Book for me to read out loud to 8 year old

I used to read Harry Potter to mine when they were about that age. It took a couple of years to get through the whole set.

I’ve really enjoyed reading The Accidental Secret Agent to my 7yo - it’s funny for the both of us. There are other books in the series too - The Accidental Prime Minister etc.
He also likes The Worst Witch series.
The great piratical rumbustification is another fun (silly) one.

We've done -

The Demon Headmaster series
The Queen's Nose
Mrs Pepperpot books
Worst Witch books
Stig of the Dump
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tyler
Dear Hound (Jill Murphy)
The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark and similar
Olga da Polga

I love reading aloud to mine and disagree that it is less important than them reading aloud. My 8yo wouldn't attempt these more challenging chapter books but loves the stories, and I want her to know how good stories can be!

Some great suggestions above especially Stig of the dump which we all loved! Am taking notes. We are currently on the third Borrowers book (Mary Norton) and they are excellent - funny little bits of dry humour, lovely characters and details - yes they are little people but the world they live in is real so I don’t read them as fantasy at all, in fact I have been choked up at times at how beautifully the subtext depicts displacement and essentially refugees fleeing from their home. A subtlety lost on my 5 & 7 year olds but extremely present and relevant to me.

A much overlooked classic - Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Wonderful animal characters, great adventure. Every child I've known has loved it.

Charlotte's Web (have tissues to hand)

Books by Eva Ibbotson are great too, big hits with our children.

Railway Children
Mrs Pepperpot stories

For something more up to date, we had a fab book out of the library the other day about a Syrian refugee family, 'A House Without Walls'.

Another vote for the Mr Gum series. Very funny and perfect for 8 year olds. They are my favourite books to read for bedtime (the audiobooks read by the author are great too).
My daughter also really enjoys the 'Daisy and the trouble with...' books by Kes Gray. We've read them to her and she is now enjoying reading them herself.
We've also just started reading some books by Jeremy Strong. 'My brothers famous bottom' books have quite short chapters and they're quite funny in places.

When I was 8 my mum read me the Hobbit. LOVED it. I would heartily recommend it

My son in particular is not into reading anything too complex (he mostly reads comics to himself by choice + wimpy kid, etc) but really enjoys something more meaty if I read to him. That's why I read to them rather than they read to me. For me snuggling up and me reading to them is a nice relaxing end of day thing, I'm not sure them reading to me would feel the same.

The Katherine rundell novels are also very popular with that age group. I seem to be the only person who isn't a fan!

I would also like to second Mr Gum if you can cope with extreme random silliness.

When I had an eight year old around to read to we used to share the reading aloud between us, a page or short chapter each, then switch over. Even more fun with three of you, if they enjoy it.

I found this an excellent way of getting through much more advanced novels than they might ever have read alone.

Oh! Remembered another great read - From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler - about a brother and sister who run away and hide out at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY.

Definite yes to Emil & the Detectives - wonderful book!

The Family From One End Street - delightfully of its time.

How about Lorna Doone? Utterly magnificent and not something today’s child is likely to stumble upon themselves.

The Eagle of The Ninth and its sequels - superbly absorbing historical fiction.

The Wind on the Moon - rather profoundly affecting. (Fantasy, sorry.)

The Strange Affair of Adelaide Harris, and anything else by the same author.

Which reminds me of The Graveyard Book ... Fantasy.

Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series - more fantasy but benchmark writing. They may want to follow up with the works of Alan Garner and Ursula Le Guin if you don’t fancy reading those aloud.

At that age your DC would get more benefit from them reading aloud to you. It’s the routine more so than your reading that’s important.

Mine loves Jacqueline Wilson books being read to them. They love Judi curtain books, especially Eva’s journey (trilogy).
“Mrs Smith’s spy school for girls”

Ds2 favourite that I've read to him over th last few weeks:

The Bromeliad - Terry Pratchett
Adventure series - Enid Blyton
The Borrowers - Mary Norton
Time Hunters series - Chris Blake
The Midnight Fox - Betsy Byars
Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

He likes adventure and animals.

I’m reading the Ramona Quimby books to dd (8 last week) at the moment. Ramona is a little girl, who grows up from 4-10 ish through the books.. They are by Beverly Cleary. I found them in the US when I lived out there as a child in the 80s. They are surprisingly not well known here, but they still “work” beautifully. You can buy them in sets on Amazon, or used on eBay.

Atticus Claw

Currently reading Famous Five to my eight-year-old who is loving it.

Other recent favourites are Emil and the Detectives and E Nesbit (Treasure Seekers and Five Children and It).

They are 9 and 10 now by the way. Anna at war is like a less gruelling goodnight Mr Tom BTW, thoroughly recommend.

My kids favourites that I've read to them are:
Nevermoor
The boy at the back of the class
Anna at war
Alllll the how to train your dragons (when a bit younger) - boy those dragons got on my nerves by the end
Wizards of once
Harry Potter (yes all of them, took years!)

I started having The Famous Five and other Enid Blyton type books read to me at that age. Your child might enjoy those.

Is there any particular reason that you're saying they and them rather than he or she? The info might help?

my five year old loves roald dahl at the moment. i must have read george’s marvellous medicine about 50 times! we’re currently on danny the champion of the world, which i’m loving because it’s been my favourite book since i was little.

The Richmal Crompton William books are enormous fun to read aloud.

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
13 Storey Treehouse series
Anything written by Chris Priestley.
The Mr Gum series, hilariously anarchic.