Books suitable for 6 year old strong reader - help needed

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

My dd loves reading. She is 6 and in year 2 at school. Her last school reading book was 'Charlie and the great glass elevator' (not my favourite book but I guess that's not the point). Dd coped fine with all of the actual words but there were quite a few concepts such as talking about 'congress' and 'The Whitehouse' that meant nothing to dd. I need to find books that will extend her reading and be a suitable challenge but are also at a suitable comprehension level for a 6 year old. Maybe I'm being silly and most 6 year olds know all about the US political system!

Weirdly the school reading book she got today was a Rainbow Magic offering which she read in 20 mins as she had read the whole series last year.

Any recommendations?

How about Riddle Me This? It's a collection of traditional riddles and stories of varying lengths so some will be suitable for her to read now, some of the longer ones maybe for sharing. My DS1 is five and already loves the riddles. Gorgeous pictures too.

My kids loved the Horrid Henry set at that age - bought them from Red House or the Book People - take her to the libray as if she is a fast reader she'll just make her way through all the books she/you fancy!

Oh yes definitely library. But I think it's important to own books too (I can't be the only one, hence Bookstart etc.)

The first Laura Ingalls Wilder book (Little House in the Big Woods) - ideal as Laura is writing about life from the perspective of a 5 y/o

Trying to think back to what dd read at that age - Enid Blyton was very popular; Famous 5, Secret 7, Five find outers, basically all the 'adventure' type ones.

She definitely liked all the Professor Branestawm books(I also have very happy memories of finding my first PB book the Christmas after I was 6 :) ), the longer Wombles stories, the Paddington books (though I'm sure the latter are in theory just as incomprehensible as Charlie & t GGE).

I think at that age older classics are quite good as they tend to be much more 'gentle' while still being quite long, which I remember was a big problem with age appropriate modern books I don't worry at all now (dd nearly 9), but I did tend to do a bit of filtering of library books when she was younger for inappropriate content (ie scary bits!).

DD also liked the Animal Ark books a lot, which again are longer stories than Rainbow Magic et al.

Would The Borrowers books by Mary Norton be too challenging for her?
Dick King Smith writes at a variety of levels so it would be worth browsing through his catalogue at the local library.
Jill Tomlinson?
Michael Morpurgo?
The Moomins?

We got a 'reading list' from DD1's teacher - she's just turned 7 and a good reader. So, on it are Dick King-Smith, some of Michael Morpurgo, the How to Train Your Dragon books, Jill Murphy, Anne Fine ermmmm can't remember any more and the list is in DD1's bedroom. Oh, she loves Tumtum and Nutmeg - v. sweet. Milly Molly Mandy remains a strong favourite.

Oh yes Milly Molly Mandy and Professor Branestawm, though the long whimsical sentences might go over a 6yo's head at first.

What about Just William too?

thank you, some great ideas here

Just thought - Ramona and Beezus would be just about bang on the right age group and deals with being that age. They do contain a little American language but they are very funny and enjoyable to read. My dd is 9 and a great wee reader but she loves them. She wishes she had found them earlier.

Orchard books do sets of stories from the Greek and Roman myths, and adaptations of the stories from Shakespeare. You can sometimes buy them heavily discounted from The Book People.

You might also want to try the Olga da Polga series, Milly Molly Mandy and the Worst Witch.

Sally Gardner's Magical Children series went down very well with my DCs at that sort of age. Also Eva Ibbotson - lots of good books like Not Just a Witch or the Island of the Aunts.

DD's favourite book when she was six (the first proper full-length, non-rainbow fairy etc one she was interested enough to stick with) was Evangeline Mudd and the Golden-Haired Apes of the Ikkinasti Jungle.

We motored through the ubiquitous Jenny dale's puppy/kitten/horse/hamster etc tales at that age. Not sure that I can bring myself to recommend them though as they were so unmitigatingly dreary. Certainly one to borrow in bulk from the library rather than buy.

Although I might find them v dull, my daughter, on the other hand, genuinely seemed to love them and they were a vg bridge into confident compulsive reading.

The Winnie the Pooh books?

Any rhyming books -- Shel Silverstein's poetry is aimed at young readers. Jack Prelutsky is also nice for that age.

Two of the DDs loved Nancy Drew between 6 and 8. Exciting, a bit scary, and Nancy is a good heroine. DD1 still wants a little red convertible...