Fun reads for girls about 7-11

This list is by no means comprehensive. It’s just a few of our favorites.  Many of these will be more interesting to girls than boys, but some of them will be interesting to both sexes.  I have another list I will share more geared to boys.  The age spread listed is a general guide- some of these will not be interesting to 7 year olds, or will be too difficult for them to read alone.  The order is meaningless- I just wrote them down as they came to mind.  I started this list several years ago- around 20 years ago now that I think of it.  It was an answer to a question on an email list.  I add to it from time to time.  You will have some titles you will be shocked not to see on my list.  That's probably an oversight on my part.

As always, adults need to preview to make sure these are suitable for your family.

• Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray
• Elizabeth Enright Books: the Melendy family books, the Gone Away Lake series, and others by Elizabeth Enright.
• The Betsy-Tacy Treasury: The First Four Betsy-Tacy Books
• by Maude Hart-Lovelace.  Later books in the series have more romance, but the first 4 books are great for the 7 and 8 year olds (and older)
• Moffat family books and others,  by Eleanor Estes 100 Dresses is especially suitable for the younger children in this age group.
• Porch Lies (etc, it's a longer title) by Patricia McKissack, possibly better as a read aloud. These are stories of the sort her grandparents and other family members might have told on their front porch, tales of tricksters and slicksters. Some are a bit spooky.  Vernacular and dialect might be hard for the younger readers.
• Little Women, and almost everything else by Louisa May Alcott
• Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Frances Hodgson Burnett’s books
• Other books by the same author as The Wheel on the School
• Blue Mystery and others by Margot Benary-Isbert
• Thornton Burgess's Old Mother West Wind stories and the "Adventures of..." stories are great for building reading fluency for the 7-8 year olds.
• May'naise Sandwiches and Sunshine Tea- this looks like a picture book, but it's a sweet, precious story that shouldn't be missed and I think 7-8 year olds would love it.
• Walter Brooke’s Freddy the Detective (Freddy the Pig) is often styled a boy book, and boys will love it, but so will most girls. There are others in the series, too, all fun.
• Blue Willow and others by Doris Gates
• For those who love and seem to need a series, try The riddle of the red whale and others by same author.
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Wolves Chronicles) and others by Joan Aiken
• Almost anything by Kate Seredy
• Carol Ryrie Brink’s books, especially Baby Island.
• Rebecca Caudill’s books, The Happy Little Family will especially delight younger readers and be easier for them to read.  Bethlehem Books republished several.
• The Wind in the Willows
• The original Pooh’s Library: Winnie-The-Pooh, The House At Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, Now We Are Six (Pooh Original Edition), and accept no substitutes nor Disney Anti-Pooh versions. Just don’t. Y
• Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear and others by Lensey Namioka- these are terrific stories of a Chinese immigrant family trying to adjust to American schools and customs.  I like them all but this is the favourite.
• E. Nesbit’s books (some have magic in them, some don’t. The Railway Children and The Would-Be-Goods don’t. I haven’t read one of hers that I didn’t like.)
• Natalie Savage Carlson’s books, especially The Family Under the Bridge and The Happy Orphelines books.
• All-of-a-Kind Family (There are sequels and they are okay, bu we don’t love them nearly so much)
• A Single Shard and others by Linda Sue Park. this one is historical fiction set in Korea in the days when the wonderful Celadon green pottery was made. The story of an orphan who learns the pottery trade.
• Elizabeth Yates, Amos Fortune, Freeman
• other good biographies
• Old Mother West Wind and 6 Other Stories (Children’s Thrift Classics) and other books by Thornton Burgess
• “B” Is for Betsy and other Books by Carolyn Haywood
• What Katy Did and other Katy books by Susan Coolidge
• Marguerite Henry’s horse books
• Elizabeth Coatesworth has had several of her books republished by Bethlehem books.  I have not read them all but I have not read one I did not like. Five Bushel Farm (Sally (Bethlehem Books) is a favourite.
• Miriam Mason- she wrote some of the Childhood of Famous Americans books (which are also fun for the 7 and 8 year olds), but most of her books are oop, which is a shame.  Smiling Hill Farm is a delightful story for this age group.
•  Ruth Sawyer- definitely preview.  We loved Roller Skates, for instance, but there is a difficult death- as gently handled as it is possible to handle (it's a suicide), and I would keep this one for readers more in the 12-14 range, but others might feel differently.  
• Rumer Godden’s children’s books, which are usually about dolls and delightfully charming.  She wrote a lot of adult woman's fiction, too, and you would not want to accidentally hand one of those to your 9 year old.
• Enid Meadowcroft’s biographies and history books
• Charlotte’s Web and others by E.B. White.  I know two families of children 9 and under, boys and girls, who just finished Trumpet of the Swan and loved it. 
• The Miss Bianca books by Margery Sharp.  She wrote the original Rescuers, which is nothing like the movie, and these are all delightful fun.  She also wrote a great deal of fiction for adults, and you don't want to mix them up, but the Miss Bianca books are fairly obviously for children.  Garth Williams illustrated most of them. 
• Esperanza Rising- story of a Mexican immigrant family.  Delightful.
• The Wizard of Oz is just the first book in a very long and extensive series.  I didn't ever love them myself, but many children do, and they fit this age range.  My dislike is more a matter of personal taste than any objection to the writing quality or the morality.
• The Gammage Cup
• The Pushcart War (New York Review Children’s Collection) and others by Jean Merrill
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and the rest of the series, probably for the upper end of this age group
• books by Elizabeth Orton Jones are terrific for those in the stage where they crave a series.
• No Flying in the House  by Brock
• Probably all of Rebecca Caudill’s books
• Grandma’s Attic books by Arleta Richardson, Christian fiction, which I usually do not care for, but these are quite charming and deilghtful.
• Alice Dalgliesh has books mostly for 8 and below, but they are all delightful.
• The Little Riders and others by M. Shemin
• Strawberry Girl and others by Lois Lenski
• Marguerite Henrywrote wonderful horse books that probably every girl from 8-12 adores.
• The Peterkin Papers, by Lucretia Hale
• Rachel Field wrote Hitty, Calico Bush, and others that are great reads.
• Dandelion Cottage – The Original Classic Edition and others by Carol Watson Rankin. This one is also free on Kindle, as are several of those above.  Dandelion Cottage is perfect for the youngest children, so cute.  Pre-read others to see about suitability for the younger readers.
• They Loved to Laugh, probably more 12-14, but you decide.
• The Green Knowe books by Lucy Boston- these are magical and mysterious and as such, some of my readers won't like them.  I love them.  I think they have something like George MacDonald's sense of mist and the mysterious for younger readers.
• Noel Streatfield's books are lovely for girls in the 8-12 range.    Younger children would probably enjoy man as read alouds.
• The Borrowers by Mary Norton
• The Plain Princess by Phyllis McGinley  (shhhh, don't tell anybody or the prices will go up, but this and many other fabulous stories to read to your kids is available in the excellent Reader's Digest collection, Great Stories for Young Readers. Currently there are nearly 20 copies available for 2.29 at Amazon.
• The Light Princess by George MacDonald (that's a link to a free Kindle version)
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Sainte-Exupery (older stories)
• 
  

This one is free on Kindle (as is Dandelion Cottage)- it's not quite as good as most of the others above, but it's a fun story of a little girl who accidentally goes back in time through a green door and some lessons she learns:

The Green Door 
by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman

Here is a sample so you can see if the reading level works for your student:

Letitia lived in the same house where her grandmother and her great-grandmother had lived and died. Her own parents died when she was very young, and she had come there to live with her Great-aunt Peggy. Her Great-aunt Peggy was her grandfather’s sister, and was a very old woman. However, she was very active and bright, and good company for Letitia. That was fortunate, because there were no little girls of Letitia’s age nearer than a mile. The one maid-servant whom Aunt Peggy kept was older than she, and had chronic rheumatism in the right foot and left shoulder-blade, which affected her temper.

Letitia’s Great-aunt Peggy used to play grace-hoops with her, and dominoes and checkers, and even dolls. Sometimes it was hard for Letitia to realize that she was not another little girl. Her Aunt Peggy was very kind to her and fond of her, and took care of her as well as her own mother could have done. Letitia had all the care and comforts and pleasant society that she really needed, but she was not a very contented little girl. She was naturally rather idle, and her Aunt Peggy, who was a wise old woman and believed thoroughly in the proverb about Satan and idle hands, would keep her always busy at something.

If she were not playing, she had to sew or study or dust, or read a stent in a story-book. Letitia had very nice story-books, but she was not particularly fond of reading. She liked best of anything to sit quite idle, and plan what she would like to do if she could have her wish—and that her Aunt Peggy would not allow.

• The above are affiliate links. This list is in no way a thorough and complete list. It’s just a start, although I do say it myself, it's a pretty fantastic start!

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