Quick Post: Favorite Read-Alouds for Six- and Seven-Year-Olds

Jennifer asked:

My daughter is closer to your Beanie’s age.  What are your favorite read alouds for 6-7 year olds?

I will try to give a more articulate response to the rest of your comment later, Jennifer, but for now, here’s an off-the-top-of-my-head list of great read-alouds for girls your daughter’s age. (Some of these are great for boys too.)

Milly-Molly-Mandy by  Joyce Lankester Brisley. (Such sweet, simple stories. Huge hit with all three of my girls in turn.)

The Wheel on the School by Meindert deJong.

Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner. (Short chapter book, a real tearjerker.)

The My Father’s Dragon series by Ruth Stiles Gannett.

Oh! My absolute favorite for this age! Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield. This is really a perfect novel. And so on the mark for homeschoolers—the scene in which Betsy first goes to the Vermont country school is both funny and dead-on in its discussion of school "placement" issues.

Fairy tales and tall tales.

D’Aulaire’s Greek Myths.

D’Aulaire’s  Benjamin Franklin.

Charlotte’s Web.

The first four Betsy-Tacy books.

Once Upon a Time Saints by Ethel Pochocki.

There are many more I could include, but I think the fact that these are the books that spring readily to mind is a sign of their enormous value to our family!

And We Have a Winner!

Am I the first blogger to report a non-alcohol related vomiting incident in 2007? Our poor Beanie started the New Year off with a bang. As in, the bang of our bedroom door hitting the wall at 4:30 a.m. as she entered to tell us her tummy hurt. Cue Steve Martin’s Parenthood:

Father: "Do you feel like throwing up?"

Daughter: "Okay." (Retches on father.)

Woo woo woo!