Book Recs for a 7 Year Old

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Book Recs for a 7 Year Old

Postby Luet » Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:06 pm

Okay people, I need some help. Not only are you all big readers but some of you are actual librarians.

My niece (who will be 7 next month) is home schooled and I've been reading books with her for awhile. It's been tough lately because her mom is REALLY worried about the swine flu but I'm going to try to keep reading, even if it's over the phone. She can read easy books on her own but I like to pick harder, more engaging, chapter books to read to her. So far we have read James and the Giant Peach and The Trumpet of the Swan. The latter seemed a bit dull but that might have been because it took us so long to get through due to difficulties getting together.

She likes dinosaurs, spongebob, bugs and lizards (of course!). She is definitely more into tomboy type stuff than girly. I was thinking of Cricket in Time Square, only because I like it, but I would love any suggestions you guys have. Thanks!
Last edited by Luet on Tue Jul 06, 2010 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby Gravity Defier » Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:28 pm

Hmm. Some of these might technically be for slightly older kids.

Maybe:

Franny K. Stein
Magic Tree House
Junie B. Jones

I always recommend some Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume.

Oooh, Anne of Green Gables is a fun one (for me, anyway).

From Dahl, have you tried Matilda? I loved that one.


I enjoyed DuPrau's City of Ember.
Sachar's Holes.
Fitzhugh's Harriet The Spy.

I'll see if I can think of anything else.
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Postby Petra456 » Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:39 pm

Peter Pan.
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Postby Young Val » Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:58 pm

Nomi, I adored A CRICKET IN TIMES SQUARE. My mother and I read it aloud when I was about that age. THE SECRET GARDEN is also a great read aloud at that age--lots of mystery!

My favorite read aloud resources online are http://www.readaloudamerica.org/booklist.htm and Jim Trelease: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/ (his handbook is excellent)

As for other book suggestions, I second Roald Dahl's MATILDA (or THE BFG).

Also:

CHARLOTTE'S WEB by E.B White
MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS by Richard & Florence Atwater
Last edited by Young Val on Sat Jul 17, 2010 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby locke » Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:10 pm

at that age I loved:

The boxcar children
Mr. Popper's Penguins
Roald Dahl (I thought it was Ronald Dahl for the longest time, until like college)
Beverly Cleary
Little House books, particularly Farmer Boy and Little House in the Big Woods
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Postby Mich » Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:36 pm

So much nostalgia on this page right now.

When I was 7, let's see... I was reading Encyclopedia Brown. Cricket in Times Square was awesome, as I recall. I think I also read the Giver, but that is a heavy book, as we all know. And Watership Down.

Man, my mom made me read really downer books in second grade.
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Postby zeroguy » Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:11 pm

I think... Stuart Little was around that timeframe? I don't really remember it at all, but I remember I liked it when I was little.
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Postby Luet » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:33 am

Thank you guys SO much. I think I'll start with Cricket in Times Square since I own it, and then maybe Matilda since I have that too. I've never heard of Mr. Poppe'rs Penguins, I'll have to check that out! Thank you so much!
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Postby Jayelle » Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:37 pm

My ideas (as a professional - haha)

Novels (for extended reading) - most of these are series, which can be good to encourage her to seek out the sequels on her own or for more excuses to read together!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (the first one is The Bad Beginning)
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
Hatchet by Gary Paulson

Shorter Books that can be read in one or two sittings:
The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman
Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang by Mordicai Richler
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Postby Gravity Defier » Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:30 pm

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
I'm not done with this one but yes, yes, a hundred times yes. It's hilarious and I'm betting the sequels are pretty good, too.
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Postby BonitoDeMadrid » Fri Nov 20, 2009 1:05 am

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
I'm not done with this one but yes, yes, a hundred times yes. It's hilarious and I'm betting the sequels are pretty good, too.
Seconded. And the sequels are great as well.

Also, this might be a good time to give her EG :wink:

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Postby Jeesh_girl15 » Sat Nov 21, 2009 9:15 am

I think EG is a bit to old for a 7-year-old. My cousin is 7, and my aunt was going to wait another year or so to give it to him.

At 7, I remember reading:

The Magic Tree House Books
A Series called The Secret of Droon
Rould Dahl books

There's this book I found and it looked pretty good. I haven't read it all the way through, but it's The Magician's Elephant by Kate Di Camillo.

Um, at 8:

I started the Harry Potter series
The Charlie Bone series (good books, but not all to popular in the US)
A series of Unfortunate Events
The City of Ember books
Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Bridge to Terabithia
The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The Westing Game
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Postby Luet » Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:58 pm

Just wanted to update this. My niece is currently obsessed with the new Zelda (Twilight Princess) game and I guess there is werewolf or something in it, so she asked me to find her some books about wolves to read with her. I used the site Kelly suggested:

http://www.readaloudamerica.org/booklist.htm

And found two books:

The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman
The White Wolf: an A to Z Mystery

The first I read to her tonight and she LOVED it. We were out to dinner and after we finished she took it and read it again to herself. She is going to keep it for a couple weeks while I have it on loan from the library. We are going to start the other one together later this week. Thanks for the resources, Kelly!
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