# Girl-led adventure series for young kid **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 11, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078 "2022-10-11T15:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/21 "2022-10-12T18:00:52Z")
Hmmm. Not the ringing endorsement i am looking for and heroes shouldn’t be “vapid.” I’ll have to think about that one. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > > [@Cervaise](#): > > > > At the age of 8, add Cleopatra in Space. > > As long as we’re thinking forward, around that age you could add the [Akiko books.](https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=akiko+book+series&crid=3VS48Q7IH1WF0&sprefix=akiko+book+series%2Caps%2C182&ref=nb_sb_noss) Let’s see if I remember this thread in a few years. > [@Cervaise](#): > > Which reminds me — another comic-book series that’s good for a young reader is _The Courageous Princess._ It seems there’s a lot of subverting tropes in this genre but…what’s up with all the princesses? I can’t thank everyone enough! Starter books in the Magic Tree House, Thea Stilton, and Princess in Black series are on their way to my niecelet. Holding in reserve the wonderful suggestions for The Worst Witch, Hamster Princess, Courageous Princess, and Akiko. Hopefully your suggestions fuel her love of reading (or for now, being read to) without overwhelming my niece. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/22 "2022-10-12T18:16:07Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > I’m going to mildly disagree that these books are full-stop terrible. Hold up–the full sentence was “There’s a series that’s absolutely goddamned terrible, **but only if you’re a grownup.** ” I consider that fair warning :). On their merits, I think we’re in complete agreement. > [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > Hmmm. Not the ringing endorsement i am looking for and heroes shouldn’t be “vapid.” I’ll have to think about that one. Yeah, there’s no ringing endorsement for the book, but they’re one of the book series that helped me to understand that it’s okay for me not to be the target audience of every children’s book series. It’s not like they’re teaching kids some sort of gross retro gender roles or anything, and everything @Cervaise said about their value to young readers is true. Just be prepared not to enjoy reading them if you get them. > [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > It seems there’s a lot of subverting tropes in this genre but…what’s up with all the princesses? A reporter interviewed Mo Willems a few years back, and one of their final exchanges was something like this: > [@paraphrased interview](#): > > Reporter: My five-year-old daughter wanted me to ask you this question: why are there no princesses in your books? > Willems: Democracy. Just when I thought I couldn’t love Mo Willems any more. ([here’s the interview](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/16/magazine/mo-willems-interview.html?), but I’ve reached my limit of NYTimes articles.) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/23 "2022-10-12T18:36:24Z")
The Rainbow Fairy books are the right reading level and pretty good, although the plots are all quite similar. Two human girls help a different fairy each time recover some crucial magic item stolen by mischievous Jack Frost. A great book that’s for older kids you could read to her is Castle Hangnail, by Ursula Vernon. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/24 "2022-10-12T18:39:45Z")
A general warning for this type of thread: Don’t take it at all personally when the highly recommended book you provided just doesn’t land, and the kid has absolutely no interest in it. I mean, think of all the critically acclaimed and wildly popular adult stories that you (who are reading this) really don’t have any interest in. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/25 "2022-10-13T13:28:40Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > A general warning for this type of thread: Don’t take it at all personally when the highly recommended book you provided just doesn’t land, and the kid has absolutely no interest in it. I don’t know if this is a warning for me but I won’t take it personally. I’m just buying the books. I didn’t write them. I’m shipping the books off to my niece for the niecelet. My niece will be the one reading them. Once I give a gift, it’s up to the recipient to enjoy it or not as they choose. No pressure from me. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/26 "2022-10-13T13:48:09Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > A general warning for this type of thread: Don’t take it at all personally when the highly recommended book you provided just doesn’t land, and the kid has absolutely no interest in it. Another good one is “don’t take it personally if your kid isn’t at a certain developmental place by a certain time. It is not predictive”. There is no way my son would have sat still for chapter books, however short, at 3 or 4. In fact, he never let me read to him at all until he was in kindergarten, and then it was only Percy Jackson. It broke my English teacher heart that “reading time” was never part of our bedtime routine. He is an absolutely voracious reader now, at 10. Inhales books. Has embarrasingly high scores on every assessment. He just was too much of a wiggle worm when he was a preschooler. He wanted to _play_. He wouldn’t watch TV, either. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/27 "2022-10-13T13:58:33Z")
Three years old is pretty young, but at some point you might consider the “Ottoline” books by Chris Riddell, which are great fun - “Ottoline and the Yellow Cat” is the first one of the four. If those go down well, he has a “Goth Girl” series that is a little more challenging but in a similar vein. Not a series, but definitely a fun book for a three-year-old looking for something with a resourceful girl protagonist: [“The Day Louis Got Eaten” by John Fardell](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Day-Louis-Got-Eaten/dp/1849393877). Personally I found it hilarious, and I’m a middle-aged man. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2022, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/28 "2022-10-16T07:54:09Z")
You might consider the Three Thieves series by Scott Chantler. It’s a fun, swashbuckling adventure story with a young girl as the protagonist who is clever and agile that is enjoyable without having to notice certain gender-related trope inversions. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2022, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/29 "2022-10-16T08:27:16Z")
Thanks to all in this thread - I am mining all these recommendations and adding them to my shopping list for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/30 "2022-10-16T14:49:44Z")
The Questioneers series by Andrea Beaty is very popular in my library. Titles include Ada Twist, Scientist and Iggy Peck, Architect. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/31 "2022-10-16T23:21:21Z")
If you want non-fiction, there is _[Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls](https://www.rebelgirls.com/products/good-night-stories-for-rebel-girls)_. It is page long biographies of various historical and contemporary women. It says 6+, but we started reading it to our kid around 3. This, of course, prompted such things as explaining fascism to a 3 year old, what does “executed” mean, and other difficult, but important topics. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2022, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/32 "2022-10-16T23:25:44Z")
It’s a standalone book, not a series, but I highly recommend _Coraline_, which features a strong, courageous, clever young girl who has to save her parents. It’s much better than the movie, which invented the character of Wybie just so she could have a male character come to her rescue at the climax. Might be a little intense and frightening for a 3-year-old, though. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/33 "2022-10-17T12:54:29Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > You might consider the Three Thieves series by Scott Chantler. Keeping these in mind for Christmas. > [@echoreply](#): > > If you want non-fiction, there is _[Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls](https://www.rebelgirls.com/products/good-night-stories-for-rebel-girls)_. I think she has this or something similar and I don’t want to duplicate. Good suggestion though. > [@ekedolphin](#): > > It’s a standalone book, not a series, but I highly recommend _Coraline_, which features a strong, courageous, clever young girl who has to save her parents. It’s much better than the movie, which invented the character of Wybie The movie was pretty scary. Maybe the book is not quite as gruesome but I think this one can wait for a little while. Thanks for the suggestion. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/34 "2026-06-25T16:56:44Z")
Bumping this thread a few years later to report back. Princess in Black was an immediate hit. She even assembled a Princess in Black costume herself which was good enough that she was recognized when wearing it out. She didn’t latch onto the Magic Treehouse series right away but now, having finished first grade and reading independently, she loves the blend of history, science, geography, and adventure. She is reading these all nowindependently using her library card. I’m looking back at this thread and realizing that I may have waited too long to pick up some of the other books that were recommended. So what are recommendations for chapter books for a precocious rising second grader reading at a third-fourth grade level but not really having a ton of emotional maturity? Any recommendations are appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/35 "2026-06-26T04:41:43Z")
Might be a little advanced for a second grader but the Ruby Redford series by Lauren Child is pretty good, especially if your kid likes puzzles. I think it’s aimed at the 9-14 age range if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/36 "2026-07-12T15:03:02Z")
Thanks for the suggestion! They sound like good books but I think you’re right that they are a little mature for her. This is an idea I’ll keep in mind for a year or two. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078/37 "2026-07-14T16:09:50Z")
Never mind [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girl-led-adventure-series-for-young-kid/973078.md?page=1)