It’s We Recommend! In which we post a request that's been sent to us, and do our best to get that person the right book. Know a kid who needs a book to read? Send us (thediamondinthewindow (at) gmail (dot) com) his or her likes, dislikes, favorites, quirks, and any other reading information that might be helpful, and we will think on it, and pose it to our oh-so-helpful readers. And look in the comments—all the best recommendations are there.
It's back! And it's a fun one, because just reading it makes you remember how much fun it is to start reading. All of a sudden you can fly, just anywhere. And lo, she is flying. See?
I stumbled across your website as we have just discovered the "Katie Woo" books and are looking for other recommendations for similar books. My daughter is 6.5-yrs-old and in Grade 1. She loves The Kingdom of Wrenly, The Adventures of Sophie Mouse, Mermaid Rock, The Cobble Street Cousins. I have read her all of The Magic Treehouse series, we are onto Greetings from Somewhere, and I have read aloud all of the animal books by Jill Tomlinson. There are a few great series that are a little bit too long for her to read yet like Piper Green, Violet Mackerel, and the Sword Girl books. She does not like Geronimo Stilton, Flat Stanley or Nate the Great. And we haven't tried any of the Junie B. Jones or Ivy and Bean type ones because I don't really like sassy, bickering characters that focus on school yard drama… haha…. Any suggestions for us!? Primarily looking for easy chapter books with some colour pictures that my daughter can read aloud like the Katie Woo books. Fairies, mermaids, strong, creative female main characters are a bonus.
Fairies! Mermaids! And wow, that Katie Woo has some special powers. Remember this? And the terrifying follow-up? Sometimes I still worry about that librarian hiding behind her desk while the little girls rattle the doors bellowing "Katie Woo! Katie WOO!"
Anywoo (ouch, sorry) what about this young lady? So many wonderful books for her! My first thought was The Fairy Realm, because oh! She would love them! But then I asked Chestnut, and she reminded me of all that is good. In other words, she remind me of this:
I have no idea why that is so gigantic. But the thing is: she is right. These books are wonderful, and they will be so utterly satisfying.
But…you all must have ideas, right? Mermaids? Fairies? Strong female characters? Books she will read on her own? Doesn't this sound like a wonderful pleasure? Please put all your excellent ideas in the comments, so she can read them all.
marcialerner.com 
It has been a long time since I was there, but I distinctly remember The Rainbow Fairies, and the bazillion other knockoffs. They are awful, repetitive, basically the same story over and over and over, but my kids LOVED them. Oh, my I thought I would die. But I didn’t, and I thing the repetition helped them learn to read, they knew what was coming next and next and next. I may be scarred for life, but they really did LOVE them at that age.
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How about the Princess in Black? There are several in the series. My almost 7 year old son loves them.
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The books that go along with the American Girl dolls are actually pretty good, and they do have some color illustrations. If I remember correctly, each doll has 6 books that tell her story, and they follow a bit of a formula (book 1 is the girl, book 2 about her friend, book 3 about some kind of problem, etc.). We never had a real American Girl doll but we checked ALL the books out at the library over time.
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Oh yeah, 6yo girls LOVE those execrable Rainbow Fairies. Never Girls books are sweet for fairy lovers.
Other books about creative girls (disclaimer, I haven’t read most of these but my kid has, vet them for sassiness!): Clementine, Judy Moody, Just Grace, Bink and Gollie.
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How about The Worst Witch books by Jill Murphy? Those are very age appropriate, and sorry, ever so much better than the fairy books:)
https://www.goodreads.com/series/55367-the-worst-witch
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Racketty Packetty House by Frances Hodgson Burnett is delightful. And if this young lady enjoys it, the Secret Garden and a Little Princess are waiting in the wings.
Perhaps also B is for Betsy? Roller Skates? Ballet Shoes? (or am I getting ahead of myself?)
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Oh! B Is for Betsey! I loved that. I do think she seems a fantasy oriented type (is that a type?). Which is a drawback, certainly, of Betsy-Tacy.
All of your ideas are so excellent. And maybe something like Miss Bianca? Is that even sold as Miss Bianca anymore? But it was so great.
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What about Miss Pigglewiggle? The illustrations aren’t colored, but the chapters stand alone
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Oh yes the Rainbow Fairies, my gosh I hated them. But they certainly were popular with my daughter and her friends. She also really liked The Fairy Chronicles series. They are maybe a tiny bit more advanced than Rainbow Fairies. Then don’t forget the Flower Fairies books – they are older books (1923) with beautiful illustrations showing which fairy goes with which flower and a poem for each one. Probably not the reading style for your little one but my daughter and I used to like to read them together.
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Thank you so much for all of these wonderful suggestions. We will check them all out and keep her new-found joy of reading alive.
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The Oz books and Narnia might be good read alouds.
The Dragon’s Child by Jenny Nimmo is a great early reader fantasy. My thirteen year old still has her copy of this book.
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