Dahlesque books for 7yr old

[3duracellbunnies]

Dd1 has finally had enough of rainbow fairies :) , she likes Roald Dahl, but doesn't yet have the stamina to read something like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She can read extracts though. What can I order from the library of her to read herself in the holidays? She will read to me so tricky vocab is fine, just not too long. Someone suggested David Walliams but not sure how long his books are.

Jacqueline WIlsons are good. And how about Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree. My DD1 gobbles up the Rainbow Fairy ones but like yours has thankfully started to expand a bit. Horrid Henrys are also quite good fun. No idea if any of these are educationally "acceptable" but she seems to like them. Also maybe search on Amazon under the right age group and see what comes up?

We tried her with the faraway tree which i loved as a child, and considering her love of fairies and narnia, I thought would be perfect, but they didn't like it at all (me reading). Hoping she will take to famous five etc as I still have all my old ones, but not sure she would get through one at the moment. I don't particularly like Jaqueline Wilson from the picture books we have had, and Tracy Beaker on cbbc, bit too gritt/disrespectful, dd1 is our pfb, will probably be fine for dd2 in a couple of years! Might look into the Horrid Henrys.

Of the Dahl books I think that charlie and chocolate factory and matilda are probably her favourites. She will read kitten books etc, but I can tell her heart isn't in it. Not too worried about educational acceptability (well as long as not just txt speak) as long as she likes them. It is frustrating as I know that just around the corner there is a whole world of books, but right now she hasn't quite got the stamina and perseverance to read them.

She is probably around the 6-8 chapter books at the moment, but a bit less formulaiic than rainbow fairies.

Don't let her read Jacqueline Wilson unless you read them first. Hers are very variable as to what age they're pitched for, and tackle some pretty heavy issues. They are bloody depressing a lot of the time too. I think the only ones I've let DD (she's almost 10) read so far have been Hetty Feather and Cookie. I don't think I'd have let her read any of them at seven tbh, and I don't normally censor her reading at all much. JW is just so intense for want of a better word. I can't quite explain why her stuff bothers me, in regard to the DCs reading it, possibly it's because it's very "real life" where in other books bad/sad things happen but it's not likely that they would ever actually happen in the real life of my children iyswim, so they can process it as an abstract "far away tragedy", but JWs things are all rooted in ordinary life and could happen (or could as far as the children can see) - they are more upsetting for that.
At the risk of sounding like a soppy old gimmer go for Enid Blyton - Faraway Tree, Wishing Chair, Secret Seven, then Famous Five, Barney books, Five Find-Outers, Adventure series, Secret series, there are loads to enjoy. My DD loves Malory Towers and St. Clair's atm, and has even re-read them.

Some Roald Dahl are easy reading for a bright 7 year old. Dick King Smith is worth checking out too. The Kes Gray Daisy books are good too.

Agree with PomBear about JW, I always check them out first. My DD (also 7) loves Enid Blyton, the Worst Witch and also the How to train your dragon series by Cressida Cowell and Dirk Dilly Dragon Dectective by Gareth P Jones.

I know what you mean about JW, I have banned Tracy Beaker on the tv because I just don't think a 7 + 5yr old need to watch teenagers in care. I take the same attitude to all soaps, your own life can be tough enough without worrying about fictional characters' lives. I also don't even like Daisy, which I guess is fairly harmless, but it always brings parents down to the child's level, and say with the peas one the mother ends up begging with the child to eat some peas, fortunately mine all like peas and think it's a bit wierd.

I think though dd is just not quite ready for the longer enid blyton, but finds the faraway tree too babyish. I want a book that she can read in about an hour or so, over a couple of evenings, as although her decoding and comprehension are fairly good, her attention span is not as good.

Oh we got one of the how to train your dragon books for world book day, don't think she's read it, might try that tonight. Will look at the others in the library. How long are the Walliams books? We have some on order that the librarian said were very like Dahl. Thing is she gets the humour, can read the words, but can't be bothered to read for a long time and so refuses long books as she thinks she will get bored. Quite happy for us to read long chapter books in installments though!

My Dahl fan girls absolutely loved "robin" by Catherine storr (of clever polly fame) some of her stories for older children are real adventures, with vey clever observation of interpersonal relationships. They also enjoyed "puss and cat" about some twins. (by the same author.)

This is good to know about JW will start to check them out (so far only got them from school). Another thing is as the librarians...they should have a good idea what is popular.

I'd definitely agree with Dick King Smith's books. She might also like Atinuke's books (Anna Hibiscus series & the No. 1 Car Spotter) - each chapter is a standalone story, and there's lots of pictures breaking up the text.

I guess the Winnie the Witch chapter books might be a bit easy - but probably still amusing as a light read - come to that the Worst Witch books might also appeal.

Have you tried Mr Gum? My DD loved them and they are shorter with funny pics.

I totally agree, mr gum is a great series of books. My dd was easily persuaded at the bookshop to ditch the rain bow magic books in favour of mr gum, and she reads it by herself too.

My dds loved anything by Jeremy Strong (quite Dahlesque), How to Train Your Dragon books and David Walliams in that order.