# Book Suggestions for a Bright Seven Year Old **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2001, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587 "2001-02-08T04:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tsugumo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4da419/32.png) [@Tsugumo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsugumo)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/41 "2001-02-10T00:03:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ellis555 \* > **Oh, and this sounds rather horrible, and I apologize to Tsugumo, but do her a favor, and keep her away from the Dragonlance. The very first few were merely so-so, and the rest are horrid.** I’ve only read a few of them, but the ones that I did read I enjoyed, heh…I really don’t know what the rest of the series is like though. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by oldscratch \* > **I would stay away from the xanth books. The first ones are good, but the devolve rapidly into pre-teen smut.** I must have been too young to comprehend it or something…I swear I don’t remember anything like this in them (and I read a good many of them). According to this thread I was apparently a pretty dense kid, heh. Just remembered “The Black Cauldron” (I’m pretty sure that’s the name…it’s evading my memory right now) was a great book. We had to read it in Grade 5 and I ended up reading it a few more times on my own because it was good. I have no idea if it’d be considered “intelligent reading” or “crappy obvious story with stereotypical characters”, because honestly I don’t think about any of that. I say that if the story makes me want to keep turning the pages, then it’s a good book. “Crunchings and munchings”, heh… - Tsugumo ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/42 "2001-02-10T05:35:08Z")
Margaurite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague and all the other horse books she wrote. Black Beauty, National Velvet—i was crazy for horses! I still love R.Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ,C.S.Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia Island of the Blue Dolphins and all the Caldecott medalists! Your school will have a reading list. Beverly Cleary, The Mouse and the Motorcycle! ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/43 "2001-02-10T06:51:52Z")
[stock option bias] Does her school have book fairs? 😃 Lots of good stuff there [/stock option bias] I was always a sci-fi kid Enders Game a classic and as a bit of an overachiever she will probably associate well with Ender. Some mainstream authors like Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and Robin Cook are also good for a little more advanced reading that doesnt get too thick into gratuitous sex and violence. Might run into a word she dosnt know here and there but a dictionary can fix that. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/44 "2001-02-10T07:05:05Z")
There was a children’s book series when I was a kid about a young boy who had a magic chemistry set he got from a Mrs. Greymalakin(sp). He would have adventures with the stuff he mixed. I cannot remember the name of the series, or the name of the author… ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/45 "2001-02-10T07:10:51Z")
Actually, I found it. It is the Lemonade Trick by Scott Corbett. A very amusing book series. Though they recommend the book for fourth graders, I think it is more a second grade reading level. Or at least it was for me. ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/46 "2001-02-10T10:43:11Z")
I think some of the SF, including _Ender’s Game_ (sorry Ender!) is a little mature for 7 or 8. I’m not sure whether to recommend O.Henry’s collected works, which I devoured as a kid- nothing “adult” in 'em, but they are full of period references that might be hard to explain. _The Black Cauldron_ is one of Lloyd Alexander’s “Prydain” novels, which tomndebb mentioned upthread. Of course, all you have to do is turn a bright 7-year-old loose with a library card and she’ll find plenty of good books- no problem! ---
**Author:** ![Alonist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Alonist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonist)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/47 "2001-02-10T10:51:08Z")
(“crunchings and munchings, yess…”, Gorgo meant to say…) ---
**Author:** ![Sailorboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@Sailorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/48 "2001-02-11T05:12:59Z")
Joanne Bertin with her series called “The Last Dragonlord” or Brain (Jaques)Im unsure of the spelling of his name but he writes the “Redwall Series” this series is alot like “watership down” so they are a greatt book series enjoy ---
**Author:** ![relic\_11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/50afbb/32.png) [@relic\_11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/relic_11)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/49 "2001-02-11T08:03:54Z")
Sailorboy, you have the worst spelling and grammar, but I forgive you! You were close. Brian Ja_c_ques. Good catch, too. Redwall is perfect for this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/50 "2001-02-11T19:08:37Z")
Most of my childhood favorites have already been mentioned, but when I was in the first and second grade I read and loved Ursula K. Le Guin’s **Earthsea** books. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/51 "2001-02-12T07:11:15Z")
Dangit, whenever I think I’ve got a new idea for this thread, I see that someone’s already posted it! _grumble_… Well, then. I don’t think that anyone’s mentioned Twain, yet… There’s a good reason that _Tom Sawyer_ and _Huck Finn_ are classics. If she’s interested in science fiction, then I can recommend any of Heinlein’s “juvenile” novels… But **only** his juveniles, especially for a 7-year old. Some of my favorites at that age were the _Encyclopedia Brown_ mysteries (standard kids’ detective fare) and the _Danny Dunn_ books (kid whose uncle is an eccentric inventor and has all sorts of outlandish adventures), though I can’t remember the author of either. Donold J. Sobol? If she likes other Tolkien stuff, then she might enjoy _The Silmarillion_, although the first section might be a bit heavy for her. If so, just skip over it, it’s not essential. The _Iliad_ and the _Odyssy_ are good, but only if you find a good translation. They might be a bit gorey for her, too. Finally, it’d take to long to “me, too” all the wonderful books mentioned here, but let me just put in a special word for anything by L’Engle, particularly _A Wrinkle in Time_, _A Wind in the Door_, and _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_. It’s fair to say that those three books made me what I am today. By the way, don’t count on this thread lasting her until her sophomore year… If she reads anything like I did at that age, you might be lucky to keep her in books until next week. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/52 "2001-02-12T14:19:45Z")
How about the “American Girl” books? Lots of different girls, each with her own series. Also, the “Dear America” books. Written as diaries of young girls (age 10 or so up to 17) at different points in American history. Now they have a whole new set called “Royal Diaries.” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/53 "2001-02-13T02:35:54Z")
Your help was wonderful. I’ve printed the thread and know that I will refer to it over and over again. As luck would have it, we had just received a gift certificate\* to Indigo (the megabookstore). This, coupled with the availability of soft-cover editions, allowed us to splurge a bit. So, we got **The Phantom Toll Booth** , **The Westing Game** , and two of the **Chronicles of Prydain**. These choices are a reflection of availability as much as anything so please don’t be offended if you think we’ve ignored your advice. We haven’t. Just had to start somewhere. I should point out that my daughter had read some of your suggestions already (eg. **The Little Prince** , **Wonderful Wizard of Oz** , and **Anne of Green Gables** ), and loved them. Thanks! [sub]\*as a gesture of good will from our abominable ISP (Rogers) as consolation for their poor service[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Pammipoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/87869e/32.png) [@Pammipoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pammipoo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2001, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587/54 "2001-02-13T08:40:17Z")
The Secret Garden Charlotte’s Web the Baby-Sitter’s Club series Sweet Valley series (the last 2 might be a little advanced for a year old…I don’t really remember the reading level) Nancy Drew Hardy Boys [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-suggestions-for-a-bright-seven-year-old/53587.md?page=2)