Good Book for 8-10 Yr Olds

This is not a chapter book, but for 4 years in a row, I bought my nephew the Times for Kids Almanac for his birthday starting at age 9. It is a hit each time and now he expects it and looks forward to it. The book is full of interesting facts and history and is very fun for short reading periods.

Don't read Harry Potter. It gets too dark towards the end - and scary for little children. I would recommend (both boys and girls) A to Z Mysteries; Magic Tree House (very educational); Horrible Harry; Jigsaw Jones. Or if they really like magic type of story lines, try Secrets of Droon. If they like animals, try Animal Ark; Puppy Patrol; Pony Pals. All these are series. If you like educational books. Visit sonlight dot com web site. They list their books by level (for homeschoolers). Their choices of books are thoughtful and excellent. You don't have to buy from them as they are pretty expensive. You can get the names and then buy it somewhere else. PM me if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help.

Hi R.,

My son (10) and I read together often. He is not a big Harry Potter fan. What we have enjoyed are the books by Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The Twits, James and the Giant Peach. He has a bunch.

Also Kate DiCamillo's Edward Tulane and the Tale of Desperaux were good. We will be reading her Because of Winn-Dixie this summer.

We read a Goosebumps a year or so ago which I looked forward to every night. My son braved it out and told me when I was selecting the next Goosebumps that they were too scary for night time. :0 Those we leave for daytime stories.

You can also check with your sons' teachers. My son's fourth grade teacher sent home a booklist with his recommendations highlighted last summer. I am hoping that this year's teacher will do the same.

Happy Reading.

Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey is a favorite among boys of that age. For girls I recommend the American Girls series.

It may be a fun outing for you to take them to a book store and plop down in front of books for that age range and see what catches their eye! You never know what you'll find!

I second the Chronicles of Narnia series. Your kids will be able to relate because the main characters are similar aged children. Plus you can rent the movies after reading and compare and contrast between the book and movies. (my daughter preferred the book, but found one chapter had too much violence)

The "Magic Treehouse" series of books are very popular... if you go to www.amazon.com you can also read the reviews on it.
And the stories would appeal to young boys.

OR, if you go to your local library, they usually have recommended book lists, for each age/grade. Or ask the Librarian...they are always knowledgeable on what kids like to read.

Oh, CS Lewis'- "The Chronicles of Narnia" series is also great.

Good luck,
Susan

Anything by Judy Blume is timeless, especially "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing."
Similarly, "Henry Huggins" or "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" both by Beverly Cleary are innocent and capture the imagination.

Kudos to you that you are reading to your boys! Ask your husband to join in as well as boys need to see males reading.

Have fun,
F.

A wrinkle in time. All 4th grade classes used to read this book when we actually used to push our kids... now we let them slide and it's somewhat of a challenge.