Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Children's books

Join in for children's book recommendations.

Original poster

Recommendations for 6 year olds?

32 replies

Ismeyes · 10/05/2012 11:25

DD will be 6 next month and as she is a bookworm, I would like to get her a little variety of books as a present. She can read independently and is currently working her way through the joy that is rainbow magic at the rate of 1-2 books a day. I'd like to broaden her horizons alittle as I'm sick of Rachel and Kirsty, does any one have any recommendations for books (preferably not huge series like rainbow magic) that will appeal to a 6 year old without being too far over their heads or inappropriate?

OP posts:
WoodRose · 10/05/2012 13:14

If your DD like Jill Tomlinson books, she may enjoy the "Sophie" books by Dick King Smith.

Original poster
Ismeyes · 10/05/2012 12:29

Thank you for all of the suggestions so far, I have a nice wish list building on Amazon.

Thumping is ok, she adores Tom and Jerry and it doesn't seem to have any adverse effects so far!

OP posts:
ragged · 10/05/2012 12:04

EB White (Charlotte's Web & the Trumpeter Swan).

TinTin also waves guns around quite a bit, I did wonder if should mention it, but kids often love it, every page a cliffhanger. Haddock is much less of a lush in the later books, btw. In Asterix they never stop thumping each other.

Myth books, the sorts with lovely illustrations & retelling classic myths/fables/fairy tales.

iseenodust · 10/05/2012 11:48

The more advanced Dr Seuss like Horton hears a hoo, still have pictures on every other page.
Paddington chapter books or Paddington in the garden has great illustrations.
Mudpuddle farm

Watch out for Tintin for such a young reader Capt Haddock hits the bottle in many of them.

Original poster
Ismeyes · 10/05/2012 11:46

Yes, she is a free reader at school and has been for a couple of months now. DD has ruled out magic kitten/puppy/pony - they just don't seem to appeal to her. She has read all the Jill Tomlinson animal books and enjoyed those - she just asks if she doesn't understand a particular word, and a couple of younger animal ark.

I think you make a good point about stamina and I'm just trying to find books that are interesting enough, but aren't going to knock her confidence.

OP posts:
londalion · 10/05/2012 11:45

Ergh, I loathe those Rainbow Magic books! Painful.
My 6yr old daughter loves The Worst Witch series by Jill Murphy, I think there are four or five of them. They're entertaining, appropriate stories for little girls, yet there's still interesting vocab in them. She's been reading them over and over for about a year now (interspersed with other things) and doesn't seem to have got bored of them. Dick King-Smith is popular, she particularly liked The Sheep Pig. Haven't tried Stig of the Dump yet. She's just finished Michael Morpurgo's The Butterfly Lion, which she enjoyed but needed help with some of the words, particularly the Afrikaans ones - she talks about 'kopjes' at the moment! Oh and Alexander McCall Smith's first children's one went down really well. She loved the idea of a dectective story. What else, she does enjoy Horrid Henry, although she wouldn't want to read through the whole set. Will have a think. Would love to hear others' suggestions too, as I should probably steer her to some new things.

ragged · 10/05/2012 11:34

Calvin & Hobbes, Asterix, Tintin.
I guess you're ruling out Magic Kitten/Puppy/pony...?
DD fell in love with Astrosaurs, Horrid Henry & Dirty Bertie about that age.

How good is her reading, really, if you don't mind saying? Has she reached "free reader" status? I find on these threads a lot of folk recommend books which are more advanced than most 6yos can read (eg Enid Blyton). Fine if your child can handle, but mine couldn't handle very wordy books at just 6, even if they were excellent readers, they lacked the stamina.

Swipe left for the next trending thread