Book Suggestions for 8 year old girl

[Haganfam5]

Rald Dahl books are great....Charlie and the chocolate factory, the BFG (a great book) Matilda. Little House books. Harry Potter. The City of Ember series are great books too.

Roald Dahl would be my suggestion too. Those are the books I was reading in 4th grade. Congratulations by the way on your daughters excellent progress. It is so nice to see that you are encouraging her to keep on reading and to enhance her skills.

 

[brymolmom]

Does anyone else get annoyed with the Junie B. books and ALL the improper words and grammar (bestest, pasgetti, etc)?? DS6 is in first grade and is really loving these books right now (yup - he's several levels above for his grade too) - he thinks they're funny. BUT, he is still so young and has a very literal type of personality that I think when he reads it in print he might start thinking it is correct. I'm okay with some slang thrown in there, but it is all over the place in those books!

I'm bookmarking this thread as I know I'll be searching for more options once he finishes the Junie B and Treehouse books.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

In addition to all the "classics" mentioned, throwing in another vote for Geronimo Stilton series. My DD 8 and DS 12 both love them. (They are way below DS' reading level, but he just thinks they are fun.)

And to a previous poster- I can not stand Junie B because of the reasons mentioned. Thankfully they haven't gotten DD's attention.

 

[kstgelais4]

I was going to say Little house on the prairie too. Also my ds (10) loves the spiderwick chronicles and "The name of this book is secret" by pseudonym bosch. lol. Very cute stuff.

 

[DopeysMommy]

WARNING: Librarian Rant Ahead

I'd like to second going to the library and having your daughter talk to the children's librarian. They'll show her what's available, and anything new that's up and coming. It's also great experience for her to speak up for herself in a safe environment. And she'll learn her way around a library, which seems to be a lost skill by many.

Our biggest challenge at the library is finding age-appropriate books for kids reading "above their level." Many public libraries tend to be more conservative in collection development, so in the junior fiction we would shy away from items with cursing. In particular, we put items with cursing in junior high. When the librarian tells you to read the book first for being iffy, skim it. Make sure you're ok.

And I agree with most of the suggestions already made, including whoever said HP gets a little too old for an 8 year old. By book 4, they're dark and violent and complicated. And wonderful, but not always age appropriate.

My 2 cents.

 

[Rachie0507]

I've had the hardest time explaining to my mother that just because my DD can read something, it doesn't mean that she will want to. She was never into 'picture' books or early readers so we have been having this struggle for years. On top of that, she doesn't like mysteries because she gets scared. Here are her current favorites (she is 8 and in 3rd grade):
--Babysitter's Club (simple reading, but she enjoys it)
--Roald Dahl
--Judy Blume
--Beverly Cleary
--The Chronicles of Narnia (she got them for Christmas and I've been reading them when she finishes, lol!)

I let her free in the library and she picks out 5-6 books a week. Sometimes they are very simple books, but I don't care. She is reading for enjoyment and it doesn't always have to be challenging. If I feel that she is in a rut when it comes to books, I offer guidance but I try not to dictate what she reads. I want it to continue to be an enjoyable hobby for her.

 

[dismom301930]

This is a great thread! My 2 older DDs (ages 7 and 8) both love to read but we are having the same issues as others with finding age-appropriate books that are a little challenging. Many of these are repeats of other posters, but here is what they love:

DD8 (third grade)

Her absolute favorite is the My America series
Any Roald Dahl (esp. Matilda and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory)
Tale of Desperaux
Judy Moody
Katie Kazoo
Fairy Realm
Poppy series by Avi
The Frog Princess series by E.D. Baker

She just started the Trixie Belden series (my old ones!) and she seems to like them so far but they are not included in the Accelerated Reading program at school so I think she may wait until summer to read more.

I have been reluctant to start the Harry Potter seires because of the content (I haven't read them myself) but from reading this thread it seems like they may be okay for her.

DD7 (First grade)

She likes to read a whole series at a time and finish a book in a day or two. She loves the following series (even though they are a little easy for her):

Rainbow Magic
Mermiad SOS
Tiara CLub
Fairy Chronicles
Little Princess

She also likes the American Girl books and she LOVES non-fiction.

We still read aloud to all three of our DDs at night. Right now we are doing:
DD8 - Chronicles of Narnia
DD7 - Little House
DD4 - Magic Tree House

We love reading and I am excited about trying out a lot of the books suggested in this thread!