Need help with readers for 6 yr old girl

[attachedto4]

My dd whizzed through the SL readers we have and declares any of the leveled readers "too babyish" to read anymore now. She is driving me nuts trying to find her something to read, she's being annoyingly picky.

She wants to read chapter books, and she's sensitive so I still need to monitor what's in them. She keeps picking books like Old Yeller off of our bookcase which I've let her know has a sad ending.

Ideas? I need to compile a stack and have them in a basket so I can insist she pick one each day. She reads a lot on her own, but I like her to read to me a little each day still since she's only six. "Girly" books especially appeal to her. She loves fairy tales.

TIA!

[Dana in OR]

Have you tried the series of fairy tales by Lang (The Blue Fairy book, Pink Fairy book, etc...)? My daughter is fascinated by them.

Other books that she might enjoy - the Beverly Cleary books (Ramona, Henry Huggins, ...)
Betsy~Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy series books by Carolyn Haywood
The Happy Hollisters series by Jerry West

Hope some of these work!

~Dana

[sagira]

What a nice problem to have. She likes to read! :)

The Littles
Little House in the Big Woods
Follow My Leader
The Boxcar Children series
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
The Magic Treehouse series (can be correlated to history studies)

She may also like Fancy Nancy -- very girly and introduces big words too to make it interesting.

[melissel]

Maybe the Brambly Hedge stories? They are just gorgeous. All of a Kind Family is sweet too. Maybe The Lighthouse Family books (Cynthia Rylant) and the Borrowers books (Mary Norton). My almost-6-year old has started Ballet Shoes and says it's not too difficult for her. I agree about Magic Treehouse--they're easy but engaging, and they've sparked lots of conversations about science/nature/geography here. DD has Fancy Nancy books on her birthday list. She's also enjoyed some of the A to Z Mysteries books (on her birthday list as well).

[matroyshka]

I second all of those mentioned - great choices! Glad to see Happy Hollisters recommended- I loved those as a kid and my kids really love them too.

Here are some others we've enjoyed (3 girls here!)

The Unicorn's Secret books by Kathleen Duey
American Girl books -these are wonderful!
My Father's Dragon books by Ruth Stiles Gannett
Many Moons by James Thurber

Also, if she likes fairy tales, you might consider having her read aloud from picture books of the fairy tales - picture books can actually have vocabulary more challenging than early chapter books.

ETA: Oh, and how could I forget the Jenny Linsky books by Esther Averill!

[sagira]

Wow, great suggestions. I also forgot to add The Children's Treasury of Fairy Tales, as these are not too hard to read. I loved fairy tales as a child too :)

[Karen in CO]

Here are some that helped my dd transition to bigger chapter books. Many have already been mentioned, but I'll give them a second.

Little House in the Big Woods
Judy Moody books - I don't like them but they aren't as bad as some of the other girl books
American Girl books - my dd only read a few before she outgrew them, but she enjoyed them at the time
Magic Tree House. again she read them voraciously for a few months then wouldn't touch them. These are very easy chapter books.
Magic School Bus has chapter books that are pretty good

[melissel]

Wow, great suggestions.

I agree! I'm :lurk5: here. I'm compiling a huge list of books that I'd like to read with DD or have her read herself, and I'm going to print them all on slips of paper, fold them up, and put them in a "Book Jar," to pull from when we are ready for our next book. The rule is that we have to read whatever gets pulled (at least a few chapters--we can stop if one or both of us dislike it after that). DD has a tendency to reject a lot of what I suggest, simply because I was the one who suggested it, so this should help a bit :lol: She likes the idea of the game of it, and I like that I still get to control all the books that go into the jar ;)

[attachedto4]

What a nice problem to have. She likes to read! :)


Definitely! I so wanted to have readers and made it a priority, it's such a thrill to me to see her reading all the time. :001_smile:

[attachedto4]

Oh, and how could I forget the Jenny Linsky books by Esther Averill!

Those are some of our favorite books ever, I've read them all to the kids, and yet it didn't occur to me to suggest those for her to read herself. :huh: Thanks for the reminder!

[attachedto4]

Thank you, all of you! Such great ideas, she is going to be excited to dig into these suggestions, I think I'll see if they have any at Half-Price books tommorrow.

[melissel]

Thank you, all of you! Such great ideas, she is going to be excited to dig into these suggestions, I think I'll see if they have any at Half-Price books tommorrow.

Are you a member of Paperbackswap.com? You could join there and get some of them free or cheap.

[Penelope]

I think the Sydney Taylor (All of a Kind Family) series was mentioned. Elizabeth Enright books are also wonderful; I loved them as a little girl.

[LoveBaby]

I think Heart of Dakota has some "girl" and "boy" reader packages. You might check their website!

[Lori D.]

A few of these are upper end (grade 3-4) stepped readers; most are either early or intermediate chapter books. Hope something here connects for her. And congrats on having a reader! : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

REAL LIFE
- Understood Betsy (Fisher)
- B is for Betsy (Haywood)
- Betsy and Tacy series (Lovelace)
- The Moffats series (Estes)
- Follow My Leader (Garfield)
- Billy and Blaze series (Anderson)
- Light at Tern Rock (Sauer)
- Grandma's Attic series (Richardson)


DETECTIVE
- Jigsaw Jones series (Prellar)
- Cam Jansen series (Adler)
- Third Grade Detective series (Stanley)
- Boxcar Children series (Warner)
- The Roman Mystery series (Lawrence)


MYTH / FAIRYTALE
- The Blind Men and the Elephant (Backstein/Mitra)
- Sim-Chung and the River Dragon (Schecter)
- The Warrior Maiden (Schecter)
- A Grain of Rice (Pittman)
- Aladdin (Mistry)
- Mermaid Tales from Around the World (Osborne)
- Beauty and the Beast (Osborne)
- Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights (Tenggren)
- Tales from the Ballet (Barber)
- Tales from the Ballet (Untermeyer) -- out of print
- The Tall Book of Christmas (Smith)
- Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury (Brett)
- The Golden Fairytale Book (Sequr) -- more of a 3rd/4th grade level
- The World's Best Fairy Tales (Sideman) -- a Reader's Digest Anthology


FANTASY
- Catwings series (LeGuin)
- Magic Tree House series (Osborne)
- Toots and the Upside Down House (Hughes)
- Moongobble and Me series (Coville)
- Dragonslayer Academy series (McMullan)
- The Littles series (Peterson)
- The Borrowers (series) (Norton)


ANIMALS (talking)
- The Cricket in Times Square (Selden)
- Chester Cricket series (Selden)
- Charlotte's Web (White)
- Trumpet of the Swan (White) -- more of a 3rd/4th grade level
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle (McCleary) -- more of a 3rd/4th grade level


FUN TALL TALE
- Fly on the Ceiling (Glass)
- Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares (Murphy/Walz)
- The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (Dalgliesh)
- The Whipping Boy (Fleischman)
- McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Far (Fleischman)
- Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid)


HISTORY ADVENTURE
- Robin Hood: Tale of the Great Outlaw Hero (Bull)
- The Kite Fighters (Park) -- 1400s Korea -- more of a 4th grade level
- Viking Adventure (Bulla)
- The Sword in the Tree (Bulla) -- Medieval England
- The Minstrel in the Tower (Skurzynski) -- Medieval England
- Robinson Crusoe Reader (Cowles) -- adaptation of the classic story
- The Courage of Sarah Noble (Dalgliesh) -- Colonial US
- Phoebe the Spy (Griffin) --American Revolution - true story
- The Secret Valley (Bulla) -- Gold Rush/pioneers
- Sarah Plain and Tall; Skylark; Caleb's Story (MacLachlan) -- US - pioneer times
- Hannah (Whelan) -- blind pioneer girl
- Silver (Whelan) -- daughter of an Alaskan "musher" gets a sled dog puppy
- Pioneer Cat (Hooks) -- pioneer girl and her cat travel west in a wagon train
- The Cabin Faced West (Fritz) -- pioneer times US
- Twenty and Ten (Bishop) -- WWII French children hide Jewish children -- more of a 3rd/4th gr. level
- The Little Riders (Shemin) -- WWII occupied Europe


BIOGRAPHY
- Joan of Arc (Corey)
- The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft (Moore)
- Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (Roop)
- Little Sure Shot: Annie Oakley (Spinner)
- The Story of Thomas Alva Edison (Davidson)
- Helen Keller (Davidson)
- Helen Keller's Teacher (Davidson)
- Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Hurwitz)
- Louis Braille (Davidson)
- The Wright Brothers (Reynolds)
- Dinosaur Hunter (Alphin)
- The Great Houdini: World Famous Magician (Kulling)
- The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth (Patrick)
- Flying Ace: Story of Amelia Earhart (Bull)
- Vanished! Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (Kulling)


BIOGRAPHY / REAL ANIMALS
- Balto and the Great Race (Kimmel)
- The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (Standiford)
- Barry: The Bravest St. Bernard (Hall) -- Swiss Alps rescue dog
- Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog (Moore)
- Jumbo (Worth) -- famous PT Barnum circus elephant
- Man O'War (Mckerly) -- undefeated racehorse of the 1920s
- A Horse Named Seabiscuit (Duvowski) -- famous racehorse of the 1930s
- Five True Dog Stories (Davidson)
- Five True Horse Stories (Davidson)
- Nine True Dolphin Stories (Davidson
- Dolphin Adventure; Dolphin Treasure; Dolphins and Me (Grover) -- more of a 3rd/4th gr. level

[christall]

American girl - sweet books, I love when she reads them to me
The Littles
Pony Pals
The Saddle Club
Boxcar Children
Ralph S. Mouse & the rest of the series
Most of the B. Cleary books

Hope that helps

Christall

[AngieW in Texas]

My youngest is very much a girly-girl and very sensitive to scary stuff. These were her favorites:

2nd grade level:
Rainbow Magic Fairies
Pony-Crazed Princess

3rd grade level:
Katie Kazoo
My Secret Unicorn
Animal Ark Pets (NOT just Animal Ark, same author, but different series)

[8FillTheHeart]

We have enjoyed many of the ones already mentioned. I just wanted to add the Fairy Realm books by Rodda and all the Thronton Burgess books.

[kokotg]

I'm compiling a huge list of books that I'd like to read with DD or have her read herself, and I'm going to print them all on slips of paper, fold them up, and put them in a "Book Jar," to pull from when we are ready for our next book. The rule is that we have to read whatever gets pulled (at least a few chapters--we can stop if one or both of us dislike it after that). DD has a tendency to reject a lot of what I suggest, simply because I was the one who suggested it, so this should help a bit :lol: She likes the idea of the game of it, and I like that I still get to control all the books that go into the jar ;)

ooh--I'll have to try that! DS does the same thing with rejecting books because I suggested them.

I only have boys, but some of the more "girlish" books (or less boyish) DS 7 has enjoyed are the Ramona books, Carolyn Haywood's Betsy books, Boxcar Children, the Littles, and of course Magic Tree House.

[attachedto4]

A few of these are upper end (grade 3-4) stepped readers; most are either early or intermediate chapter books. Hope something here connects for her. And congrats on having a reader! : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

REAL LIFE
- Understood Betsy (Fisher)
- B is for Betsy (Haywood)
- Betsy and Tacy series (Lovelace)
- The Moffats series (Estes)
- Follow My Leader (Garfield)
- Billy and Blaze series (Anderson)
- Light at Tern Rock (Sauer)
- Grandma's Attic series (Richardson)


DETECTIVE
- Jigsaw Jones series (Prellar)
- Cam Jansen series (Adler)
- Third Grade Detective series (Stanley)
- Boxcar Children series (Warner)
- The Roman Mystery series (Lawrence)


MYTH / FAIRYTALE
- The Blind Men and the Elephant (Backstein/Mitra)
- Sim-Chung and the River Dragon (Schecter)
- The Warrior Maiden (Schecter)
- A Grain of Rice (Pittman)
- Aladdin (Mistry)
- Mermaid Tales from Around the World (Osborne)
- Beauty and the Beast (Osborne)
- Tenggren's Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights (Tenggren)
- Tales from the Ballet (Barber)
- Tales from the Ballet (Untermeyer) -- out of print
- The Tall Book of Christmas (Smith)
- Jan Brett's Christmas Treasury (Brett)
- The Golden Fairytale Book (Sequr) -- more of a 3rd/4th grade level
- The World's Best Fairy Tales (Sideman) -- a Reader's Digest Anthology


FANTASY
- Catwings series (LeGuin)
- Magic Tree House series (Osborne)
- Toots and the Upside Down House (Hughes)
- Moongobble and Me series (Coville)
- Dragonslayer Academy series (McMullan)
- The Littles series (Peterson)
- The Borrowers (series) (Norton)


ANIMALS (talking)
- The Cricket in Times Square (Selden)
- Chester Cricket series (Selden)
- Charlotte's Web (White)
- Trumpet of the Swan (White) -- more of a 3rd/4th grade level
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle (McCleary) -- more of a 3rd/4th grade level


FUN TALL TALE
- Fly on the Ceiling (Glass)
- Ben Franklin and the Magic Squares (Murphy/Walz)
- The Bears on Hemlock Mountain (Dalgliesh)
- The Whipping Boy (Fleischman)
- McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Far (Fleischman)
- Pippi Longstockings; Pippi in the South Seas (Astrid)


HISTORY ADVENTURE
- Robin Hood: Tale of the Great Outlaw Hero (Bull)
- The Kite Fighters (Park) -- 1400s Korea -- more of a 4th grade level
- Viking Adventure (Bulla)
- The Sword in the Tree (Bulla) -- Medieval England
- The Minstrel in the Tower (Skurzynski) -- Medieval England
- Robinson Crusoe Reader (Cowles) -- adaptation of the classic story
- The Courage of Sarah Noble (Dalgliesh) -- Colonial US
- Phoebe the Spy (Griffin) --American Revolution - true story
- The Secret Valley (Bulla) -- Gold Rush/pioneers
- Sarah Plain and Tall; Skylark; Caleb's Story (MacLachlan) -- US - pioneer times
- Hannah (Whelan) -- blind pioneer girl
- Silver (Whelan) -- daughter of an Alaskan "musher" gets a sled dog puppy
- Pioneer Cat (Hooks) -- pioneer girl and her cat travel west in a wagon train
- The Cabin Faced West (Fritz) -- pioneer times US
- Twenty and Ten (Bishop) -- WWII French children hide Jewish children -- more of a 3rd/4th gr. level
- The Little Riders (Shemin) -- WWII occupied Europe


BIOGRAPHY
- Joan of Arc (Corey)
- The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft (Moore)
- Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (Roop)
- Little Sure Shot: Annie Oakley (Spinner)
- The Story of Thomas Alva Edison (Davidson)
- Helen Keller (Davidson)
- Helen Keller's Teacher (Davidson)
- Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark (Hurwitz)
- Louis Braille (Davidson)
- The Wright Brothers (Reynolds)
- Dinosaur Hunter (Alphin)
- The Great Houdini: World Famous Magician (Kulling)
- The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth (Patrick)
- Flying Ace: Story of Amelia Earhart (Bull)
- Vanished! Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (Kulling)


BIOGRAPHY / REAL ANIMALS
- Balto and the Great Race (Kimmel)
- The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto (Standiford)
- Barry: The Bravest St. Bernard (Hall) -- Swiss Alps rescue dog
- Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog (Moore)
- Jumbo (Worth) -- famous PT Barnum circus elephant
- Man O'War (Mckerly) -- undefeated racehorse of the 1920s
- A Horse Named Seabiscuit (Duvowski) -- famous racehorse of the 1930s
- Five True Dog Stories (Davidson)
- Five True Horse Stories (Davidson)
- Nine True Dolphin Stories (Davidson
- Dolphin Adventure; Dolphin Treasure; Dolphins and Me (Grover) -- more of a 3rd/4th gr. level


Wow! Thank you for this incredible list.

[attachedto4]

Animal Ark Pets (NOT just Animal Ark, same author, but different series)

Can you tell me what makes them different? Dd made a beeline for the animal ark books at the bookstore, she wants to be a vet. Should I be concerned? I haven't preread them.

[attachedto4]

I agree! I'm :lurk5: here. I'm compiling a huge list of books that I'd like to read with DD or have her read herself, and I'm going to print them all on slips of paper, fold them up, and put them in a "Book Jar," to pull from when we are ready for our next book. The rule is that we have to read whatever gets pulled (at least a few chapters--we can stop if one or both of us dislike it after that). DD has a tendency to reject a lot of what I suggest, simply because I was the one who suggested it, so this should help a bit :lol: She likes the idea of the game of it, and I like that I still get to control all the books that go into the jar ;)

How did I miss this? What a great idea!

[Lori D.]

oops!

[Imprimis]

Right now, my 6 yo daughter is reading through and enjoying the Ramona (http://www.amazon.com/Ramona-Boxed-Volumes-Beezus-Quimby/dp/0380814684)series by Beverly Cleary.