I am looking to update my daughters bookshelf, right now she has a lot of beginner books like dr suess, and berenstein bears and the like. I was thinking of some things more complicated than say, "the lorax", but not as complicated as the harry potter stuff.
I want suggestions for books that will take a few days to read, possibly thrilling, and if possible with illustrations , but not limited too. I want to spend like 100 dollars on it at a 1/2 price books, so i would like lots of suggestions.
Shes 8
Thank you so much ladies!! I went right online and ordered a value pack of the tree house books, because that was the most prevalent, but i now have a very detailed list of what i will be getting at 1/2 price books. I knew it was time for more complicated books by the way she reads her current ones..........fast and with no interest"monotone" voice........i swear she yawns too
when about james and the giant peach, matilda, or other Dahl books. when i was 8 i loved judy blume books
How old is she? I loved the Little House on the Prairie books, and still love the Chronicles of Narnia.
Some of my daughter's favorites at that age were :
Charlotte's Web
Stuart Little
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
A Light in the Attic
Where the Sidewalk Ends
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James and the Giant Peach
Matilda
Any of the Beezus and Ramona series
Any of the Little House series
Any of the Narnia series
The Devil's Arithmetic
The Giver
Number the Stars
A Wrinkle in Time (and its sequels, whose titles escape me at the moment)
Any of the Animorphs series
Not sure how old she is, but my favorite books as a child were the Black Stallion series, Black Beauty is wonderful. (Was on a horse kick). Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, Big Red, and anything by that author (Outlaw Red, Lion Hound, etc....when I was on a dog kick). Then the biography of Christopher Columbus and part of his journal, Swiss Family Robinson, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Robinson Caruso, anything to do with adventure and pirates or islands when I was on that kick. On my "girl kick", The Little House On the Prairie books, Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden series were great. Biographies of Madame Curie, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Florence Nightingale, pretty much anyone who's done something interesting. Books by Mark Twain. I loved the classics and became a bit of a book snob. In the EARLY years I adored anything by Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume. These days the Magic Treehouse, Goosebumps, and Wimpy Kid books are loved by all elementary kids. I agree anything by Roald Dahl. I also loved The Secret Garden, had a beautifully illustrated book of...I don't know what they were: fairy tales or what....stories that were just awesome: short versions of Sinbad the Sailor, Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, Rip Van Winkle, etc. I poured over that book for hours on end, and loved the pictures, and wish I had it now for my kids. My favorite book of all time, I STILL read annually, but the first time I read it was in 4th grade: The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.
My (then)7 year old was into Junie B Jones. Right now, she's LOVING the Percy Jackson series. She's read the whole series twice! Also, both my boys and girls read the Diary of A Wimpy Kid books.
My oldest read the Fablehaven series and loved it. He's been telling my 9 year old about them, and after she's done reading the last of the Percy's ...again... I think she'll try them.
Good luck!
horrible harry series
junie b jones series
magic tree house books
hank the cowdog
amber brown is not a color (the whole amber series is great)
anything by judith voirst
secret garden
charlottes web
stuart little
little lord fontleroy
I second the Roald Dahl and Beverly Cleary and Margeurite Henry suggestions.
My favorites at that age were Boxcar Children, Hank The Cow Dog, Chronicles of Narnia, anything by Roald Dahl, The Magic Treehouse, Baby Sitters Club, Astrid Lindgren books, Mr. Popper's Penguins. I've heard Stone Fox is really good.
My daughter is 6 but she is really into chapter books now. Usually I read a chapter or two to her each night before bedtime. Here are her favorites:
Bad Kitty Takes a Bath
Happy Birthday Bad Kitty
The Magic School Bus series
The Teacher from the Black Lagoon series
The Ramona Quimby series
The Magic Treehouse series
Hope this helps. Happy reading!
Wind and the Willows
Magic tree house series, Julie B Jones series
My students and personal children loved the Magic Treehouse series and The Secrets of Droon books.
Babysitters club, Boxcar Children
:)
Magic Tree House books (there's a ton of them), and Junie B Jones. If she's an advanced reader she might also like the Artemis Fowl and Charlie Bone books.
Judy Bloom, Rohl Dahl, Berenstain Bears, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Light in the Attic, Ramona....
Ok, I know you've gotten lots of answers and have "closed" the question but I just HAVE to add my 2 cents :) I loved the Ramona Quimby series when I was that age and have recently gave 2 or 3 of them to a cousin's child for her birthday. She loves them as much as I did. They are a fun "middle ground" kind of chapter book that is great for girls!
Anne of Green Gables would be a wonderful book series for her. It was, is, and always will be my favorite book in the world! Any of the L.M. Montgomery books, in fact.
Also, Little House books, Magic Treehouse, Narinia, Junie B Jones, Black Stallion if you can find them, Charlie Bone (like a junior version of Harry Potter).
The Babysitter's club series is great, and they have a "younger" series called "Babysitter's Little Sister" series... about a second grader. The Babysitter's Little Sister series are chapter books, but on a lower reading level. The original series is on a RL 4 (reading level 4), but I don't know what the level is for the Little Sister series.
Also, if she likes animals, the "Animal Ark" series is a good one... I just found one we have, and was surprised to see the RL is 4.. but they are shorter chapter books about a girl who's parents are veterinarians. Most of those involve a mystery of some kind.
"Pony Pals" is a fun series if she likes horses.. RL 3.
I agree, the "Magic Treehouse" series is a good one.. lots of adventure! We bought those for our son, because it didn't seem that there were that many good books for boys 12 years ago (he is now 19).
Little House and Narnia are great suggestions--very age-appropriate for the most part. =)
Around that age (2nd/3rd grades) I know I really loved horses, so I read Marguerite Henry's horse books (Misty books, King of the Wind, Brighty of the Grand Canyon, etc.), the Black Stallion books, and Black Beauty. I also really liked the Boxcar Children around that age and remember other girls enjoying Little Women and other Alcott books. It wouldn't hurt to think a year or two ahead at this age and make some things available for her. What are her interests? I loved animals in general, so also enjoyed James Herriot's animal books. In 4th grade or so I enjoyed George MacDonald's Curdie books, but At the Back of the North Wind might be enjoyable for a younger reader, too. Nice collections of fairy tales are great for any age as well, and you can find some with classic illustrations. If you want to give her some variety, Edith Hamilton's Mythology is a great introduction to Greek myths with nice illustrations. I enjoy (and enjoyed) Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles (if she likes fantasy) and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor for some fantasy/some realism. I was also rather partial to Edgar Allen Poe at that age...but some of his illustrated books can get a bit morbid. =)
Wind in the Willows is also not too long and there is something in it for any age. (I'm very partial to British literature.) A lot of those books have illustrations or have editions with illustrations. [Oh, and Bruce Coville books are always great!]
I second The Magic TReehouse series, they are great! Junie B. Jones is also good but a word of caution, the author tends to write how a second grader would talk. So not correct english, you may want to read these together so you can explain the proper way of saying things so she doesn't get confused.
Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume also have a bunch of great books. Like Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, and Superfudge to name a few.
My FIL got some Nancy Drew mystery series for my 6 yr old daughter from a garage sale. I thought it's a little advanced for her, but she loves them. No illustrations though.
My daughter is 8, and she is obsessed with the Magic Tree House books. They are a lot of fun to read. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are pretty popular right now. My kids also love the Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey, but I know that some parents might protest to the "potty" humor in it (literally, potty humor. Talking toilets that swallow people and things like that). They think it's hilarious and I see it as harmless, so you can check them out for yourselves. Let's see: Junie B. Jones, the Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo (they are chapter books but have full-color illustrations, and the main character is a pig who gets into mischief, which is cute), and the American Girl book series are some others that she's read.
Also, the Fancy Nancy books aren't chapter books, but they are really cute and I love the illustrations in them, so she might like those (if she doesn't have them already). Have fun book shopping!
