Need a Good Book Choice for 8 Year Old Boy.

Well I see you have a LOT of answers already and I don't know if it's already been suggested but The Black Stallion series of books is very good for boys or girls.

I agree with the recommendation for the Magic Tree House series - I used to teach 3rd Grade (mostly 8 year olds) and those were a HUGE favorite all year long.

Try Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House Series. There are at least 36 books, maybe more. Not only can your 8 year old read them, you can read them to your other children. My boys (5 and 3) love them and ask me to read "Jack and Annie" to them at night.

My son is 10 and read James and the Giant Peach when he was 9 and LOVED it- it was nice too because I told him when he finished it we could rent the movie- he really enjoyed comparing the two.

Hi L.! My boys loved Captain Underpants and Magic Treehouse books. Keep him reading!!

I have a now 12 year old son who was not a big reader until recently. He liked

Magic Tree House
Time Warp Trio
Captain Underpants
Jack Sparrow

I have an 8 year old daughter and she really likes the Captain Underpants books. Hope this helps.

Left Behind series for kids

I think a great series for kids/family is Harry Potter, or The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I read Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was younger, and loved when they made the movie. Even the Hardy boys would be good starting at this age.

My son hated reading until the librarian recommended the "Stink" books...he's Judy Moody's little brother. There are only 4 out right now, and we're actually re-reading them.

My boys always loved the goose bumps books. I would not recommend them for bedtime stories since they can be a bit scary. I also bought pick a page books. Each way you read them they have a completely different turn. You read so far and choose a page and read that page then chose another and on until the end. What about the old hardy boys books or the Box car Children books just to name a couple. An author named Cleary (lst name) writes some great books for kids in 4th grade and up.

L.,
I have just started to sell Usborne books and my daughter (age 3) loves them! Please visit my site www.ubah.com/A3136.
If you would like to order let me know. If not nothing else it should give you some good ideas.
N.

My son (who just turned 9)loves funny books to read, so he latched onto the "Captain Underpants" series about 1-1/2 yrs ago. ok...I'll admit they are pretty funny, and it did get my son motivated to read but they may not be for "every parent" All I can do it say "check them out to see what you think". (He also likes the Goosebumps books)

Anything by Dav Pilkey. Yes, I did spell his first name correctly. He writes boy books. He's got the "Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot" series about a mouse who fights villains on every planet. He's also written the "Captain Underpants" series about a principal that turns into a superhero in his underwear. They are definitely written for boys.
If you need something sappier, I recommend the "Henry and Mudge" series by Cynthia Rylant. It's about a boy and his big, drooly dog Mudge. Cynthia Rylant has also written the "Poppleton," "Mr. Putter and Tabby," and a mystery series.

P.S. I teach 8 year olds in Indiana.

I think there are a lot of good ideas below. My boys like a lot of those books too. Although not a series book, "The Dangerous Book for Boys" is great. Also, these might be for a when your son gets just slightly older, but my 10 year old loves anything in these series...

Peter & the Starcatchers
Chronicles of Naria
Artemis Fowl

Also, I read a lot of Judy Bloom books when I was younger and my boys like those too. The Super Fudge books are great. I see you have 3 boys (as do I). The older 2 boys like the Fudge series a lot b/c "Fudge" (the younger brother in the story) reminds them a lot of their experiences with their little brother. Quite funny too.

I would highly recommend you visit your local library too. I know at my library they have these great list of books that are divided by school age, type, interests, etc. You can pick up those to get some great ideas. The Childrens' librarian can also be very helpful. They often know what kids are reading these days. Here is a link to get you started for some more ideas...

http://www.monroe.lib.in.us/childrens/booklists/children_...

How to eat fried worms
Super fudge
any boxcar series books
talk to his teacher or school librarian for ideas.
My child's school sends home sheets of age appropriate books that match their reading lextile and then goes to the next challenging level.

The Magic Treehouse series are excellent - there are over 40 in the series.

I used to teach third grade. Like others, I would highly recommend the Magic Treehouse series. Other series that he might enjoy would include Time Warp Trio, Cam Jansen, Bailey School Kids, Nate the Great, A to Z Mysteries, Amelia Bedelia, and Horrible Harry.

A good way to figure out if a book is just right for him is to use the 5 finger rule. If he gets stuck on more than 5 words on a page, the book is too hard. Also discussion on what he is reading is key to making sure that the comprehension is there too.

Hi...I have an 8-year old boy as well. Reading is not his favorite thing to do, but he's doing more of it. It used to be that the thing he read ravenously was Captain Underpants. I require him to do other reading, but this is what he would read in his free time. Last weekend he started reading from The Magic Treehouse series. He really loves it. He read 2 and almost completed a third book yesterday (yes, in one day!). They may be a bit easy for my son, but he loves them and I feel a lot better about him reading them than Captain Underpants. The biggest problem with getting him to read has been finding something he really likes, so this has been a nice discovery. They have some historical reference, so they are probably considered historical fiction. I hope this helps.

Has he tried any "Magic Tree House" books? My son loves them and there are over 40 in the series. The "Merlin Mission" (special selections in the "Magic Tree House" series) ones are a little longer and may provide a little more of a challenge if that's what you're looking for. While they're not much of a challenge, my son loved the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series (3 books in the series). I'm not sure of the content (talks about boogers, wedgies, etc.) for myself, it was perfect for my 8-yr old son who is ALL BOY! :)

I agree about the Dav Pilkey books, the humor is perfect for a young boy. While not especially challenging, it is a great motivator to look into other books. The "Choose Your Own Adventure" books is a great series. Kids can act as the protagonist and help determine the outcome of the story. "Holes" by Louis Sacher is fantastic book, so is "Because of Winn-Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo. Those books were made into movies in the last several years. Any Newberry Award book are excellent choices for kids. It took a long time to get my son out of the picture book stage, and these books certainly helped.

My boys LOVE the series "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." In fact, the twins just turned 10 and that's all one of the boys wanted for his birthday, was the new one that just came out. Captain Underpants is also a good one... they've loved those for years.

my son whose 9 loves the captain underpants books. theres a whole series.

Would be easier if I knew what types of things he is interested in. The Box Car series is decent, so are the Hardy boys even today. My ten year old was into Transformers and Bionicles and both of them have a series of books he enjoyed.
I don't know what reading level your son is at either which makes life a little harder. We have all ready read the Harry Potter series, are reading Brisinger right now and he has read the Vampyre series and is now reading Leven Thumbs, but he is 10 and reading at 8.7 level.
Artemis Fowl is okay too.
I hope this helps you some.

If he likes sports books, my third and fourth brothers loved Matt Christopher.

These may be a little challenging but they are not inappropriate for an 8 year old.

Johnny Tremain
Hatchett (it was a best seller)
Raold Dahl is good writer for this age (Charlie & the Chocolate Factory)
Charlotte Doyle - great book but might be a little hard yet.

Good Luck

My 8 yr old daughter is in a book club. They are doing the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. We also like Mrs Piggle Wiggle and Amelia Bedelia.

Have you checked out the Magic Treehouse Series yet? My sister in law had alot of trouble getting her son to read until she offered these books. Now he loves to read adventure books of any kind.

Hi L.,

My name is M. I am a SAHM of one 8 yr old boy who loves to read. We read together and also he reads alone.I volunteeer at his school library once a week. He loves the "Geronimo Stilton" Books they arent series persay that you read in a certain order but they are really fun to read. They are adventure type books about Geronimo Stilton a "famouse" (he is a mouse.) editor of a famous paper who has all of these crazy adventures. Also, the Magic Tree House Series.Also kind of an adventure series. A-Z Mysteries. is another good set of stories.(not series though) Also, you could ask your school librarian for a recomendation. I hope this helped.