Seven year olds who have learnt to read independently tend to be most comfortable with short chapter books that have plenty of illustrations and simple language. They often have a preference for books that are funny (at least to seven year olds).
Seven year old readers often like to continue to build their reading skills by going through one book after another in a familiar series, before they become confident enough to move on to longer novels.
Below are suggestions for popular book series for seven year olds:
There's a Beast in the Basement
by Pamela Butchart & Thomas Flintham (Illustrator)
Baby Aliens series (book 14). Silly humour for newly confident readers age 7+
Fantastically Great Women Artists and their Stories
by Kate Pankhurst
Want to start at the beginning of the series? Fantastically Great Women Scientists and Their Stories made it onto the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2022 shortlist and is featured in our interview with Alan Wilson, Chair of the judging panel.
Fantastically Great Women (book 2) series for readers age 7+. This book features the stories of some of the most influential women in the art world, and young readers will learn a lot about different types of art.
Pankhurst has also written and illustrated a separate Fantastically Great Women series for children age 5+.
Planet Omar: Ultimate Rocket Blast
Zanib Mian, Kyan Cheng (illustrator)
Planet Omar series (Book 5). Laugh-out-loud series about an imaginative boy, for age 7+
The Fascinating Bug Book for Kids: 500 Startling Facts!
by Krystal Monique Toney
Want to start at the beginning? The first book in this series is The Fascinating Animal Book for Kids: 500 Wild Facts! which was recommended by wildlife ranger Margaret Darawanda in our interview The Best Books on Wild Animals for Kids.
Fascinating Facts (book 7). Science and engineering oriented non-fiction books on various topics for readers age 7+.
Asterix and the Griffin
Jean-Yves Ferri & Didier Conrad (illustrator)
Want to start at the beginning? The first volume, published in 1960, is Asterix the Gaul.
Asterix books have been recommended several times on Five Books: in an interview on The Best Books for Learning French, an interview on The Best Books on Learning Latin, and The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds (an interview with Helen in our By Kids for Kids section).
Asterix (album 39). New titles are still coming out in this bestselling comic series of all time. The current writer-illustrator team was mentored by Albert Uderzo, one of the original co-creators.
Readers will enjoy this comic book series more and more as they grow up and increasingly understand the references, but Asterix is popular with children as young as seven.
The Bolds Go Green
Julian Clary & David Roberts (illustrator)
The Bolds (book 6). Funny series about a family of hyenas who disguise themselves and try to blend in as humans, for children age 7+. Richly illustrated.
