those with 7/8 year old daughters

I have a 6 year old daughter who loves to read and me reading to her... I recently asked her teacher what books the older years were reading as we had done the Roald Dahl books etc and she recommended Dick King Smith and I will be popping afew of his books in the stocking at Christmas because I have read they are very popular!

HTH

My daughter liked (and still does) the Milly-Molly-Mandy books.

This one's good https://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productSearch_10001_10051_92364_100___10_SimpleSearch_2_1_2__basicSearch_

My daughter is 8 and at the moemtn she is reading through a pile of Jaqualine Wilson books that her cousin passed on to her and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She also likes those fairy books, the ones where each book is about a different named fairy.

I bought her Anne of Green Gables and it still sat the shelf unread.

HTH a little bit

Oh, and she'd probably like any High School Musical book. They have a couple in her age range on The Book People's website too.

Milly-Molly-mandy, Roald Dahl and dick king smith were all firm favourites 20+ years ago, so that's vaguely positive.

However, my niece is mad for High School Musical, had a "night club" party for her 7th birthday, wears higher heels than me most days and has a (fake) fur jacket that makes her look like a miniature hooker. She isn't going to appreciate Anne Shirley and Laura Ingalls is she?

I don't know, she might like a nice relaxing read at the end of her day.

Does she really wear high heels?

Yes ?

[repeats to self "must not judge, must not judge, must not judge"]

Wow! My 14 year old tried a pair of my high(ish) heels on the other day and was walking like - well I just can't explain it, but it didn't look very lady-like.

How does she manage? To be honest, I don't actually think I've ever seen high heels for little girls in the shops, or has she got big feet? (that sounds a bit rude but it's not meant to be)

Mine loves michael morpurgo books (i quite like some of them too) - more edgy (not sure if that is the right word really) but i would see them as will be/some are classics

well written but not so old fashioned

that said she also loves roald dahl,

she also has my books from when i was that age - narnia chronicles, borrowers - all the old stuff

she does like high school musical etc - but i dont like her reading 'trash' - plenty of time for that when she is my age ?

Not high, high-heels, maybe 2 inches? (i usually wear trainers ?)

I'm more a flat-shoe-wearer too. Only wear high heels if I HAVe to and end up wishing I wore flatties!

Anyway, have you decided what you'll get your niece?

Part of me wants to get her Anne of Green Gables, and Little House, I loved them at her age, and want to share them with her, and giver her a slightly different perspective on the world than High School Musical, but then I think it really isn't fair - getting what i want for her present ?. For her birthday we got her high school musical stuff, but have no idea if she likes it or not, never heard back.

i think i probably will get her Anne and Little House, but also get her something she will appreciate. I think that will be the model from now on - something she wants *And* something I think she ought to have ?

I think I was mainly wondering if today's children do still read the books we read - which weren't new when we read them!

My 7 yr old likes Felicity Wishes books, and those fairy ones that someone mentioned earlier. At the moment we're reading the Malory towers books, which she's really enjoying. She also likes Roald Dahl.

The book Anna and I are reading atm is 'The Ordinary Princess' by MM Kaye. It's wonderful. It's about a 7th princess (always the most beautiful) being given the gift of ordinariness by one of her fairy godmothers - so she grows upwith a turned up nose, mousy brown hair and freckles. None of the princes, dukes etc want to marry her because she's so ordinary, so the King and Queen come up with a scheme to hire a dragon to lay waste the countryside. The Princess would be locked in a tower and the word put out that any prince who slayed the dragon could have her hand in marriage (ie. it would be impossible to back out once the dragon was slain). She runs away when she hears what's going to happen, becomes a kitchen maid...etc

It's just luvverly.

My daughter is 8 and she loves the Secret Seven books at the moment.

Oh yes, I remember that one, i loved it too!

I'm glad to hear 7 and 8 year olds enjoy the same books I did, even though they were old fashioned then. And i suppose there were plenty of girls when I was little who didn't read at all, and definitely didn't read Anne of Green gable, or Little Women. I suppose I just didn't notice them then.