My Suggestions for Children’s books ages 7-10.

imageI have realised that I am passionate about reading and achildren learning to read. I believe that one of the greatest gifts that we can give a child is the ability to read. My children literally have thousands of books. They love reading and hate parting with books. I will never forget the occasion I walked into a friend’s 3 & 2 year old daughters bedroom and looked around. There was no bookshelf but a huge cupboard with heaps of toys in it. I had given this friend books for each of her children and she proudly opened the cupboard door and showed me the sum total of all their books. If you excluded the 6 books I had given to her children, there were only 2 other books. This friend did not value books and reading like I do.

As a parent, I see part of my role is always making sure that my children have the next level of books ready to read. I realise that one of the ways that I can influence their character, their imagination, their vocabulary, their future, is by supplying them with books that encourage and inspire them to great heights. If I am raising children who are, and are going to be, world changers, then I need to watch what I feed their minds with.

I believe in the power of reading great and inspiring biographies/autobiographies. The best series we have found for our kids is the “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge. They are brilliant, inspiring, and well worth the money. Our kids have a great understanding about most of the international mission groups throughout the world and the things the founders went through at the beginning of their journey. We have most of the set which also includes the “YWAM Heroes of History”. I cannot recommend these books highly enough.

I am listing a suggested reading list of books for girls and boys aged 7-8 years and also 9-10 years. This is a “suggested” list only as it is what my children have loved at that age. Every child is different. I have an adventure mad son who loves adventure, mystery and suspense. The ages are also approximate as some children read fluently earlier than others. Princess (11) was reading “Little House on the Prairie” in Prep, basically self taught, whilst Matey (8) is really only now reading fluently in grade 2 after a lot of time and effort put in from me. Let me stress again, these are the books that mychildren have loved and their favourites in their own bookcases. They have read a lot more, but these are their all time favourites.

The ages are only approximate as every child’s reading fluency and emotional ability is different. Plus, even though I have separated them into boys and girls, my Princess has read just about every book listed on the boy’s lists. She devours books and loves the adventure as well. Likewise, one of Matey’s all time favourites is “Amelia Bedelia”. He has read a number of the books I have listed under the girl’s section. Thus, the books can usually be suited to both genders. Princess has read this list over, added more suggestions and wanted me to really stress that she loves all the books I’ve put on the boys list as well.

I have marked certain books with **. This means that they are definitely Christian reading.

Feel free to post comments at the end of the blog on what your children enjoy reading.

Girls ~7-8 years

  1. “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge**
  2. “Cul-de-Sac Kids” series by Beverley Lewis**
  3. “Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories” series by Arthur S. Maxwell**
  4. “The Little Princess” by Sheri Rose Shepherd**
  5. “Alex” by Nancy Simpson Levene** -great to read to your kids & talk about consequences for actions as the 8 year old Alex is caring but struggles with telling the truth to her parents & teachers
  6. “LightKeeper” series by Irene Howat** (10 Girls who made a difference, changes history etc)
  7. “Sarah & Paul” series by Derek Prime**
  8. “Here’s Lily” series by Nancy Rue**
  9. “Milly Molly Mandy” series by Joyce Lankester Brisley
  10. “Amelia Bedelia” series by Peggy Parish and Herman Parish
  11. “Black Beauty” by Anne Sewell
  12. “Pony Pal” series by Jeanne Betancourt
  13. “Secret Seven” series by Enid Blyton
  14. “Bobsey Twins” series by Laura Lee Hope
  15. “Pippi Longstockings” by Astrid Lindgren
  16. “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
  17. “Heidi” by Johanna Spyri
  18. “A Little Princess” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
  19. “The Boxcar Children” series by Gertrude C. Warner
  20. “The Little House on the Prairie” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  21. “Go Girls” series (written by Australian authors who spent a week in a private school in Melbourne asking Grade 3 girls about their concerns etc, then wrote a series of books about them)

Girls ~9-10 years

  1. “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge**
  2. “Grandma’s Attic” series by Arleta Richardson**
  3. “Best Friends” series by Hilda Stahl**
  4. “FaithGirlz” series by Nancy Rue**
  5. “The Ponytail Girl” series by Bonnie Compton Hanson**
  6. “A Girl after God’s Own Heart Devotional” by Elisabeth George**
  7. “Sisters in Time” series of Historical Fiction** (American Challenge, American Dream etc)
  8. “Little Women” series by Louisa May Alcott
  9. The “Trudy” Series eg “Trudy takes Charge” by Mary Alice Faid (old Sunday School prizes of mine)**
  10. “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo**
  11. “Bindi” series by Bindi Irwin
  12. “Go Girls” series by various authors
  13. “Famous Five” series by Enid Blyton
  14. “Trixie Belden” series by Julie Campbell Tratham
  15. “MaloryTowers” series by Enid Blyton
  16. “St. Clare’s” series by Enid Blyton
  17. “Valley Farm” series by Anne Pellowski
  18. “The Diary of Anne Frank”
  19. “The SIlver Sword” by Ian Serraillier
  20. “Nancy Drew” series by Carolyn Keene (the older books are better than newer version)
  21. “Anne of Green Gables” series by L.M. Montgomery
  22. “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” series by Kate Douglas Wiggin
  23. “Pollyanna” by Eleanor H. Porter
  24. “Girl Wise” by Sharon Witt
  25. “The Australian Girls Series”
  26. “The Agatha Christie Adventures Graphic Series” (Hercule Poirot) adapted by Francois Riviere
  27. “My Royal Story” series by different authors put out by Scholastic
  28. “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis
  29. “The Happiest Refugee” by Anh Do
  30. “True Spirit” by Jessica Watson
  31. “Life without Limits” by Nick Vujicic
  32. “Swimming to Antartica” by Lynne Cox
  33. “Soul Surfer” by Bethany Hamilton** (Princess’ all time favourite)
  34. “Running Pink” by Deborah De Williams (ran 18,000 km around Australia)
  35. “Gifted Hands – the Ben Carson story” by Gregg Lewis

Boys ~7-8 years

  1. “The Berenstain Bears” by Stan & Jan Berenstain**
  2. “Yun – The Illustrated Story of Brother Yun The Heavenly Man” by Paul Hathaway (comic book version)**
  3. “Ladd Family Adventures” series about Josh Ladd by Lee Roddy**
  4. “Campfire Capers – Bill the Warthog” series by Dean Anderson
  5. “The Imagination Station” series by Marianne Hering & Paul McCuscker
  6. “LightKeeper” series  by Irene Howat** (10 Boys who changed the world, made a difference, etc)
  7. “Encyclopaedia Brown” by Donald J. Sobol
  8. “Tintin” by Herge
  9. “Mr Popper’s Penguins” by Richard & Florence Atwater
  10. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” by Barbara Robinson (series about the Herdman Family)
  11. “Curious George” by Margaret & H.A. Rey
  12. Richard Scarry series of books about Huckle
  13. “Robin Hood” by Archie Oliver
  14. “Australian Geographic – Our Australia” series by Phil Kettle
  15. “The Adventures of Mr Bean” adapted by the ABC
  16. “Crime Scene Whodunits” by Jim Sukach
  17. “Castle Diary: Journal of a Young Page” series by Richard Platt

Boys ~9-10 years

  1. “YWAM Christian Heroes Then and Now” series by Janet & Geoff Benge**
  2. “YWAM Heroes of History” by Janet & Geoff Benge
  3. “Freedom” series by Lois Walfrid Johnson**
  4. “Airquest Adventures: Sudden Impact” by Jerry B. Jenkins**
  5. “Sugar Creek Gang” series by Paul Hutchens**
  6. “Around the World in 80 Days” by Jules Verne
  7. “Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain
  8. “The Voyages of Captain Cook” by Paul Hanlyn
  9. “Treasure Island” by Robert L. Stevenson
  10. “Swiss Family Robinson” by Johann David Wyss
  11. “The Hardy Boys” series by Franklin W. Dixon
  12. “Biggles” series by Captain W.E. Johns
  13. “The Silver Sword” by Ian Serraillier
  14. “My Story” series, different authors put out by Scholastic
  15. “Toward the Goal: the Kaka Story” by Jeremy Jones**
  16. “The Two Minute Mysteries” series by Donald J. Sobol
  17. “You Be the Jury” series by Marvin Miller
  18. “Puzzles for Young Detectives” series by K. Franken
  19. “True Spy Stories” by Terry Deary
  20. “Usborne Puzzle Adventures” series by Mark Fowler
  21. “Stone Fox” by John Reynolds Gardiner
  22. “Adventures in Odyssey” by Paul McCusker **

I have sourced most of my books from Koorong or Word for the Christian books, op-shops, libraries, scholastic on special or bookdepository. If you click on the http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=raisingworld   link, it will take you there and any purchase you make gives me a small commission (ie~5%). Thanks. Also, if you google www.booko.com.au it will give you the cheapest place in the world, including postage, to buy the book from and have it delivered to your home.

 

3 thoughts on “My Suggestions for Children’s books ages 7-10.

  1. Kaidee

    Thanks so much for these list Jane!
    We’ve just printed them off to go through and find the ones we haven’t yet read.
    Much appreciated!

    • Jane Post author

      Hi Kaidee. Great suggestion. I need to work on that. I have found it harder as my kids have become older but I will look at doing that before Christmas.

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