Hp replacement for keen 7 yo

[habibibibi]

My 7 year old has got hooked on Harry Potter. Shes read (and reread) the first three and loved them. We have the whole series at home because she has older siblings so she's picked this up herself rather than us suggesting it. Her siblings were quite a bit older when HP interested them so age suitability wasn't an issue.

Now I've reluctantly put my foot down about the goblet of fire and the rest of the HP books as I don't think the content is right for her age. Dd is angry with me as she just thinks it'll be more of the same of the previous 3.

Any books that are more suitable for her age that young HP enthusiasts might enjoy? Her reading level is very good but her understanding is still that of a 7 year old!

The Hobbit is fine at seven, for a good reader. It's sad, but not graphic or otherwise mature. I'd only suggest avoiding it if a child is especially sensitive to character death (handled in a fairytale-like manner).

@Innocenta

The Hobbit is fine at seven, for a good reader. It's sad, but not graphic or otherwise mature. I'd only suggest avoiding it if a child is especially sensitive to character death (handled in a fairytale-like manner).

She's actually really interested in death (hoping this is normal!!!) We'll try The Hobbit then! I never got into it as a child myself - but I didn't get into HP either, I don't like that genre much personally (hence why asking about HP - I never finsihed the first book).

My girls loved The Secret Garden and A little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Oh, of course Diana Wynne Jones is great.

My 7 year old had read all of the hp books and was fine with them, possibly a bit bored with the last one.

She’s started the old goosebumps books which she is loving and we’re a firm fave of mine when I was her age!

Archie Greene series ddeverest.com/ would be a good alternative to HP.

Another vote for the Chrestomanci books, start with Charmed Life, that got me hooked when I was little and I was a huge HP fan.

Yes, Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones. She will love them. Also, all her other books (there are a couple that are more YA but absolutely nothing unsuitable for a 7 year old in them).

Also, Penelope Lively (A Stitch in Time and The Ghost of Thomas Kempe are both great) and Joan Aiken (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a good place to start).

the ickabog is great for that age as well.

other great ones:
pipi longstocking
momo
neverending story
the little ghost

Morrigan crow. I love those books so much, and very Harry potter like.

Thank you everyone for these excellent suggestions!

Pure Dead Magic series by Debi Gliori might be up her street.

Have you asked her teacher? Dd was the same - we struggled to find books that challenged her while still having appropriate themes for her age. Her teacher was very helpful and gave me a list of books which she would recommend her to try.

DD was the same at her age, I made her stop before GoF and I really regret letting her read HP early, she had the reading ability and the understanding but it ruined lots of other book series for her as they simply weren't as exciting.

Wimpy kid was the next set to really grab her attention. Followed by the Percy Jackson series (and the Egyptian and norse versions). David Baddiels does 5 or so stand alone books which she loved. The Cressida Cowell Magic books, Enola Holmes and Artemis Fowl. The Series of Unfortunate event books are great too and obviously come with the TV series and movies.

I find JW books too hard hitting and the themes are too grown up and not what I would want Dd exposed to at that age.

If you don't already have it the Libby app is brilliant, it's linked to your local library and let's you reserve ebooks, audio books and magazines. Some you have to wait for but some are available immediately.

the michael mupurgo books are nice as well but more suitable for slightly older children.

DD absolutely loathed Jacqueline Wilson. I read one to see why and tend to agree. It's like misery lit for children.

Mine also 7 read books 1-3, insisted she wanted to read 4, got stuck on it for ages, eventually finished it and agreed to break for some other books for a while. Unfortunately nothing else came close and she kept abandoning books. She’d already read the worst witch, Ramona, wizards of once etc (I think wizards of once is way better than HP...). Recently she raced through the Judy Blume Fudge series. Now reading the demon headmaster which is the first book to really grip her for ages. We also got the spiderwick chronicles but younger sibling nicked those, I think they’d be a good interim read though.

Have had the chrestomanci series, land of stories and land of roar recommended as next steps too.

Can highly recommend
Amy Wilson (Snow Globe, A girl called Owl)
Abi Elphinstone (Sky Song, Rumblestar)
Girl who speaks Bear - Sophie Anderson

What about how to train your dragon series?
Or Ben Miller books are very good too.

Eva Ibbotsen has a great back catalogue of children's fantasy from the 1980s and 90s, all reprinted recently and on Kindle. Secret of platform 13, Which Witch, Island of the Aunts, loads more - all suitable and gentler than later Harry Potter. Some of her non-fantasies are for older children / repackaged romances, but any fantasy from her would be fine for 7 year old.

Also some Diana Wynne Jones - others I wouldnt touch for a seven year old. The Chestomanci series probably, though Witch Week is quite dark.
Just a few of the others: Ogre Downstairs, Power of Three, Islands of Chaldea would be fine I think. But Ibbotsen is full of thin bespectacled gallant orphan boys with a lot of the comedy of early Potter. Just no series. Secret of Platform 13 has the feel of Harry Potter and is one of those books that kids find hilarious but is a tearjerker for adults. No goodies die, kids are good but not dull.

Spelt Eva's name wrong - Ibbotson

She manages gruesome humour and put upon children without ever being cynical. She's quietly positive about older women, disabilities, loners and eccentrics - anyone who will love and protect a child. Like Dahl without the nastiness.

Prefer Diana Wynne Jones for variety but her themes can be much darker. Find Ibbotson's books for older age groups hit and miss - some brilliant, some bit over the top. Lots of the fantasies below feel similar in spirit to the gentler and more joyous elements of Harry Potter - it was suggested to Ibbotson that she might accuse JK Rowling of borrowing, and she said she'd rather shake her by the hand.

The Great Ghost Rescue (1975)
Which Witch? (1979)
The Worm & the Toffee Nosed Princess (1983)
The Haunting of Hiram C. Hopgood (1987); later, The Haunting of Hiram (1988) and The Haunting of Granite Falls (2004)
Not Just a Witch (1989)
The Secret of Platform 13 (1994)
Dial-a-Ghost (1996)
Monster Mission (1999); later, and in the US, Island of the Aunts
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle (2005)
The Haunting of Hiram (2008)
The Ogre of Oglefort (2010)
One Dog and his Boy (2010)* Not a fantasy but fits this age group
The Abominables (London: Marion Lloyd Books, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4071-3297-6), published posthumously

The Green Knowe series.
A Little Princess and The Secret Garden
Michael Morpurgo books
Charlotte Sometimes
Tom's Midnight Garden
How to train your Dragon series.
Narnia series.

Oh, and the Punchbowl Farm and Romney Marsh series of books by Monica Edwards

Glad it's not just me that read hip replacement!

@MissCruellaDeVil

Glad it's not just me that read hip replacement!

Me too