I haven’t made it a huge secret that when I was a kid, I was a huge book nerd (I still am a book nerd, but I’m also a very tired book nerd, so I don’t read nearly as much as I used to or as I would like to). When the other kids in our neighborhood were out running around on long summer nights, I was holed away in the house somewhere, reading. All. the. time. Often the same books over and over again (which I still like to do…and not all of them are books that show off my literary prowess–I’ve read The Firm an embarrassing number of times.)
My 7-year-old daughter has reached the stage where the she’s outgrown the little story books and she’ll often become totally immersed in the longer chapter books. And, like I did when I was her age, she loves books that are a part of a series because she can revisit the characters again and again. So I’ve put together a list of 5 of her favorite series of chapter books. Some of them are newer and some of them are old classics that are just as magical to her now as they were when I was her age. (Unless specified otherwise, I’m just linking to the first book in the series.)
I looooooved The Boxcar Children when I was in elementary school (and so did my son when he was in his first few years of elementary). If you’re unfamiliar with these books (especially the first one), they’re about four orphaned children who set up a home in the woods in an old boxcar. I would dream about finding an abandoned boxcar and living in it (although the whole being an orphan thing was kind of my big hangup) and being awesome and resourceful like those kids were. Especially that beef stew they made, or the potatoes by the fire. It’s a wonder they didn’t inspire in me a greater desire for campfire cooking…
These books are my daughter’s all-time favorites. She’ll read them again and again and talks about them like they’re her real friends: “Can you believe Lainey did that?!” Lainey who? Did what? And then I remember we’re talking about books. It’s about a group of real girls who are magically transported to Neverland, so they’re for a girls a little older than the Tinkerbell scene. They’re cute and sweet and I think the artwork on the covers is little girl magical perfection.
This is another series that I loved as a kid (and actually, my son really loved these books when he was in 1st-2nd grade). We kind of missed the boat with Ramona the Pest–she didn’t have the attention span to listen to it when she was smaller and now that she can read them on her own, she’s more interested in Ramona when she’s a little bit older. But she relates a lot to Ramona’s hilarious antics and kind of feeling like the misfit middle child.
4. The Friends for Keeps series.
I snagged the first book in this series for her on a whim at the school book fair–I felt like she could relate to a lot of it (changing friendships, girl drama, etc.) She ended up really, really loving these books and I like that it handles the ins and outs of girly relationships in a real and responsible way.
You guys…they’re still here! These were my ALL-TIME FAVORITE books from about 3rd-6th grade. I read them againandagainandagain–like to the point where the covers were gone. When I went on my son’s field trip in November, I was so happy to see an entire new generation of 4th grade girls experiencing the BSC (I always wanted to be Stacey, but in reality, I was pretty much Mary Ann.)
So these are a few of her favorites, but between these series, there are plenty of books to keep your kiddos occupied!
P.S. The Winner for the Blendtec Giveaway will be announced first thing in the morning, so stay tuned! 🙂
I haven’t read the whole thread but in case no one has mentioned the 6 book series by Mary Rose Wood: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, I highly recommend them. I enjoyed reading them aloud to multi-ages but my 10 yr old just re-read them all on her own. We were devouring them when they were first published and awaiting each one as it came out. https://www.maryrosewood.com/the-incorrigible-children-of-ashton-place
My daughter’s favorite books are from the British series “Wings & Co”. Total recommend these! A big bonus is that I even enjoy reading them with her. They are filled with fun, have unique characters, and the plots are unpredictable.
On a whim I tried moving rim board books to chapter books with my almost four year old. It was the Nevergirls series and it was an enourmous hit. She never wants to stop, and nor do I! We BOTH love them so much. I thought she would identify with one of the girls, but instead I get, “I want to be an author when I grow up”. I’ve never spent so much time reading aloud before and I become entranced. We both do. I only wish we had started with a different series because we were going through them so fast that I started another concurrently just to slow it down. I got The Magic Tree House and, while she likes it too, it’s just not written as well or smoothly as the Nevergirls. Iove love.
The Betsy Tacy Tib series is the favorite series of most little girls we know. The series follows the girls as they grow up. Delightful girl characters inspire girls’ imagination and to love the little things in life.
Both my kids loved Little House in the Big Woods as well as the others in the series. Charlotte’s Web, Hatchet, Stuart Little, Secret Garden, The Wind and the Willow, and The Hardy Boys were favorites in the elementary years.
In jr high the favorites have been for my daughter The Yearling – her most favorite and As You Like It comes in second this year for 7th grade. When my son was in 8th grade he read both the Iliad and the Odyssey, loved them both and still talks about them.
There are some fun ones in this list. My littles are into The Horse Valley Adventure series by Liana Allen, lmabooks.com. Donkey’s Kite is the current one and my kids WILL NOT put it down! Good stuff!
For slightly older girls (and boys!), we just discovered The Mysterious Benedict Society. There are only 3 or 4 books, but they are WONDERFUL. I bought the first book for my daughter, and picked it up to flip through…. and finished it in 2 days.
LOVED the Boxcar Children and Babysitter’s Club books as a kid! I wanted to be Dawn so bad. But I was totally Mary Ann. I also really liked Trixie Belden (she was like Nancy Drew only way cooler) but those books are hard to find. Sweet Valley Twins books were my all-time fave, though. It’s the Wakefield twins for a younger audience…maybe 5th-6th grade? Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to read my old favorites.