Recommendations please for story books that will appeal to my almost 9 year old dd (reads below her age) to stop her reading Horrid Henry!!

[Eniddo]

She has to read to me every night and atm is ploughing through Horrid Henry, I didnt realise there were so many books and the school library seem to have them all. Now, far be it from me to discourage her reading (it has taken enough blood and tears to get this far) I would love to find something else that would appeal to her without looking too young (this is a consideration as her friends all read much more 'advanced' books) and prefereably something new rather than a classic ( she feels embarrassed taking my knackered old books in apparently)

[Eniddo]

i know

there are none

[tortoiseshellWasMusicaYearsAgo]

Ds1 loves Horrid Henry too and we periodically confiscate them as his behaviour plummets!

Other things he likes are the Narnia books (although not 'modern' I think the films help to make them feel more modern). He also likes factual books like the Horrible Histories.

[tortoiseshellWasMusicaYearsAgo]

What do you think of Jacqueline Wilson (think she may be a love/hate author, but she is popular among the girls)?

Also Michael Morpurgo is supposed to be really good, and he's doing a series of talks in Bristol between now and Christmas - am hoping to take ds1 and dd to this - might that be something your dd would be interested in? He is the author dd's teacher (who is a very good friend of ours) ALWAYS recommends for all ages.

[chatee]

mr majeika?(but beware it is a series of books too)
my 8 year old dd (yr 4)has took these into school and not(yet)had any snidy comments from so called class mates

[Eniddo]

ooh fabb torty I may book tickets and see you there

[PortAndDemon]

You might find that Barrington Stoke do something that interests her. They do books aimed at children with reading difficulties or who aren't motivated to read -- the books have slightly larger than normal text size, use of illustrations to break up the text, and many of them (not sure if they all do) combine a higher interest age with a lower reading age.

[PestoFangsLookGoodOnMeMonster]

My dd2 is 9 and loves the

Arabel's Raven books.

Luckily I had kept mine from childhood and started reading them to the dds at bedtimes. However, DD2 has now claimed them for herself

[Eniddo]

oh how could I have forgotton barrington stoke

dd1 said that SWAP was the best book she had ever read

[PestoFangsLookGoodOnMeMonster]

Another firm favourite you could try is

Milly Molly Mandy

[Elk]

My dd isn't this age but a ideas may be:

Usbornes Pony Mad Princess Series (or would they be too young looking).

They also do a Horsey Series - Sandy L
The Book People Have a box set of Dick King-Smith Books (10 for £10) which I have just bought for my dd . She's too young for them but who cares it was a bargain.

Enid Blyton - Secret Seven Series.

Have you tried asking at your local library. My local librarians are excellent at finding books and ordering them in from all over the county.

[LapinsBeenMarried4Years]

Fame School series or if you want her to read "classics", Classic retold for 8+

The BookPeople have a set of 15 Roald Dahl books for £15.99 (I am buying those) or how about a set of 6 Charm Hall books?

[TigerFeet]

Ugh Horrid Henry - dd is 4 and found a copy belonging to my sister, now she's HH obsessed and we read a story every night.

They are truly hideous aren't they? I go all Mrs Judgypants at the parenting and clear favouritism of Perfect Peter. Awful.

I loved Enid BLyton at 9 and my sister who is a lot younger and diff generation liked Dick King-Smith and Jaqueline Wilson.

[Bumblelion]

When my daughter was slightly younger than 9, she liked the 'Power Puff Girls' stories and also liked the Rainbow Magic books (although, again a lot to choose from). Also The Worst Witch (and only 2 other books to follow, I think).

[LapinsBeenMarried4Years]

We do NOT do Horrid Henry, nor will we. I am already worried that DS will get called horrid at school!

[LapinsBeenMarried4Years]

BookPeople also have those Rainbow Magic books in sets.

[JackieNoHeadJustABloodyStump]

Only do the Rainbow Magic ones as long as she's the one doing the reading - they're really dire. Very samey. But good for getting them reading to themselves. DD loves them. Which is fine by me as long as I don't have to read them.

[TigerFeet]

Whoops, I appear to have accidentally ordered the DKS and Roald Dahl box sets for myself dd

How careless of me.

[JackieNoHeadJustABloodyStump]

Lol Tigerfeet. DD's getting a box set of 'The naughtiest girl in the school' (Enid Blyton) that I bought from Amazon, but can't now find on there . I'm looking forward to re-reading those.

[JackieNoHeadJustABloodyStump]

Getting for Christmas, that is.

[VintageGardenia]

A friend gave my ds some Mr Gum books and even though they are technically below his reading age (he's 10) he loves them and so do I. They are terrifically funny and very well written, slightly subversive, but without the sledgehammer approach of the Horrid H books. Highly recommend em.

He also reads Jacqueline Wilson (to my surprise), also have you ever tried Grimble? Excellent.

[Eniddo]

thank you all

vintagegardenia (ooh you sound nice!) I have just ordered mr gum they sound great.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, Mr Gum is great.

Other books that work for DS1 include:

• Captain Underpants (rude!)
• Astrosaurs + Cows In Action (same author)
• the Roman Mysteries (v adventury, good strong female characters)
• the Cresside Crowell series, vikings + dragons

[lottiejenkins]

What about Eugenia Lavender by Geri Halliwell........? I have just bought these for my friends daughter,,,,,,,

[tigermoth]

My 9 year old ds waved goodbye to Horrid Henry only when he was introduced to Captain Underpants.

I notice Captain Underpants books are classified in his age range at book shops. DS2 is also a bit of a late reader, so it looks like he's catching up.

[Eniddo]

she started mr gum last night

read very nicely

dh disapproves but will only be happy when she is reading Treasure Island from cover to cover