Hi everyone. My daughter loves being read to at bedtime and I'm always struggling to find new age appropriate sci-fi and fantasy.
Some examples of books she liked –
Harry Potter series,
A Wizard of Earthsea,
The Wild Robot series,
Howl's Moving Castle,
A Christmas Carol,
The City of Ember series,
Percy Jackson series,
Willy Wonka,
Narnia series,
The Hobbit
Books she did not like –
The BFG,
Lord of the Rings,
Dragons at Crumbling Castle,
Dragon Masters
by ControlTop7723
28 Comments
Watership Down is great
I loved a fantasy series called Deltora Quest by Emily Rodda when I was your kid’s age! Each book in the series is short, but very easy to blow through. If she’s read the Harry Potter series, she can easily blow through Deltora Quest.
Also, have you considered Eragon? I think I started reading that book when I was a year or two older.
Try Shannon Hale’s works. Jessica Day George too.
*Dealing With Dragons*
*The Girl Who Drank the Moon*
*The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making*
*Hamra and the Jungle of Memories*
*Marikit and the Ocean of Stars*
The Enchanted Forest series
Amari series
Wings of Fire series
Dragons in a bag (trilogy)
Ranger’s Apprentice, Brotherband, and the Royal Ranger series by John Flanagan
All of Diana Wynne Jones’ Chrestomanci series, 8 days of Luke, The Ogre Downstairs etc.
If heavier (but still middle grade!) themes are okay, *The Underland Chronicles* and *Animorphs* are both delightful. The Wizard of Oz series was also a favorite of mine around her age!
The Molly Moon books by Georgia Byng
The Doomspell Trilogy by Cliff McNish
Sherwood Smith Wren series or A Posse of Princesses
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is fabulous!
Impossible Creatures is fun. Also, Roald Dahl. James and the Giant Peach, etc.
Cornelia Funke and Angie Sage write series she probably would enjoy
The 13 Colcks by James Thurber. The princess is held captive until the frozen 13 clocks start again. Beautiful language and a fun story. The phrase ” I will cut you from your guggle to your zatch” was a familiar threat in our home growing up.
Sword in the Stone
The Waterbabies
Wind in the Willows
Charlotte’s Web
Sikander series by annabel steadman
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, The Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson, Nightbirds on Nantucket and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Jane Aiken, Anything by Andre Norton or Anne McCaffrey, and the Dark Rising Series by Susan Cooper.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’engle
Wings of Fire series – there are 20 of them and they are all awesome.
Podkayne of Mars by Robert Heinlein. It’s old school hard scifi with a young female protagonist. I read it in 2nd grade and it turned me on to the genre.
The Underland chronicles by Suzanne Collins !!
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. A young witch and her small rowdy friends set out to rescue her brother from the Queen of the fairies.
Also by Pratchett, Truckers. A group of Nomes must work together when the Store they live in closes down.
Thomas Taylor’s books starting with Malamanda are great. Sea monsters, giant robots, a talking cat, and a clockwork mer-monkey that dispenses books.
I started reading Lois Lowry at that age. I would highly recommend. Some of Brandon Sanderson’s secret projects may be appropriate (ie. Tress of the Emerald Sea) and I also second The Girl Who Drank the Moon
Heir apparent by Vivian Velde Might skirt the edge.
Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend
I adored reading Pendragon by D.J. Machale when I was growing up. I don’t remember what age. The earlier books were smaller easier reads, progressing the further along in the series
Star Wars, maybe Star Wars: Quest for The Hidden City