In this article
The best books for a 6, 7 or 8 year old girl are a mix of picture books you read together and short chapter books she can read alone. This list has fifteen, grouped by what you want the book to do: introduce real women, show girls making things happen, build her confidence as a reader, or start conversations about ideas and money. Each pick says who it suits, including an honest note on the one book that is ours.
Quick picks
- Best read-aloud: Rosie Revere, Engineer.
- Best first chapter book: Isadora Moon.
- Best about real women: Little People, Big Dreams, picking the person she will love.
- Best for a child who gets frustrated: The Most Magnificent Thing.
- Best for ideas and money: Maya's Big Business Adventure (ours) or A Chair for My Mother.
The quick answer
Six to eight is when most children go from being read to, to reading on their own. Some get there at six, some at eight, and both are normal. So don't throw out the picture books. A seven-year-old who reads chapter books alone will still happily curl up for a picture book at bedtime, and that time together matters as much as the reading.
It is also the age when children start deciding what people "like them" can do. That is why most of the books here have a girl or woman doing something brave, clever or inventive at the centre.
How to choose at this age
Keep one for together and one for alone
A picture book you read to her and a short chapter book she reads herself cover both jobs.
Follow the obsession
Space, animals, making things, dancing, football. A book about the thing she already loves will always get picked up first.
Borrow before you buy
UK library membership is free for children, and most libraries run the Summer Reading Challenge every year. Buy the ones she asks for again.
Add something to do
A notebook for her own ideas or a jar for saving turns a story into something she does.
Real women, told simply
Short true stories work well at this age because they end before attention runs out. If she likes these, our 250+ UK female founder profiles are a good next step to explore together.
Little People, Big Dreams (series)Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, with a different illustrator for each title
Best for: A first biography, read together
Each book tells the childhood and big achievement of one person, from Frida Kahlo to Jane Goodall, in a few lines a page. There are dozens of titles, so you can match one to whatever she is into this month.
Most titles are labelled ages 4-7. For an 8-year-old, the treasury collections have longer text.
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the WorldKate Pankhurst
Best for: A child who likes to pore over busy pages
Cartoon-style spreads on women including Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo and Mary Anning, packed with small captions and details. It rewards rereading, which is what you want at this age.
Part of a series. The follow-ups cover scientists, artists and campaigners.
Good Night Stories for Rebel GirlsElena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
Best for: Bedtime, one page at a time
One hundred one-page stories about women from around the world, each with a full-page portrait. Too long to read alone at six, but perfect for one story a night with a grown-up.
There are several volumes, so check which one you already have.
Girls who make things happen
Picture books to read together, where a girl builds, invents, asks questions or refuses to be told no. Most of them are also about getting things wrong and trying again, which is the most useful lesson of all.
Rosie Revere, EngineerAndrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
Best for: A child who takes things apart
Rosie secretly builds gadgets from junk. When her flying machine crashes, her great-great-aunt cheers, because a first try that fails is still a first try. A rhyming story about not giving up that children ask for again and again.
Ada Twist, ScientistAndrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
Best for: The child who never stops asking why
Ada asks question after question and sets out to find what is causing a terrible smell. It treats curiosity as a skill rather than a nuisance, which is a lovely thing for a busy parent to read aloud too.
The Most Magnificent ThingAshley Spires
Best for: A perfectionist who gets cross when things go wrong
A girl and her dog set out to make the most magnificent thing. It keeps going wrong, she gets furious, takes a walk, and comes back to try again. The best picture book I know about frustration.
Look Up!Nathan Bryon, illustrated by Dapo Adeola
Best for: A space fan
Rocket wants to be an astronaut and is determined to get her whole street, including her phone-obsessed big brother, to look up at a meteor shower. British, funny and full of energy. It won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize in 2020.
Published in the US as Rocket Says Look Up! Usually listed for ages 3-7, so best for six and seven.
Amazing GraceMary Hoffman, illustrated by Caroline Binch
Best for: A child who has been told she can't
Grace wants to play Peter Pan in the school play. Her classmates say she can't, because she's a girl and because she's Black. Her grandmother takes her to the ballet, and Grace gets the part. A classic that still starts good conversations.
Princess SmartypantsBabette Cole
Best for: A child who finds fairy tales a bit soppy
A princess who would rather not get married sets her suitors ridiculous tasks to get rid of them. Silly, quick and very funny, and a nice counterweight to the princess books she already has.
First books to read alone
For the moment she wants to read by herself. Look for short chapters, big type and pictures on most pages. Reading the first chapter together often gets her over the start.
Isadora Moon (series)Harriet Muncaster
Best for: A first chapter book
Isadora is half fairy, half vampire, and doesn't quite fit in either world. Short chapters, big type and pink-and-black pictures on almost every page make it feel achievable for a newly independent reader.
Kitty and the Moonlight RescuePaula Harrison, illustrated by Jenny Løvlie
Best for: A reader who wants adventure
Kitty has cat-like superpowers and, in the first book, rescues a frightened kitten from a clock tower at night. Published by Oxford University Press for ages 5 and up, with plenty of sequels if she gets hooked.
The Worst WitchJill Murphy
Best for: A confident reader of seven or eight
Mildred Hubble is hopeless at being a witch and keeps getting it wrong at Miss Cackle's Academy. It has been around since the 1970s and still works, because everyone knows what it feels like to be the one who messes up.
Longer than the other two in this section, so better for seven and up.
Ideas and money
Six-year-olds are full of ideas, and most of them involve selling something to a neighbour. These books take that seriously. Our guide to teaching kids about money by age has simple things to try alongside them.
Maya's Big Business AdventureKimberley Loudon, illustrated by Lizzie Knott
OursBest for: A child with a head full of ideas
Maya is eight, has a notebook of Brilliant Business Ideas and a dog called Bella. She meets seven women who each run a business and comes home with ideas of her own. I wrote it because I wanted girls to meet people who take their ideas seriously, early.
Ages 6-9 · Paperback · 42 pages · £9.99 for two copies, one to keep and one to give away
Look inside the bookWhat Do You Do with an Idea?Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Mae Besom
Best for: A quiet child with big thoughts
A child has an idea, shown as a little creature with a crown, and has to decide whether to look after it when other people are doubtful. Gentle, beautiful and good for talking about what she would do with her own ideas.
A Chair for My MotherVera B. Williams
Best for: Starting to talk about saving
After a fire, a girl, her mum and her grandma drop their spare coins into a big jar until they can buy a comfortable chair. A Caldecott Honor book from 1982 and still the best picture book I know about saving for something that matters.
American, so the coins are dollars and cents. Use a real jar at home alongside it.
What to do after the book
The books that stick are the ones followed by doing something. A few free ideas:
- Give her a notebook for her own Brilliant Business Ideas, like Maya's.
- Pick an easy idea from 101 business ideas for kids and try it at the weekend.
- Print the free business plan template for kids and fill it in together.
- See what is on the Explorers page for ages 6-8, with activities to do with a grown-up.
Buying for more than one child?
Maya's Big Business Adventure is for 6-9s and comes as two copies for £9.99, so the second can go to a friend or her school. For older brothers and sisters, Dream it. Be it. Biz-it! is a write-in workbook for 10-14s, and our books for 10-12 year old girls guide has more ideas.
Frequently Asked Questions
What books should a 7 year old girl read?
At seven, most children are moving from picture books to first chapter books, so it helps to have both. For reading alone, try Isadora Moon or Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue. For reading together, Rosie Revere, Engineer, The Most Magnificent Thing or Look Up! For real-life role models, Little People, Big Dreams. For ideas and money, Maya's Big Business Adventure or A Chair for My Mother.
What is a good first chapter book for a 6 year old?
Isadora Moon by Harriet Muncaster and Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue by Paula Harrison both have short chapters, large type and pictures on most pages, which makes them good first chapter books. Read the first chapter together, then let her carry on alone.
Are there picture books about real women for young children?
Yes. Little People, Big Dreams has dozens of short picture-book biographies, mostly labelled ages 4-7. Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World by Kate Pankhurst covers many women in busy illustrated spreads. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls has 100 one-page stories that work well read aloud.
Are there books that teach young children about business or money?
Maya's Big Business Adventure (ages 6-9) is a UK picture book about a girl with a notebook of business ideas who meets seven women who each run a business. What Do You Do with an Idea? is about looking after an idea. A Chair for My Mother is about a family saving coins in a jar for something they need.
Are these books only for girls?
No. Every book here has a girl or woman at the centre, which is deliberate, but all of them work for boys too. Boys seeing girls build, invent and lead is part of the point.
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