Books for Eight year old granddaughter

My daughter was an advanced reader and read and enjoyed Mr Tom when she was about 7. I can’t remember anything in it which needed careful handling, she certainly wasn’t disturbed. It was her favourite book.

There are various children’s versions of the Greek myths - our Gchn enjoyed them as rollicking tales of derring-do and I plugged a gap in my education at the same time. O would definitely read aloud though so you can ‘edit’ as you go along.

Goodnight Mr Tom has some quite disturbing parts which would need careful handling with an 8 year old

Goodnight Mr Tom was a favourite with my children but they read this by themselves. A set of ‘ My naughty little sister”’ too, might be of interest especially if she has a little sister but if you are doing the reading you might want to stretch her a bit. Why not ask at the library.
Avid reading of children often sadly seems to fade once they get to early teenage years so make the most of her enthusiasm while she is interested.

Our youngest loved the weird world of the Mr. Gum books at 8.

If you want something a bit more up to date, the “Izzy the Inventor” series is very good.
“Swallows and Amazons” is also a good choice for a competent reader.

Heidi is a beautiful story. And The Incredible Journey.

Charlotte’s Web is a good book for a confident reader. One of my year-three readers last year was working her way through it and we were both enjoying it. And yes, The Secret Garden - one of my favourite books as a child.

The Famous Five?

Malory Towers?

Loved those when I was that age.

Also What Katy Did.

I always think the title of Ballet Shoes is rather misleading. It’s more about acting than ballet. A lovely family story, anyway, with timeless characters.

I adored What Katy Did when I was ten, and since it was written in 1873 (I think) it must have been “outdated” when I read it. But as with Ballet Shoes, the characters are real in any age.

Not a classic but my 8yr old Granddaughter love the Isadora Moon books she even went to find more in the library and at school.

I ‘read’ the classics to my GD when she was about 3. I had a set of board books with felt illustrations and just a few words per page. That way I could tell her the story using the words and padding out the story gradually as she got older. She loved Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Persuasion, The Wizard of Oz and many more. Now she is older (8)I have bought her an abridged version of Pride and Prejudice. For her 9th birthday I intend buying her a set of cloth bound classics including What Katy Did. She is an avid reader of all the usual books for her age but I like to think I will have passed on to her my love if the classics.

The Secret Garden , I loved it and still do !

How about Black Beauty, Treasure Island, and I’m sure there’s quite a lot more from that genre.

Give them a go. If you read them to her, ask if there are words she doesn't understand. I would start with Ballet Shoes.