DS6 is in first grade, and has been devouring the Junie B. Jones books. We have been taking regular trips to the public library to get them, since the librarian at school thinks she is too young for chapter books. (Don't even get me started on that issue). Anyway, she is getting to the point that she reads 3-4 of them PER DAY, and consistently makes 100% on her AR tests. So I think she's ready for something a bit more challenging. Any suggestions? It seems that most "girl" books for that level are either frivolous (kid fashion designers, etc) or magical (fairies, etc.) She has no interest in fantasy or typical "girly" things like fashion or babysitting or those sorts of things. She also isn't much of a fan of scary, so the Goosebumps books are out. She did enjoy the "My America" series, but has read almost all of them now. If it helps, her AR level is between a 3.1 and a 4.6. At least it was a month ago when she was tested. May be higher now. And honestly, even if it's above her level, I'm okay with that as long as she enjoys it!

Frannie K. Stein; Judy Moody, any Beverly Cleary books, Box Car Children, Rainbow Fairies

My ds6 (first grade) LOVED Freckle Juice by Judy Blume as well. I think we will start him on The Fudge series of books by her next. He also read through the George Brown class clown series.

My kids LOVE Captain Underpants. They're incredibly silly (the books, not my kids ;p ) wait... what am I saying... ha ha ha

Anyway, they'll read several per day (they're about 150 pages, something like that). My daughter also loved and read the Magic Kitten series, which is rated for ages 5-8, I believe, but they're chapter books.

(My kids LOVE Goosebumps )

Boxcar Children, Judy Blume, Beverly Cleary all seem to work well.

My kids seem to enjoy that newish mouse series of books that I can't remember off the top of my head where some of the words are colored.

The American Girl series seem like a good fit (you don't have to tell her that the dolls exist).

Maybe Encylopedia Brown? There are tons of them.

Ahhhh, yes. My DD was one of those non-girly girl types, too.

Trixie Belden mysteries-- may be a bit of a reach at the moment, but bear those in mind.

Mouse and the Motorcycle-- really, the Beverly Cleary options are very good, here.

Yes to the Boxcar Children.

Mary Poppins? Wizard of Oz?

DD also really loved the Captain Underpants books at that age.

She also ran through Magic Treehouse and Cam Jansen books about then-- but for heaven's sakes, don't BUY those. (Sorry... just really irked me that DH would BUY them for DD, when she polished them off in just an hour or two...)

The TimeWarp Trilogy.

Mrs. PiggleWiggle!! (Fair warning, though-- this mostly appeals to children like mine who have been raised in snark immersion environments... )

Sideways School books

The Great Brain

Benedict Society

Maude Hart Lovelace

Roald Dahl. (With the same caution as Mrs. P-W-- he appeals to some kids WAY more than to others. DD is a huge Dahl fan, but she has always been drawn to darker stuff in some ways)


The Series of Unfortunate Events (DD got books 1-7 for Christmas one year, which was at that point up to publication date).


This was about the time I quit worrying about reading level and just encouraged DD to read-read-read whatever she liked/wanted which was still more or less age-appropriate.

Independently my 6 yo dd likes Ivy and Bean, Judy Moody, and Magic Treehouse books. She will also devour Babymouse graphic novels and Diary of a Wimpy Kid on occasion.

She doesn't really care for Junie B Jones.

Wanted to add we just read together Measle and the Wrathmonk (a fantasy book not as difficult as Harry Potter) and we're now reading The Misadventures of Maude March.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Chicken-Society-Judy/dp/0823423727

DD7 just read this and loved it.

I just gave DD the first Nancy Drew and she is enjoying it. I've also been "forcing" Patricia Pollaco books on her.

You mean DD6, right? DS= dear son)

Judy Moody, Gooney Bird Greene, Ivy and Bean, Ramona (may be a bit hard--they are about 4th/5th grade level IIRC), Rumer Godden if you can find her. Many kids enjoy A to Z Mysteries and Magic Treehouse at about that level.

My ds6 started on Frankie Fernortner Mystery books. They may a little easy for dd (my ds can fly through them quickly) - but they're fun and "spooky" without being scary. He can read them by himself easily. For comparison, he loves Magic Treehouse but may need help with a word here and there.

I second Trixie Beldon and Ramona. But my DD7 is also sensitive and won't readily read anything remotely scary or dangerous on her own (harry potters, BFG scared her, even some A-Z mysteries) without strong encouragement. And she doen't do fantasy much. She plows through Ivy Bean, Judy Moody, Magic Treehouse and Junie B. We recently discovered Clarice Bean books and she is loving these too ... a bit higher level Junie B. She also loves non-fiction and National Geographic puts out some great books, especially through scholastic.

thanks for starting this as it is an issue for us too!

Oh, goodness, I'm so glad you guys realized that I meant DD, and not DS. Thanks so much for all the suggestions! I can't believe I never considered Roald Dahl. He's STILL one of my favorites, and I am fairly sure I still have all of his books around here somewhere. A lot of good suggestions here, and many that I've never heard of - but with this many ideas, I'm sure she'll run across something she likes. Thanks bunches!

I'd like to recommend the Secret Science Alliance by Eleanor Davis. It's about 3 kid inventors (one uber geek, one super cool genius girl, and one 2e jock) who have to protect their inventions from a rival scientist. It's comic book style so it's dense with images, but I think it's over 100 pages long. I think it's the sort of book that kids (especially gifted kids) can get a lot out of. Inspired by the book, we started building ("inventing") robots!

If you DD likes Junie B. Jones, she'd probably also like the Clementine books. They're about a very creative girl who is a little older than Junie B. She's extremely impulsive, which lands her in some funny situations.

The Magic Treehouse fact finders are a hit with my six year old DD (they are rated as a higher reading level than the fiction books themselves, but she was able to read them in K and I didn't think they seemd at a fourth or fifth grade level), she also likes Ivy and Bean, Animal Ark, Fairy Realm (my DD never liked girl things, but suddenly likes some fairy books)and many non fiction books on any topic that intests here (often animals or science).

I am always looking for suggestions too. I'd love to find books with more challenging vocabulary and sentence structure, with interesting non fiction tidbits sprinkled in so she learns something, but with content that appeals to a first grader. It looks like you are in the same boat.