Summer Reading for Advanced 7-Year-Olds: What My Daughter Read

When you’ve got an advanced reader, sometimes it’s difficult to strike the balance between books that are age-appropriate but still somewhat challenging. This past summer, my 7-year-old, a rising 4th grader, was reading on approximately a 5th-6th grade level. She was flying through the grade-appropriate books, but we finally found some series that excited her and met my standards. So today’s post is a bit different – I asked my daughter about her summer reading list. Hopefully it’ll give you some good ideas for summer reading for your advanced readers.

*For your convenience, I hyperlinked each book below to Amazon. Just know that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.*

book stack of advanced reader — summer reads (sans most of the library books)

Summer Reading Goal and Challenge

My personal goal for this summer was to help my daughter create a daily reading habit. In order to do that, we made a sticker chart. Keep the chain going, all summer, no exceptions. Minimum of thirty minutes reading every day to get a sticker. At the end of the summer, we agreed that a trip to Barnes & Noble and a stop at the local macaron shop were in order. And yes, it did work. To be completely honest, there were days when the reading was less than thirty minutes, but those days were few and far between. Like I said, my goal was to help my daughter establish a daily reading habit (not track a set number of minutes) and that’s exactly what happened.

I made sure my daughter knew that if she were really bored with a book, she was allowed to quit it and start something else. To date, that has only happened once (back during the school year) and she gave it a very fair shot. We followed her interests this summer – the books that she knew from movies, characters she was familiar with from Greek mythology, mysteries, etc. And as excited as she was for our macaron date, honestly, by the second or third week of summer, the sticker chart was almost forgotten. Days would go by where I knew she had read, but we had forgotten to update the chart. That’s when I knew it had worked. She was reading out of habit and, I daresay, enjoyment.

reading challenge sticker chart — Habit tracking for my 7-year-old: daily reading this summer

What did my 7-year-old read this summer?

We had a mix of library books, my old books pulled from a dusty bookcase, as well as some gifted from her grandparents. The apparent theme seemed to be finishing and starting series. Here are the books my daughter read and some of her thoughts on them.

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, 1972

My daughter had read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory during the school year, so started off her summer reading with the sequel. As much as she said she enjoyed this, she still prefers the first book. And speaking of Roald Dahl, I want to point out that Matilda was the first chapter book that my daughter flew through – either late first semester or early second semester of her 3rd grade year (age 6). I believe it really opened the floodgates to reading for her and I’ll always be so happy about that.

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown, 2018

This was another sequel. My daughter read The Wild Robot during the school year and loved it so much. The movie is one of her absolute favourites, but she tells me the books are still better.

The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown, 2023

The third and final instalment in the trilogy. My daughter was genuinely sad when she finished this series. In fact, as I’ve started reading the first book aloud to my 4-year-old at night, she loves to listen in, even though she’s already read it. As a read aloud, I really like how short the chapters are in The Wild Robot – like maybe 2 or 3 pages. When you’re constantly being interrupted by a 2-year-old, short chapters are great. I hate having to stop in the middle of chapters, so this features makes it an ideal read aloud with littles afoot.

There is a lovely boxed set of the Wild Robot trilogy on Amazon at this affiliate link.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling, 1997

I don’t know why I bothered to write the details for this – as if it’s not one of the most universally beloved children’s books of our generation. At first I was hesitant to let my 7-year-old start this series. I was concerned she was a bit too young. Not because of the content, but because of the complex story lines. Honestly, I just didn’t want her to miss anything. But she had seen the audiobooks on my bookcase and been asking about it for so long, I decided to let her at them. She was enthralled. And despite starting other series this summer that she intends to come back to, she says they will have to wait until after Harry Potter.

Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock by “Carolyn Keene”, 1987 ed

Because she had to wait for me to order the second Harry Potter book, my daughter decided to start Nancy Drew. She’s been begging to read my Agatha Christie collection, but I put my foot down. Only once she reads all of the Nancy Drew I own will I let her start the Queen of Crime. I figure by then, she might be old enough for the content. Maybe? This series was iconic of my childhood. I still remember when and where I read this first book in the series. It sparked a love of mysteries that I’ve kept to this day. (Hence the Agatha Christie collection.) I even collect vintage copies of Nancy Drew, so as my daughter progresses through the series, I can swap in some editions from the 30s and 50s and see how she likes it. All that to say, she enjoyed it and can’t wait to read more. More Nancy Drew and more mysteries, full stop. But after Harry Potter.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, 2005

Harry Potter n˚2 still hadn’t come (it had only been a few days – Nancy Drew maybe got her through the next 48 hours). She had this first book in the series on her shelf because I bought it for her thinking she’d like it after having studied Greek Mythology in 3rd grade. Sure enough, she loved the centaurs and thought it was super cool that she knew so many of the characters already. She said she wants to continue the series once she finishes Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling, 1998

The second book in the series finally arrived. And by this time, I already knew that she was not pronouncing names correctly. I couldn’t let her go around butchering Hermione’s name or accidentally calling him “Snap” instead of Snape. (Yes, she admits she was reading it kind of fast.) So I decided to let her listen to the audiobooks at night. I have them all on CD (narrated by Jim Dale) and she has absolutely loved that. She listens to the books after she’s read the physical copies. So she’s currently listening to the first and second on repeat at night while she continues to read the third book during the day.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier, 2010

This was my daughter’s first graphic novel. (She ended up reading it at least three times cover-to-cover before we returned it.) And the only reason we got it from the library is because she has a growing interest in orthodontia as a future career path. This book popped up when I was researching online for kid-friendly books on the topic of teeth…. and no, that was not an easy search, as you can imagine. She still ended up asking me to get her a $50 dental textbook that I showed her on Amazon. Maybe I’ll add that to the Christmas list that the grandparents get.

advanced 7-year-old reading — currently reading as of this publication

Final Thoughts on Very Young Advanced Readers

Before the summer started, when my daughter proceeded to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in less than 24 hours, I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to keep her busy with good quality books. Fortunately, there really are so many great middle grade novels. Yes, it has all been modern literature this summer. But I’m ok with that. Her bookcase is growing with classics like Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island that I know she’ll love when she gets to them. This summer was more about fuelling the fire to read and building that daily habit. I know she’ll get to the classics very soon. In the mean time, she’s reading some really great stories and loving reading. And that’s kind of the whole point.