Books to encourage 7/8 year old daughter to read

[Mytribeof3]

Hi. I'm looking for suggestions for books that might encourage my daughter almost 8 to read as whilst we have quite a collection of books at home, she's yet to find something that she can get into. I don't want to force the issue, but would like to see her pick up and enjoy a book. She likes humour and I think something similar to Dork Diaries / Wimpy Kid might appeal, however I've heard mixed reviews about these. Also considering the Treehouse series. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The thing that made my 7 year old DD want to read was not a book - it was a bunk bed light.

And being told she could read for 30 min when she went to bed - an extra 30 min before lights out... just for reading... made her feel reading was special.

She read a lot of Roald Dahl, many, many crappy books about Kittens lost at Christmas, many, many Rainbow Magic fairy rubbish books, and moved onto Harry Potter then Hunger Games/Maze Runner and now (at 16) some more classics... all started with a light...

The light works for us to! Also, I would aim for light funny things to start with, at a slightly easier reading level.

My 8yo really likes Dave the pigeon and the Witch Wars series.

You could try either the Goth Girl or Ottoline books by Chris Riddell. They have illustrations as part of the story, not a full on graphic novel but more engaging than straight text so might inspire her.

Go to the library, choose a load of books and see if she finds any she really likes.

Magazines, comics, anything that she may find interesting other than books?

My DD started off reading independently with the Rainbow Fairies books and the Holly Webb kitten and puppy books. Both are really dreadfully written and the same story over and over again, but she loved them and it really helped build a love of reading. She then moved on to Roald Dahl, some Astrid Lindgren books (mostly the children of noisy village). Even now at 9 she hasn't moved on to Harry Potter as they are too scary for her. If she likes humour, she could try the Captain Underpants books, my DS(7) loves those though there are some tricky words so a bit difficult for independent reading.

'Daisy and the trouble with....' series. And the Tom Gates books.

She also liked Dick King Smith 'The Fox busters' and 'TheSheepPig'

Some great suggestions for me to look into, thanks. Tried some Jeremy Strong this evening and she really enjoyed it, so I’m getting more of an idea of what will hold her attention.

The Beano!! My mum set up a subscription 10 years or so ago for dc1 and it has been read and collected by all 4dc.

Dc3(11) and dc4(8) fight over who gets to read the new one first each week.

Dc4 keeps them all in a box on his bed and reads them each night.

I was going to say beano too! My mum kept all my old ones (hundreds!) so my kids read them and love them all! 1986-1991 humour!

I've had more problems stopping my dd from reading. I used to suggest she was researching for her own book. Called "101 ways to read after lights out". I don't recommend the method that landed her (genuinely) in A&E.

I found though that when she was getting stuck on a series and not wanting to read anything else, a good way of encouraging her to try a different book was to read the first couple of chapters to her. Usually by the end of the first chapter she'd be trying to grab it off me, but if not, I'd read a couple of chapters, stop on a cliff-hanger, and close it, put it in her bed and turn her light out and say goodnight.
She'd usually ask me for the sequel the next morning

• Maisie Hitchins by Holly Webb
• Secret 7 by Enid Blyton
• ottoline by Chris Riddell

More difficult:

• Mary Poppins
• Ivy Pocket

Has she read Roal Dahl?

I would second a subscription to The Beano.

And for you to read to her:

• Kaspar, Prince of Cats by Morpurgo
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Another recommendation for Daisy and the trouble with series DD keeps re-reading them as she loves them.

What about the Secret Seven books? DS enjoyed those at that age - they were probably the first 'series' he got into.

My dd stated harry potter at 8, and 5 years later she still sometimes rereads them. My son started then at 9, it depends on the child. Couldn't drag either of them away.
JkR should be given a medal for services to reading!