7 year old girl - book recommendations

[3weeksuntilwine]

Hi
I’m trying to gently push my 7 year old DD into reading independently. She’s fairly competent now but dislikes reading really although enjoys me reading to her which we do every night. In the last couple of days, I’ve managed to persuade her to read alongside me as I’ve read my book and I want to keep momentum going!

She enjoys books about girls like her. So 7/8 year old girl, school/friendship type things. We’ve read all of The Trouble with Daisy recently and we’re half way through Anna, Banana et al series. We’ve read all of Isadora Moon too.

I’d prefer to steer clear of Fairy/magic type books. I’ve bought Wimpy Kid but she refuses to read it as it’s got a boy as the main character 🙄

So, any recommendations? Thanks all!

My 7yo dd really enjoyed Maisie Hitchens- we've just read the first book but are looking for the next in a series of 8.
Otherwise she loves books by the same author- Holly Webb but they are cute animal stories and the fairies early reader books, neither of which are probably any good to you.

Thankyou, will take a look!

The Ramona Books by Beverly Cleary
The Sophie books by Dick King-Smith

both are a series of books about the day to day trials and tribulations of a little girl, school, family, pets, friends etc, told from them child’s point of view. Both series start when the protagonist is about 4 and go up until they are about 9.
The first Ramona book was written in the 1950s and the last in the 1990s. They are American, but with the exception of a tiny bit of vocabulary, they are completely timeless and placeless. I read them when I was 8-10, and read them to DD 35 years later (a couple of years ago), and they were still delightful. I have no idea why they are not better known in the UK, but you can get them in sets on Amazon and individually second hand on World of Books/eBay.

The Sophie books are set in London/Scotland and are also a few decades old, but again, not at all dated. They are easier to find, and usually sold in sets.

The Worst Witch is more school than magic
Ottoline books
The Owl that was Afraid of the Dark
Olga da Polga

Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf

The Holly Webb books - Lost in the snow etc generally about 7-8 year old girls who find cute animals and look after them
And her Rose series is good

The Tale of Emily Windsnap series

Titchy Witch- maybe too young for her

Totally Lucy series

The worst Witch

Anisha Accidental Detective
Amelia Fang
Cookie
The Royal Babysitters
Dotty Detective
Leonora Bolt
Clementine Rose

I know Enid Blyton books can be a bit controversial but I would highly recommend Those Dreadful Children, The Secret Island, and all the Malory Towers books. The Five Find Outers series is also good.

Just be prepared to explain the out of date stuff such as " Well we obviously can't meet up tomorrow it's Sunday" and " Of course the girls can't come with us on the night-time adventure, it'll just be us boys".

You might also have to explain things like Telegrams, dinner bells, dressing up for dinner, maids etc. And the fact that boys and girls attend different schools.

Ah this is a fantastic list of suggestions! Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I was a MASSIVE Enid Blyton fan around this age so yeh, maybe I’ll have a look at those again too!

If you don't mind a religious (christian) book you could try Treasures of the Snow by Patricia M St John. It's a beautiful story set in the Swiss Alps. But it does have a strong religious message (mainly about forgiveness) so best to read it yourself first to check you are happy with the content. It was one of my favourite books as a child; in fact my primary 6 teacher read it to us at school. I loved it so much I asked for it for Christmas and still have it.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women amzn.eu/d/8H3UGkq

Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls: 100 Immigrant Women Who Changed The World: 3 (Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, 3) amzn.eu/d/6qw3Izx

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic: 4 (Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, 4) amzn.eu/d/1lDPY9G

Diary of a Wimpy kid series

Just realised this was a no!

Dork diaries

Bookfortopics.com (sorry I can't make my link work on my phone) has great recommendations for each age group. Have a look at their list for age 7-8.

My dd was a bit reluctant to read independently. I know you said no magic but she loved a series called Unicorn Academy by Julie Sykes. They are quite an easy read but she was genuinely excited to get each one and zoomed through them. She also loves reading the Beano - maybe worth a try? Minnie the minx is a great character!

Isadora Moon series

DD got the 13 storey treehouse series for her 7th birthday and loves them

Princess Disgrace (set of 4 - princess school with main character someone independent/different to the norm)
my naughty little sister stories are nice although old some some stuff might need explaining

Oh yes, like a PP said My Naughty Little Sister books. I loved them. And what about the Narnia books? I loved the first 2, I didn't read the rest.

Ivy & Bean fits the bill - Fabulous funny stories about two 7yr old best friends.

Definitely Worst Witch series, not much a magic focus
Secret Seven have a really good intro series which are brilliant for early independent reading, I think they are called Adventures with the secret seven or something
Lizzie and Lucky are lovely books too

Was going to say Ivy and Bean too, my daughter also liked the Violet Mackerel books (they have great titles).

Try using search and filter, or start with an award collection, e.g.
thebookseekers.com/collection/guardian-childrens-fiction-prize-winners/

My kids loved this one
thebookseekers.com/book/lauren-child/utterly-me-clarice-bean-3/

National geographic kids books are great as are almost anything done by DK for non fiction.

Michale Morpugo

My daughter loved Jacqueline wilson at that age. Particularly plum which is about a budding young suffragette. All terribly miserable in an age appropriate way x