I just thought of those as well (eta: the Prydain Chronicles). I loved those books so much, still do.

Sophia, those sound like fun. I know I've run into Bunnicula, but not the others. My list is growing huge!

and Peter Pan and the StarCatchers -- the series is really good. my 4th grader made me read it All a prequel to the classic. and really well done.

Oh, that's right, beth-- that's the series that Dave Barry has written with Ridley Pearson. Nate has it, but I don't know that he ever got around to reading it. He's been completely hooked on The Warrior Heir and also The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp which might be beyond K, but I know there are some people on the thread who might enjoy this for themselves:

Astonishingly tall 15-year-old Alfred is plunged into a world of adventure, assassination, and Arthurian legend when he agrees to help his uncle filch an ancient sword from the office of a CEO who just happens to be a descendent of the Knights of the Round Table. Of course the sword turns out to be none other than Excalibur, and the guy Alfred swiped it for is Mogart, a knight-gone-bad who hopes to use its magical powers to take over the world. Enter Bennacio, another descendant of the Round Table, who then takes Alfred under his wing on a quest across the Atlantic to rescue the sword from Mogart. The descriptions of minor bits of blood and gore leave much to the imagination and will make Kropp especially appealing to fans of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books (Philomel), Geoffrey Huntington's Sorcerers of the Nightwing (ReganBooks, 2002), and even Darren Shan's The Saga of Darren Shan series (Little, Brown). True to its action-adventure genre, the story is lighthearted, entertaining, occasionally half-witted, but by and large fun.

Seconding or thirding the Prydain rec -- those books were among my very favorites as a kid.

If she has a taste for scary stories, she might like Mary Downing Hahn, who's written a bunch of ghost stories for younger readers. Some titles:

Wait Till Helen Comes
The Old Willis Place
Time For Andrew

I read several of hers around that age, I think, and loved them.

I loved the Witch of Blackbird Pond, the Boxcar Children and A Wrinkle in Time!

Me three.

What about Carry On, Mr. Bowditch? It is about being successful through math.

May I second the pimp of the Series of Unfortunate Events, for a melodramatic girl that age, who would benefit from a non-traditional main female character (she's an inventor!). They don't quite resolve in a way that may be totally satisfying, but I think the tone is very much what you were talking about.

She's almost 7, reading at about 7/8/9ish age in vocab, a little older in concept.

I refuse to believe she's almost 7. That makes my head hurt.

Books Kara Might Like:

The Araminta Spook series: [link]

The Terry Pratchett kid books: The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, Wee Free Men, A Hat Full Of Sky, and Wintersmith.

The Dark Is Rising series by Susan Cooper.

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (when it comes out. But trust me, it's FANTASTIC.)

Piratica, by Tanith Lee

... that's what I can come up with off the top of my head. I'll take a look around the bookshelves and see what else I've got there. I wonder if she's still a smidge too young for Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury ...

And speaking of smart, strong-willed girl leads, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (The sequel will be out in November.)

Theo's eleven, the story is set in London in 1906, and with a heavy dose of Egyptology. It's sort of Young Indiana Jones meets The Mummy but with a precocious girl lead instead of a cocky man-child. *g* The author, Robin LaFevers is a good friend of mine and an incredibly talented writer.

Really late to the party, but Jane-Emily was and is one of my favorites. It's a ghost story about a little girl ghost, and it's just wonderful. Plus, Louisa, who narrates the book, is thoroughly charming, stubborn, and courageous. It might be a teeny bit old for Kara, but everyone else should read it anyway!

She loves ghosts! We own Piratica, I'd have thought the Susan Cooper a bit old for her, but I've added them to the list, and the Peter Pan, and all the rest. I love kids books. This is going to be so much fun.