Book recs for DD

[lizzywednesday]

Awesome! Thanks for the list! Someone got her a box set of 4 from the Ramona series for her birthday. She refused to even read one page. I am so thankful we have a great library, otherwise I would be spending a ton of money on books that she may or may not like....

Any time. My DD likes "adventure stories" so we've been doing a lot of fantasy, as you can see from our list.

I don't remember how I wheedled her to listen to The Ordinary Princess but once we started, she absolutely loved it. (My mom bought her a new copy because mine is pretty much Scotch tape and prayer at this point.)

We read A Wrinkle in Time together before the film was released (on her birthday) because I refused to take her to see the film if she hadn't read the book first.

She should be 100% capable of reading the Ramona books herself, but maybe you could pitch them as a read-together. (I know it's hard with a baby, but it might be something to do after he goes to bed?)

I thought my DD was going to LOVE the Magic Treehouse books, but she read a couple and then decided to read something else.

Another favorite here is the Princess in Black series, also by Shannon & Dean Hale (art by LeUyen Pham.) There are 5 of them, with a 6th due out in September.

[trcy]

Any time. My DD likes "adventure stories" so we've been doing a lot of fantasy, as you can see from our list.

I don't remember how I wheedled her to listen to The Ordinary Princess but once we started, she absolutely loved it. (My mom bought her a new copy because mine is pretty much Scotch tape and prayer at this point.)

We read A Wrinkle in Time together before the film was released (on her birthday) because I refused to take her to see the film if she hadn't read the book first.

She should be 100% capable of reading the Ramona books herself, but maybe you could pitch them as a read-together. (I know it's hard with a baby, but it might be something to do after he goes to bed?)

I thought my DD was going to LOVE the Magic Treehouse books, but she read a couple and then decided to read something else.

Another favorite here is the Princess in Black series, also by Shannon & Dean Hale (art by LeUyen Pham.) There are 5 of them, with a 6th due out in September.

Oh she's totally capable of reading Ramona, I think she's just not interested. She was just ehh with the Magic Tree House. She really likes graphic novels and, well, kind of obnoxious books.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Baby Bargains mobile app

[magnoliaparadise]

Dork Diaries...
Dear Dumb Dork Diary
Here are some slightly higher level books:
Emily Winsnap series
Goddess Girls
Grimmtastic
The Whatever After Series
Land of Stories
Someone suggested Harry Potter - besides being a little too hard for most 7 year olds, it might be too scary for that age. My kid is a good reader and was scared to read Harry Potter. She finally did this year (4th grade) in a grade-wide book club and didn't like it beyond book 3 or 4 - just said it was too scary.

Note: My kid loved Rainbow Fairies. ARGHHHH! Make sure you read one or two and that you can stomach it before you put her on to it because if you don't like the series, you will be stuck hearing about it for a long long time. My kid read at least 70 of them the summer before first grade and there were many more she didn't get to. For awhile, even after she was long beyond that level, she would go back to it and I would wonder if we were ever.going.to.be.done.with.Rainbow.Fairies.

[trcy]

Dork Diaries...
Dear Dumb Dork Diary
Here are some slightly higher level books:
Emily Winsnap series
Goddess Girls
Grimmtastic
The Whatever After Series
Land of Stories
Someone suggested Harry Potter - besides being a little too hard for most 7 year olds, it might be too scary for that age. My kid is a good reader and was scared to read Harry Potter. She finally did this year (4th grade) in a grade-wide book club and didn't like it beyond book 3 or 4 - just said it was too scary.

Note: My kid loved Rainbow Fairies. ARGHHHH! Make sure you read one or two and that you can stomach it before you put her on to it because if you don't like the series, you will be stuck hearing about it for a long long time. My kid read at least 70 of them the summer before first grade and there were many more she didn't get to. For awhile, even after she was long beyond that level, she would go back to it and I would wonder if we were ever.going.to.be.done.with.Rainbow.Fairies.

Thanks for the warning about Harry Potter, I was thinking about it for her. She doesn't like scary anything and scary things can interfere with her sleep. Will definitely avoid those books.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Baby Bargains mobile app

[magnoliaparadise]

Thanks for the warning about Harry Potter, I was thinking about it for her. She doesn't like scary anything and scary things can interfere with her sleep. Will definitely avoid those books.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Baby Bargains mobile app

Yes, my DD1 did have nightmares. She is usually obsessed with a series once she reads the first couple of books and barely looks up (I barely saw her the days it took her to read the "Land of Stories" books), but not with Harry Potter. She started reading the fourth book and started having very anxious thoughts about the plot(s) and waking up from nightmares and did not want to continue. I told her she could get out of the Harry Potter book club if she wanted. She reads books on her own anywy and I want her to like reading, not dread it.

[magnoliaparadise]

Other books I just thought of:

Critter Clubs (I don't know this series, but my DD2's friend loves them so I just got one from the library)

Magic Tree House (I think I mentioned this one before - you said your kid didn't like them. I wonder if it would be different if you read them with her. My kid didn't love them either, but I think that's because she got to them a little late and was already reading at a higher level. I personally love them. I actually cried, almost hysterically, while reading one book when the girl and boy visit civil war soldiers and one is an African American wounded soldier who is dying and the boy tells him how there will be a black president someday. It was actually a really nice moment for me and my kids to talk about slavery and the civil rights movement. We read another one about Leonardo daVinci which was just really good - not completely accurate, but really peaked my kids interest in the past and famous people who have contributed and I just loved that.)

Other Mermaid Tales (my kid loved these)

Moody Judy (my kid did not love them, but most kids do)

Some Judy Blume (but watch for age appropriateness - 'Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing' and 'Sheila The Great' I think are fine, but I can't remember anymore.)

Some more thoughts... my kid LOVES graphic novels right now. She seems to like two authors - one's first name is Cece - she wrote El Deafo, which I read and thought was really well done. The other's first name is Rainer... I can't remember either's last name - and she has done a ton. I love hers, but I think you have to make sure you are ok with the content. Some of it has been a bit more than I anticipated for my kid learning about (lots of dating boy stuff, coming out, one about ghosts and loss, mean girl stuff - though not sure if that last one was by this author). It's not that these subjects are bad - I just didn't expect my DD to be reading about it all quite yet and frankly, I'm trying hard to keep her away from thinking about boys so I didn't love that topic in particular... DD1 has a friend who is 10 and boy crazy and goes on and on about her latest crush and when I hear them Facetime-ing (friend lives out of state), I just keep thinking: ugh, talk about something else, you have years to obsess about boys!

Anyway... I think one of the unexpected things I personally like about graphic novels from a selfish perspective is just the ease by which I can quickly read one if I want - a whole book takes an adult reader probably 15-20 minutes to read. It gives me a sense of the things my DD1 is thinking about and be part of her life. She doesn't always share what's going on so we have talked about some of the books and it's been a nice bonding experience and led us to more conversations. I can also read her non-graphic novels, but they take longer so I'm less likely to do it.

[klwa]

I'll second Dork Diaries that were mentioned earlier. My DD just finished 4th and she & her friends have been obsessing over those for a couple of year now. Also the Goddess Girls books. (And you can add in the Heroes in Training books as well.)

Do you do any Star Wars in your house? If she likes SW, you might try the Jedi Academy books as well. And Origami Yoda.

Also, Stink &/or Judy Moody.

One classic book I don't think I've seen mentioned is "The One in the Middle is a Green Kangaroo." It's a little below the reading level of the others on the list, but it's a fun one.

[lizzywednesday]

Oh she's totally capable of reading Ramona, I think she's just not interested. She was just ehh with the Magic Tree House. She really likes graphic novels and, well, kind of obnoxious books...

Then she might be great with Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. DD loved them; they retell fairy tale stories in a Wild West kind of setting.

Also try the DC Superhero Girls graphic novels; they're more-or-less age-appropriate, despite the characters being in high school.

DD also LOVED the PowerPuff Girls graphic novels.

DC Comics are also releasing YA& middle-grade graphic novel series soon; the first series is Super Sons, about the sons of Batman and Superman, but they have a fairly ambitious lineup planned. The ones for middle grade (reading level is approx. grades 3+) will be published under the DC Zoom imprint. More here:

https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2018/0...dc-ink-dc-zoom

Mine hasn't gone in for the "obnoxious" books yet, but I didn't either when I was young. The closest I got was the Goosebumps books my brother Joe collected and while some of them were funny but not super-scary, I found others VERY scary - and I love horror novels! (Oh, and I should also note that I am 6 years older than Joe, but I have an overactive imagination.)

[lizzywednesday]

...
Someone suggested Harry Potter - besides being a little too hard for most 7 year olds, it might be too scary for that age. My kid is a good reader and was scared to read Harry Potter. She finally did this year (4th grade) in a grade-wide book club and didn't like it beyond book 3 or 4 - just said it was too scary.

...

This is a really good point, and I forgot to bring it up when I listed them upthread.

However, I feel like I need to clarify that I actually read them out loud to my DD, but we stopped at book 3 (Prisoner of Azkaban) because while she did fine with the scary bits in it, I personally believe that Goblet of Fire and up will be Far Too Scary for her right now. (She is 8.)

However, since she did well with the scary bits from The Hobbit and the first 3 Harry Potters, we've started Percy Jackson - the level of scariness and peril don't get much worse than Prisoner of Azkaban, so we should be OK.

But if OP's DD is among the easily spooked right now, the books will be there whenever she's ready for them!

[lizzywednesday]

...

Some more thoughts... my kid LOVES graphic novels right now. She seems to like two authors - one's first name is Cece - she wrote El Deafo, which I read and thought was really well done. The other's first name is Rainer... I can't remember either's last name - and she has done a ton. I love hers, but I think you have to make sure you are ok with the content. Some of it has been a bit more than I anticipated for my kid learning about (lots of dating boy stuff, coming out, one about ghosts and loss, mean girl stuff - though not sure if that last one was by this author). It's not that these subjects are bad - I just didn't expect my DD to be reading about it all quite yet and frankly, I'm trying hard to keep her away from thinking about boys so I didn't love that topic in particular... DD1 has a friend who is 10 and boy crazy and goes on and on about her latest crush and when I hear them Facetime-ing (friend lives out of state), I just keep thinking: ugh, talk about something else, you have years to obsess about boys!....

You're thinking of Cece Bell and Raina Telgemeier.