favorite books for 8-year-olds

See all our book recommendations and reviews here.

I’m always looking for book recommendations for my kids from other moms. That’s where I’ve found most of the gems that have ended up being favorites. To pay it forward, I hope these favorite books for 8-year-olds are helpful for you, too!

If you want to see if a book is a good fit for your child content-wise, I recommend reading the reviews and description on Goodreads. It’s been helpful for me.

Kaitlyn, 8, has been slower to warm up to reading in bed at night than her sister. For a while she would tell me she only was going to look at the pictures in books (fine with me). Then she got really into listening to audiobooks from the library and books on her Yoto. While she still really enjoys audiobooks, it’s been exciting to see her start dipping her toes into bedtime reading. Proof that staying patient and gentle encouragement can pay off.

As I was helping Kaitlyn organize her room the other day, she walked me through her newly arranged bookshelf, optimized to show off her current favorites. A lot of the books are hand me downs from Hailey and it’s been fun to see which ones she gravitates towards. If you need some new book suggestions for the 8 year old in your life, Kaitlyn recommends the following:

A to Z Mysteries – A is for Author . . . A famous writer is coming to Green Lawn! Dink rushes to the bookstore to meet his favorite author, Wallis Wallace, and get all his books signed. But the author never shows up! Where is Wallis Wallace? It’s up to Dink and his friends Josh and Ruth Rose to track him down.

Craftily Ever After – In the first Craftily Ever After book, best friends Emily and Maddie are so close that they spend most of their free time together, and wear matching friendship bracelets, too! One day, a new student named Bella Diaz shows up at Mason Creek Elementary. Maddie immediately befriends her, discovering that she too is really crafty. As Maddie and Bella spend more time together, Emily finds herself spending more time alone…until she realizes that the boy who’s been sitting next to her in class this whole time loves to draw and create just like she does. When Emily’s friendship bracelet falls off and Maddie doesn’t even notice, Emily begins to think that maybe it was an un-friendship bracelet after all.

Ivy & Bean – This charming book follows Ivy and Bean as they get themselves into trouble . . . and then help each other out of it as only true friends can. Young girls will love reading about Ivy and Bean’s many adventures and learning about the magic of friendship in this laugh-out-loud funny book series.

Code Breakers – The Billie B Mysteries take Billie into a new genre… MYSTERY! In Spooky House Billie and her friends explore the mystery of the spooky house at the end of the street. Billie is sure it’s haunted. It’s so scary! But if anyone can handle ghosts, it’s Billie and Jack.

Lightning Girl – 10-year-old Aurora Beam lives at home with her utterly unremarkable family… until the day she sees her little sister being picked on in the playground and suddenly beams of light shoot out of her fingers! It’s time for her parents to drop a life-changing bombshell. Mum is a secret superhero, fighting crime across the globe while Dad looks after the kids at home. As Aurora’s own powers come into play, will she be able to balance her new super skills training with school? Will she be able to keep it all a secret from her friends? And when her mum’s evil twin pops up, will Aurora think that being a super VILLAIN might be more fun…?

Nancy Clancy – In this first in a series of delightful chapter books, Fancy Nancy takes on the role of detective. When one of Nancy’s classmate’s most treasured possessions disappear from school, it’s up to detective Nancy to solve the mystery and save the day.

Ella Diaries – It’s a new school year, and it’s perfect. Until class starts that is, and EVERYTHING goes wrong. Ella can’t believe that her absolutely WORST ENEMY EVER, Peach, is sitting next to her! No matter how far Ella moves her new pencil case across the desk, Peach is IN HER SPACE. Where’s her BFF Zoe? How can this year get ANY WORSE?

The Secret Mermaid – When Molly Holmes moves with her family to Horseshoe Bay, her grandmother gives her an enchanted shell necklace that magically transforms her life. The power of the necklace transports Molly to the Undersea Kingdom, where she discovers that she is a Secret Mermaid and meets lots of new mermaid friends.