Recommended Books for Young Readers

After reading "Willy Wonka" Jessica's been interested in me reading more condensed books to her so I found these :

The Tail of Emily Windsnap and Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep by Liz Kessler

The story is about a girl around 12yrs that finds out that she's a mermaid ...recomended for 8 years and up readers..it's quite and interesting read so far and it's well written. I found those story a bit more enjoyable than Tracy Beaker.

Anyone else recomend any books for young spongy readers

Note to Stacey: I getting that (13 blue envelopes) book for my niece !!!

Monica Furlong's "Juniper" and "Wise Child".
But maybe for a girl around 8 or 10. . . I still reread them once in awhile when I need a fix.

 
Just very pretty, semi-earthy books about young girls in Cornwall, trying to balance living in tune with nature with the rest of the culture around them. I suppose technically it's witchcraft/ wiccan in nature, but they are beautifully written, with a decent message of tolerance and appreciation for the earth and others, and I never forgot them.

Also- with help maybe, but Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn"
Classic and gorgeous.

ah- and The Princess Bride.

She will love it!  (You should read it too, very cute!)

I LOVE Young adult books, but honestly the ones I like are all a bit too old for Jess.

I remember starting to read some Judy Blume books when I was about 7. 

Hmmm, how about some of the C.S. Lewis books? 

A Wrinkle in Time.  Sorry, not sure what age these are for.

I did love it when my dad would read me Greek Myths at night, and I think it started when I was about Jess's age.

go to amazon, find a book she already enjoys, and check out the  reader recommendations or "lists" and read if any sound interesting.

Also good are (I used to work in a bookstore)
The Secret Garden / The Little Princess / A Thief of Always (might be too scary, though)
Shiloh

I was actually surprised how much she got into it as I read "The complete adventures of Charlie and Wonka" that was 300 some pages and when I read one chapter she kept wanting for me continue...plus she would recount the story (not word for word ) to Phil. My MIL sent her a Bible stories book and she enjoyed those. I tried Beatrix Potter but she didn't really get into those...I might try the Little prince next.

The Fairy Dust books by Gwyneth Ross are good.  The rest of the Roald Dahl books anything by Dick King Smith.  If you're reading Jacquiline Wilson stick to the lighter books for younger children, Tracy Beaker and her older books can be a bit heavy-even though they're for children they do with some deep subjects and are good for 10 and up.  Narnia books are ok if you like that sort of thing, The Worst Witch is cute. 

Hmmm, how about some of the C.S. Lewis books? 

A Wrinkle in Time.  Sorry, not sure what age these are for.

A Wrinkle in Time (and the sequels) would be appropriate.  I have only read A Wrinkle in Time in the series by Madeleine L'Engle.  Excellent.

As for C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia are classics and - in the States - they are required reading for children (well, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is, at least)...starting in around about the 3rd, 4th grade.  I do, however, recommend reading the series in order, and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the SECOND in the series; the first is The Magician's Nephew.  These books are timeless, and even if J.R.R. Tolkien didn't particularly like them, there is merit in reading them...along with a lot of fun, message, and adventure. 

I just gave my 7 year old neice E. Nesbit's the Railway Children but I think she found rather old fashioned.

I've also seen some books in the kids' history section that look really good - they tell the story of a hitorial event or period from a child's viewpoint, eg there is one about a gir lon the Titanic, another one about an Elizabethan princess etc.

Oh and if your daughter is at all into anything theatrical don't forget Noel Streatfield - Ballet Shoes/ The Painted Garden and the Gemma series.  oh oh oh and Stig of the Dump is a must read.

 

At that age I always liked the Anne of Green Gables books, and Nancy Drew.


I would also recommend Brian Jacques' Redwall series.  It's a good balance of adventure and whimsy; not too sappy, just enough danger to make them exciting, not enough to give a kid nightmares, with an excellent good winning over evil message.

I might try the Little prince next.

Do! That's my favorite childrens book. Such a lovely story. When I left France one of my host families had bought a beautiful hardback copy of that in French for me.

I read Gone with the Wind at twelve...if she's a big reader, she might be into it now!

If you want something less intense/thick, you could try the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I'm going to get a nice set for Dagmar before we leave, hopefully in a few years she'll want to read them.  Especially since they detail a piece of American history, it might be fun/interesting for her. 

Also, Maud Hart Lovelace's []i]Betsy/Tacy[/i] stories..there's a series of them, and they also chronicle American turn-of-the-century small town life (you may want to read these first, though, because if I remember correctly there is a Christian influence-at least I remember one chapter where they talk about God.  I don't recall them being really Christian in nature, but I do remember that scene.)

Oh, and the Great Brain books-can't remember now who wrote them.  But I really enjoyed them and thought they were fun. 

I will keep thinking...
Hmmm...what else...

The "American Girls" series is probably age appropriate, too. Little thin books, but do well enough with the historical accuracy and interesting plots for girls. . . Be CAREFUL- they have a line of INSANELY expensive dolls and accessories which can get addictive for young girls (between my 3 sisters, I think we have 6 different dolls. . . )
When I was little there were only 3 characters- now they've branched out a bit- they manage to hit quite a few eras, and amazingly enough more than one race.
BUT- they're fun enough, innocent enough, and the girlies learn some american history.

Some of my favorites:

- Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

- anything by Beverly Cleary, but especially the Ramona books

- Judy Blume is good, but unless you're up for some serious discussions I'd stick with the books aimed at younger kids (i.e. Superfudge)

- Harry Potter (of course!)

- The Wind in the Willows is one of my all-time favorites

- The Borrowers series by Mary Norton

- Little Women

- The His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman was very popular when I worked at Borders a few years' back.  While I've never read them, I've heard they're great.   Songmistress - - these seem up your alley, have you read them?

- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

I agree with Saf, the Little House series is great.  And soooooo much better than that cheesy TV series!

If I think of more, I'll post 'em.

The Series of Unfortunate Events by 'Lemony Snicket'.  The books are excellent for vocabulary building.  I didn't think they were too scary for little ones.  My youngest started reading them at 7 or 8.