35 book recommendations for kids between 5 to 10 years

We have an almost 4 year old! The last time I wrote about what she was reading, she was a wee little one with the attention span of a spoon. She may have that of a spatula now but I believe attention spans are like stomachs; they grow if you keep on feeding them.

This blog post is a list of book recommendations to transition from picture books to chapter ones. You will find a list of books for 5 to 10 year olds below!

Through Ghiasireads, I’m lucky to have conversations on books for adults and kids of diverse ages. So, this piece is well crowd-sourced and researched too. If you’re looking for reading material for your child or gifting options for this age group, here it goes:

  Classic books for kids

Aesop’s Fables illustrated by Don Daily was recently gifted to us and it’s timeless collection of short stories; a book recommendation for a 7 to 8 year old.

Another collectible is the Beauty and the Beast (or any of the Grimm brothers’ tales) beautifully handcrafted pop-up book by Robert Sabuda.

Matilda; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; The BFG, James and The Giant Peach, and what have you. No kid’s bookshelf is complete without the magic of Roald Dahl. You cannot go wrong with a Dahl when it comes to books for children between 6 to 7 years!

Green Eggs and Ham? The Cat in the Hat? Oh, the Places You’ll Go!? The answer is Dr Seuss; another author to read to your 5 year old!

Move aside, Peppa. The cutest pig for decades has been Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith. This author is a go-to for other animal-related reading.

Book series for kids that last a lifetime

I had a childhood without Enid Blyton but it’s not one I’ll risk for my daughter. The Famous Five series, to begin with, is an often repeated book recommendation for a 7 year old. Along with The Secret Seven series, this one grows with your child so it promises a few years of engagement. But if you’re in a hurry, The Faraway Series is a book recommendation for a 5 year old.  

We also have our eyes on the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell but it’s a book series to read to, or by, an 8 year old at least.

Another series that comes highly recommended for kids who are learning and improving their reading – between 7 to 10 year olds – is Amelia Fang by Laura Ellen Anderson. 

We love Chris Van Dusen thanks to Circus Ship and cannot wait to get our hands on this series he has illustrated: Mercy Watson by Kate DiCamillo. This is another book recommendation for a 5 to 6 year old.

Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby by Beverly Cleary are two classic series written in the '50s for kids between 6 to 11 years but they promise to grow with the child.

Books for kids by Indian authors

Don’t mind me finding Panchatantra a bit dogmatic but some books are timeless like The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond; it’s a good way to introduce this author to a 7 year old.

Another book for a 7 to 8 year old is The Mystery of The Secret Hair Oil Formula by Asha Nehemiah. This author writes funny prose.

Taranauts by Roopa Pai is an adventure series of books recommended for 8 to 10 year olds.

Grandma’s Bag of Stories, The Gopi Diaries and The Magic Drum and Other Favourite Stories by Sudha Murthy are book and series recommendations for kids between 7 to 10 years!

Adult authors who write books for kids

Am I even a “book blogger” if I don’t shove my favourite authors on my kid? Nope. I plan to start young. Alexander McCall Smith has authored Akimbo: The Elephants, The Lions and The Crocodile Man; Marvellous Mix-ups; and Explosive Adventures, among others for 6 to 8 year olds. I recently gifted one of these and received great feedback!

When it comes to Neil Gaiman, do not expect a straightforward kid’s book, but definitely one that’s exciting and mysterious: Coraline and Fortunately,The Milk are on my TBR for her!

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey is a wonderful graphic novel series I love myself. It also comes highly recommended as reading for kids between 7 to 10 years.

JK Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a book for 8 year olds and above. Featured here because obviously she wrote the Harry Potter series for adults!

Empowering books for little girls

Girl power ahoy! Hilde cracks the case by Hilde Sysiak and Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke are two series of books recommended for kids between 5 to 10 years.

Speaking of bad-ass princesses, Olivia by Ian Falconer and The Princess in Black series by Shannon Hale are also highly recommended books for children 7 years and above.

Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls 1 and 2 are books recommended for kids 6 years and above.

Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke and Zoey and Sassafras by Asia Citro are two other book series I recommend for kids older than 6 years.

I hope you enjoy the suggestions above and find them helpful to raise a reader or encourage a loved child to unleash their imagination through reading.

Big shout out to reader moms Natali Asrani, Aloka Mehta, and Shwetha (@berryswirl21 on Instagram) for their inputs!

Woman, I miss you in a meeting

Meghan Markle is now a verb. I read it on an Instagram story. The definition says: To value yourself and mental health enough to up and leave a room, situation, environment in which your authentic self is not welcome or wanted.

This got me thinking.

I’m reading a book called Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias In A World Designed For Men by Caroline Criado Perez. The title is a summary of the book. It’s an exposé on how one half of the world’s population has systematically been ignored, since time immemorial. It’s making me so angry and it’s making me cry.

I brought up an insight from the book with my husband the other day. Data says that women often “trip-chain” on their way to work. This means they drop a kid (or many) to day care/school, a family member on the way to an errand, or someone or the other to somewhere, before they get to work. A man hops on his choice of transportation and simply gets to work. The end.

I am the man here. I’m in a job that requires me to be at my desk before 9 30am. So, I leave home at 8 15 sharp every morning. I hug my daughter goodbye and see her not before 8pm. 

My husband takes over. He gets her ready, cooks her breakfast, feeds her, and drops her to school. All of this with the constant support of my in laws.

Not long ago, an incident came up with a friend while we were discussing our kids. He casually commented how he was transferred to Canada a week before his son was born. 

He didn’t “babysit” his son before he was 2 years old and the opportunity only arose because his wife’s tech-giant employer wanted her to submit some paperwork. She otherwise has the liberty to work from home. 

It was a big joke how he didn’t know how warm his kid liked milk or how exactly to change a diaper on a toddler.

So here’s a woman who not only is in a good job, and had tremendous family support after childbirth, but also one who singularly bears the mental load of bringing up her child.

Coming back to what I was asking my spouse:
Is our situation so unique?

Here’s the thing about my husband: he would have given birth if he could have. Fathering came much more naturally to him than mothering came to me. I’ve Meghan Markled myself since I was a teen. That’s why I married someone like my partner. 

However, was my demand for equal marriage and parenting the reason for the way we are? Was my inherent nature that expects him to share the load reason for his involvement?

I don’t want to take credit for his openness to be a present parent. But I admit that I was looking for this quality in the sperm that would fertilize my egg. I refused to be short-changed.

Now, the big entitled question, why don’t women demand sharing mental load? Especially when it comes to child rearing. Why don’t they demand their partners help with homework or housework or what have you? And I’m addressing women like me. Women who’ve had urban or semi-urban upbringing and have the ability to earn their living.

Elon Musk is quoted to have said, "Most people can learn a lot more than they think they can. They sell themselves short without trying."

If you married someone, you must have seen an ability to communicate with them. Why don’t women learn to communicate their needs in terms of sharing responsibilities? Are they selling short their ability to evolve into a new role as mother while remaining an individual?

Many new moms have told me they are afraid to leave their kids with their husbands. 

“He won’t know the schedule.”

“He’ll struggle with the chores.”

“The baby is just more comfortable with me.”

PEEP. I call bullshit. 

Are women really genetically hard wired to be the primary caregivers? If you're going to say yes, I'm going to ask BUT WHY?

But then we also have men like someone I know. His ideal woman worships the ground he walks on. Who would agree to not vaccinate their kids or send them to school. And who would absolutely let him be the man of the house, especially when it comes to bringing in and managing the money. Men do think like this but this one has (thankfully) not found this unicorn woman.

This reminds me of the book Otis’s dad, from Sex Education (S2), has written. It is called Is Masculinity in Crisis? 

Men like the one I described above think so because of women like me. But in an epiphany, in the show, even Otis’s dad says it’s utter bullshit that should never be read.

See, I’m not sure whether or not To Meghan Markle is entering the Oxford dictionary (I read a lot of memes on social media) but it should.

It’s 2020 and women, we need to take charge. 

I am usually in meetings with 20 men as the lone representative of the opposite sex.

I miss you, girls! Come to the metaphoric meeting room, let your spouse share the load, DEMAND help.

But most of all, be the best versions of yourself and not an half assed one. 

Not because you have to conform to your misrepresented female ancestors' hard wiring or because I’m putting this pressure on you.