.

musicmom

Mon, Nov 28 2016, 8:35 pm

My daughter (that age) and I are reading Otis Spofford and we just finished Ellen Tebbits. She really likes Beverly Cleary! She also liked Pollyanna and my favorite was Betsy, Tacy and Tib which is a whole series. She also likes the All of a Kind family series. My son and I are reading the Fudge series by Judy Blume which he finds pretty hysterical :-).

PinkFridge

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 6:13 am

More great books. I like HY's post, among others.
OP, I assume your daughter's in second grade? If she's almost 7 in second grade she's at the young end. Give her time.

Hashem_Yaazor

Tue, Nov 29 2016, 4:19 pm

I just want to emphasize the notion that it's not good to push on too high a level on kids, even if others in that grade are reading at that level. The child can come to dislike reading, and I feel it's much, much more important at this age to provide books the child is interested in reading and won't be too challenging to cultivate a love of reading and fluency. They will organically progress to higher levels if they get comfortable. Many kids get turned off or lose the plot of a book because they are trying to read books that are a little overwhelming for them.

It doesn't matter if some second graders (or even if most!) can read, or enjoy reading, certain books or specific series -- what does matter is that the individual child in question can read it well with comprehension and also will want to go and read the book. Love of reading is what will lead to higher levels of literacy as time progresses.

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