Chapter Books for a 7Yr Old Girl

I am sorry if I am repeating anything that's already been listed, but I would recommend the following (all of which I started reading around that age, with some help):

Little House on the Prairie series
Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan (all by E.B White)
Anything by Beverly Cleary - Beezus and Ramona, etc.

Try just getting her think about completing one chapter at a time, so it's not so overwhelming. Hopefully she will get engrossed enough in the story to want to see what comes next and end up finishing the book.

My son loves Catwings. Maybe take her to the library and have the librarian show her all the chapter books. Let her peruse through them and pick out ones that look interesting to her! My son will only willingly read the ones that interest him. Right now he loves Ramona books.

Junie B. Jones books are so funny and my daughter loved them at that age! We have them all and I'm saving them for when my 3 year old gets old enough to read them.

Try the Junie B. Jones collection from Scholastic. The chapters are short and fun to read. They are about the adventures of a little girl at school and home.

Has she tried the Magic Tree House books?

Rainbow Magic Fairy books are great for girls that age. They are "thin" with more pictures than a typical chapter book. They have sets of 7, like the Pet Fairies, the Dance Fairies, etc. and they tell a story about how 2 girls help the fairies.

Check out your local library. My husband is a librarian, I can't tell you how many times he has parents come in and he helps the kids pick out what's appropriate for them.

These are the ones my 6yr old loves:

Nate the Great (mystery)
Cam Jansen (mystery)
Junie B. Jones (comedy-she just started liking these)
Henry & Mudge (the also have Puppy Mudge)
Fluffy (guinea pig that's really funny)

Fluffy and Henry & Mudge aren't that long of chapter boods maybe 30 pages or so. Most of the kids in my daughters class read all but the Junie B Jones, because she is a little longer than the others. My favorites are Nate, Junie, and Fluffy because they all have comedy in them to make them interesting.

edited**just read one of the other posts about your child reading one page and then you the other. i heard one of the teachers telling a mother to do this with her child because he didn't like reading the longer books either. and then she said to have her child read the last 3 pages by himself. i think that's a good idea. and also the Mr. Putter books are being read in my daughters class.

I'd like to add the Box Car Children series to your list. It is the only chapter books we've been able to get our older daughter interested in. I find them at used book stores for $2 ea.

My daughter also liked the non-fiction books (shorter than the fiction - but hey, whatever works) on animals and nature written for her grade level.

She also loves the Harry Potter series. That started around her 8th birthday. It is above her reading level, so the teacher asked that we find something else to be her 20 minutes a night. But she does read them to herself quite a bit, or we read them to her or we take turns. She doesn't get to see the movie until she's finished the book. She's on book 4 (I NEVER imagined that would happen 18 months ago).

Taking turns (I read a page, she reads a page) is how we started on the chapter books. I'm a huge reader, but my older girl just didn't get into it at first. It was daunting and not fun for her. While I agree with the 20 minutes a night idea, making a fight out of it seemed counterproductive, so we tried taking turns for a few months. Once she got used to the chapter books, and found books she liked, she was more amenable to reading them on her own or out loud to us. So I applaud your efforts to find something that captures her imagination.

The Ramona books are great, by Beverly Cleary. I agree with the poster re: Little House on the Prairie books. SO good. "The Cricket in Times Square" was really good, too. Oh, and she might be a little young for it but you could read "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster aloud to her to her to help spark her interest. That remains one of my favorites.

I used to love reading the Little House on the Prairie books at that age.

My 7 year old daughter likes the Little House series, and is currently reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. You might order some homeschooling catalogs to see what they recommend for 2nd grade readers. We love to use the Veritas Press catalog for this purpose. You can even look at it online to get ideas: veritaspress.com.

I agree with the Rainbow Fairies, my daughter loves those. She also likes Flat Stanley, Unknown Author & anything having to do with animals. If you can find chapter books based on things she likes it may be easier for her to read them. My daughter loves cat's so any book featuring a cat, about a cat or having to do with a cat she will read eagerly.

When it comes to reading chapter books , remind her she doesn't have to read the whole thing at once.
That was the hurdle for my daughter on reading chapter books.
all the series listed below are great for 7 yr olds.

My Daughter (who is now 8), likes to read these since she was 7:

Rainbow Magic books
Gernonimo Stilton
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Charlotte's Web
Swiss Family Robinson
Franny K. Stein books
Magic Tree House
The Magic School Bus
Junie B. Jones (my daughter read these in 1st grade).

My daughter does not care for the Judy Moody books.

Mostly, kids that age, may get intimidated by "chapter" books, because they lack pictures. Its a transition for them, to Chapter books, and yes because, it has many more pages.

Reading a chapter book a week, can be arduous for a child that age.
It was never required in my daughter's class/grade. At 7 years old, my daughter was in 2nd grade. But as a daily 'homework', the kids are required to read for 20 minutes a day. And then they take a 'test' on it. Their school uses the "AR" Renaissance reading/testing program.

In your daughter's classroom, doesn't the Teacher have her own classroom "library" which the kids can read from???? Most Teachers do.

It takes TIME, for a child, to read a chapter book in 1 week.
Unless they are a natural 'bookworm.'

Try and have her read anytime, take the book with her in the car and read, before bed, after school, when there is downtime etc.

Bear in mind, all kids in a class, are at different reading levels. And not all, at this age, ARE reading solely chapter books only.

Some "chapter books" are shorter than others.
So... my suggestion would be to get those types of books for her. So it is not as intimidating. And she can 'transition' that way.
The "Geronimo Stilton" book series for example, are Chapter Books, but shorter and with pictures and easier to read and finish within 1 week.

all the best,
Susan

OK here is my 2 cents
Little house books are long and I think too hard for a 7 year old. My 7 year old would never read them.
She also can't get through a whole magic tree house book.
We watched the movie "diary of a wimpy kid" and then we bought the books and she really has gotten into them! But they do have beginner chapter books like frog and toad it only has like 4 chapters! or the Mr. Puter series. Try at your local library in the beginner reader books they should also have beginner chapter books!
I do have another suggestion that worked with my son when he was a little freaked out about chapter books, can you make a bargain with her that you will sit down and you read one page then she reads one page?
Good luck !

My daughter took off with Ivy and Bean after being intimidated. It helped that we told her the "secret" that grown ups read right before turning off the light at night and told her we thought she was ready. It hasn't replaced our family bedtime stories, so it's something that's just hers. Bailey Elementary books (pretty thin) are also favorites. She likes Judy Moody and the rainbow magic fairies too. It depends on personality. Let her read just the first couple of pages of a bunch of books until she finds something she likes!

My 8 year old has read a few book series - some good ones are Magic Tree House, The Bailey School Kids, and Junie B Jones.

My boys also like Captain Underpants, Ricky Ricotta Mighty Robot.

They also enjoy Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Hope that helps!!

My 7 y/o (boy) likes the Junie B Jones series, the Judy Moody series (both about little girls -go figure!), and the A to Z Mysteries Series.

I know the school requires one book a week, but you might just see about doing one chapter a day (or, say, 15 minutes a day) until the book is finished. That way there isn't a crunch time trying to get the reading done. Talk to her teacher.

My daughter enjoyed the Judy Moody books.

Does her school require her to read these books *independently*, or can you read them together? Perhaps if you 'took turns' reading a book with her, it wouldn't seem so intimidating?
Some books my girls enjoyed:
Little House (Scholastic sells shortened versions in paperback)
The Cobble Street Cousins series by Cynthia Rylant
the Catwings books by Ursula LeGuin
Magic Treehouse books
American Girl books (i.e., "Meet Samantha")
A to Z mysteries by Ron Roy
Nancy Drew Notebooks (short paperbacks with an elementary-school age Nancy solving cases like "the disappearing birthday party invitations)
Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo (hilarious illustrations and story about a family who keeps a pampered pet pig)
Cam Jansen mysteries by David Adler (there are "Young Cam Jansen" books that are shorter and simpler for young readers)

also, public libraries will often have books on CD - including ones like Magic Treehouse, so she can listen to the book being read while reading it.

I would take her for a developmental vision exam with a behavioral/developmental optometrist! She may have underlying visual processing issues and could benefit from vision therapy. www.covd.com

I'll second the Rainbow Magic Fairy books. My daughter and her friends loved those books at that age.

The Ivy and Bean books are fun. I believe the main characters are in 2nd grade.

If she likes dogs, there is a series called Puppy Place books.

Magic Tree House are easy reads.