Books for 5 - 10 Year Olds

September 5, 2015 3:35 PM

Every month, I send my sister's kids a box of books. As I, and most of my cohort, are childfree, I'm completely out of touch with what's cool these days.

My neice is 4 and my nephew is 7. For the last several years, I've been sending a monthly collection of books. I started with Puddle Lane, which I loved as a small child learning to read. They've really enjoyed them, but have recently received the last of the collection.

I've also sent classics such as Velveteen Rabbit, and others of my favorites, like Berenstain Bears, Clifford and Little Critter books. My husband recently introduced them to Encyclopedia Brown, which my nephew seems to like.

Neither seems drawn to any particular genre yet, but my neice is obsessed with animals and my nephew already considers himself a proud geek.

I'm looking for book recommendations to send over the next few years, for each individually and for both. They love reading together. I'm looking for early readers as well as chapter books and series/collections. I'd prefer more recent, but feel free to remind me of classics or more obscure older books. My holiday presents for them this year are Dr. Seuss themed.

All genres and topics, as age appropriate, of course. I would prefer to avoid religious books and books that too heavily stress traditional gender roles. Books that teach in fun ways are great, but I also want them to have books that are purely for enjoying reading.

posted by MuChao to Writing & Language (28 answers total)

Send them the Great Brain series by J. D. Fitzgerald. They are hilarious, riveting, and perfectly targeted to the older end of that age range, and they aren't read often enough any more despite feeling as fresh as ever.
posted by Miko at 3:47 PM on September 5, 2015 [7 favorites]

Timmy Failure for the 7 year old, and seconding the Great Brain
posted by neat graffitist at 4:04 PM on September 5, 2015

Do you want books for them to read themselves or for their parents to read aloud to them, or both?
posted by Redstart at 4:09 PM on September 5, 2015

Ursula Vernon's Dragonbreath books. When your niece gets older, she will enjoy the same author's Castle Hangnail and Hamster Princess books, which star girls. I also recommend the D'Aulaires books of mythology.
posted by jeather at 4:12 PM on September 5, 2015

Mighty Girl has outstanding recs for all age groups, and they're chosen with an eye toward active and diverse female characters.
posted by wintersweet at 4:17 PM on September 5, 2015

Dragon Slayers' Academy.
posted by zizzle at 4:24 PM on September 5, 2015

If "geek" includes Star Wars, the Jedi Academy series is a fun graphic novel set. My 6 year old loved it.
posted by xo at 5:16 PM on September 5, 2015

My 4-year old loves:
Press Here
Dragons Love Tacos
The Mr. Men / Little Miss Women books
Demolition
Weasels
Corduroy
The Gruffalo
Miss Rumphius

My 8-year old loves, and has read in the past two years:
Comics, especially Peanuts, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, Mutts, Big Nate
Graphic novels, especially Bone, Tintin, Asterix & Obelisk
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books
Nicholas books by de Goscinny (we just discovered these; they are hilarious!)
Ramona books and just about anything by Beverly Cleary
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and just about kid's book by Roald Dahl
Fudge series by Judy Blume
The Borrowers series by Mary Norton
posted by chickenmagazine at 6:10 PM on September 5, 2015

My 5 year old is really into the Elephant and Piggie series of books by Mo Willems.
posted by rozee at 6:35 PM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

Not a book suggestion, but try to find a Scholastic Book warehouse in your area. In early December they have a sale that you can register to attend (just say you're a volunteer or homeschooled, they really don't care). I'll spend $300 and dole them out throughout the year.
posted by wwartorff at 6:46 PM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad is a classic.

My daughter adored the Oxford Reading Tree "Biff, Chip, and Kipper" stories. The "First Experiences" volumes are really sweet and nicely "relatable." The 7 will be a bit old for them, but the 4 should eat them up. She openly mocked my old hopelessly dated Peter and Jane books, but the Biff, Chip, and Kipper stuff did not even register on her as a learn-to-read scheme; they were just good books.

Unfortunately Garfield is still beloved. Ha ha ha, he likes lasagna. Again. Ha ha. I have been unable to sell Judy Blume or Beverly Cleary; those are "old fashioned." Somehow we got the idea that stuff like Dork Diaries was more of the moment.

Dorling Kindersley is pretty reliable for non-fiction -- re. proud geek, see for example the Doctor Who Character Encyclopedia, and the Eyewitness books are a great thing to build a collection of. Similarly fascinating: Stephen Biesty's cross sections.
posted by kmennie at 7:16 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

I came to suggest the Scholastic Warehouse sale as well- they happen more than once a year and I think the best one is at the beginning of the summer. They have the books divided out by age and genre so its easy to find what you want. It's also easy to go nuts.

Another place easy to go nuts is Usborne. I am not a consultant, I don't care about MLMs at all and usually ignore people who sell in one... But Usborne books are just plain *cool*. They're colorful, often interactive, and they have a great selection. They're neat books. I peruse their catalog and pine for endless cash to buy books for my kids.
posted by LyndsayMW at 7:20 PM on September 5, 2015

For more recent:
Any of the books in the Magic Tree House series.
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Mix It Up! by Hervé Tullet
The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer, starting with The Wishing Spell
Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
Bats at the Library by Brian Lies as well as his other books
Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland as well as the other Miss Smith books
Pyjama Day by Robert Munsch as well as dozens more of his books


For older books/classics:
Any of the Paddington books
The Swiss Family Robinson
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L Konigsburg
posted by Lay Off The Books at 7:38 PM on September 5, 2015

Seconding Frog and Toad.
posted by furtive at 7:47 PM on September 5, 2015

My 4yo is also loving Frog and Toad right now.

There is a great book called Tuesday, which has no words but great illustrations. It's about flying toads and my LO likes making up the story as we flip through the pictures. Another beautifully illustrated book with no words is Journey, about a girl who is bored so she makes up some adventures.
posted by vignettist at 8:04 PM on September 5, 2015

I recommend the Westing Game to anyone 8 -100.
posted by zutalors! at 8:43 PM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is great!! You are a perfect aunt. I teach first grade and can attest that The Book With No Pictures is a huge hit. Also seconding the Elephant and Piggy series. Along the Frog and Toad lines, Fox from the Fox series by James Marshall is super cheeky and hilarious. Big crowd pleaser.

Oh, and Pete the Cat is a big sensation currently. Oh, and I find Something Good by Robert Munsch sweet and hilarious. It is a bit more old school Reading Rainbow era, though.
posted by mermily at 9:06 PM on September 5, 2015

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett.
posted by aniola at 9:23 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

My 7 year old boy is currently devouring the Humphrey the Hamster series. So many giggles!
posted by toodles at 9:29 PM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

The Boxcar Children

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

Choose Your Own Adventure

My Side of the Mountain series

The Saturdays

Hatchet
posted by Sassyfras at 11:10 PM on September 5, 2015

Oh, and 39 Clues
posted by Sassyfras at 11:10 PM on September 5, 2015

David Wiesner's picture books are wordless, but they are also incredible (and likely of interest to both animal lovers and geeks). Chester, by Melanie Watt, is great, as is Scaredy Squirrel. Do they have Click Clack Moo yet? If not, they should.
posted by bibliotropic at 11:33 PM on September 5, 2015

My kids really enjoyed the "Mercy Watson" books at 4 & 7. They are fun to read.

3rd grader likes the "Geronimo Stilton" books a lot right now.

"Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" is wonderful. The hardcover version I read was also beautifully crafted.

"Dog in Charge" is very silly & still makes my kids laugh, even though we read it dozens of times over the past year. It's perfect for the 4-year-old.
posted by belladonna at 7:15 AM on September 6, 2015

I just read a couple of Stick Dog books to my 8 year old, and he liked them. I thought it might be too simplistic, but nope. This would work for both age ranges. As an added bonus the underlying theme - although not at all obvious - is how to think through & solve a problem.

This year we've also enjoyed Shivers: The Pirate Who Was Afraid of Everything, the Dragonbreath series, and a couple of the My Zombie Goldfish.
posted by lyssabee at 9:18 AM on September 6, 2015

I will second the Mercy Watson books, loved by both 4-year-olds and up. My other thought when you mentioned animals was the Percy the Park Keeper series by Nick Butterworth. The Percy books are a little bit more complicated to find, but doable, and are very gentle and sweet and involve Percy's interactions with the animals in the park. His illustrations are lovely to look at, for both kids and adults. Ah, I was wrong, not that hard to find - on Amazon!

Less to read, and more to "do," but I also think that the Ed Emberley books are perfect for those ages and very fun to make your own animals from squiggly lines and simple shapes.

Oh, and because I could do this all night...I will add the Tumtum and Nutmeg book series by Emily Bearn. They do have some illustrations, but more of a long chapter book style in length, versus the Percy books which are several sentences per page. And...I don't think I saw Henry and Mudge books mentioned, which is an extensive series of starter chapter books. And, and, and...Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel.
posted by dawg-proud at 6:35 PM on September 6, 2015

Response by poster: If I were to mark everything as best answer, would any really be the best answer?

Thanks everyone! Keep them coming. There's no such thing as too many books!
posted by MuChao at 10:20 PM on September 6, 2015

Your local library will have a children's librarian who would love to give you recommendations!
posted by cooker girl at 7:52 AM on September 8, 2015

Oh my god, how did I forget this one.

The Penderwicks!!!

Seriously one of the best kids' series ever, easily one of the best being published today. (4 out of 5 books in the series are written, the last is scheduled for 2017.)

Other good series featuring strong girl characters, that my boys love too (mostly the 8 year old, only the Junie B. Jones books are simple enough for the 4-year old):
- Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows
- Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
- Junie B. Jones (so funny!) by Barbara Park
- Goony Bird by Lois Lowry
posted by chickenmagazine at 2:49 PM on September 8, 2015