Goodnight, Mr Tom......

[BertrandRussell]

...too much for imaginative, sensitive 8 year old bookworm? I’m inclined to think so.....

Jarman that should say - auto correct!

I seem to recall liking the ghost of Thomas Kemp. I loved ghost stories!

The Indian in The Cupboard books are good.
Anything by Joan Aiken. Edward Eager, Half Magic.
Five Children and It.

Eva Ibbotson books have a retro feel imo. I liked The Dragonfly Pool. It's a school story, set in a progressive school in Ww2 era With a trip to a Ruritania type country thrown in.

I think it is a wonderful book, and has a very positive ending.
I don't think 8 is too young.
I certainly think it is fine for 9-10 year olds.

But then as a child I always read books beyond my age, and found most children's books to be boring.

I was 8 or 9 when I first read it & my 8yo dd has just devoured it & keeps nagging me to find the rest of Michelle Magorian's out. She asked me about tla couple of the darker bits but wasn't massively distressed by them.

A Little Love Song is one of my all time favourite books. I'm waiting 'til she's a bit older to let her read that one though.

Dd read it at that age. I was reading it out loud to ds1 who is 2 years older and she got sucked in then picked it up and read it herself. I think the realisation about the abuse takes time. At that age they realise the mum wasn't very nice but dd was more focused on the evacuation, Zach etc. She loved back home too. Unlike others I wouldn't say it was better for younger ones, the feelings Rusty is dealing with are pretty intense.

The Box of Delights by John Masefield could be a good option. My kids loved the book, and the film is lovely.
Also The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley (not to be confused with the adult novel of the same name by Winifred Holtby!)

My eldest's teacher read it to them last year (she was 8).

Well, the teacher read the first bit and didn't finish. It's a pretty traumatic story, and although we've got it (and I only read it last year) I told DD that she could finish it when she was older. I honestly think reading for fun and pleasure is key at this stage. Challenging reads come later.

Also Wagstaff the Wind up Boy is hilarious. Ditto the whole Pongwiffy series.

A bit later we liked Bows against the Barons and Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease.

Joan Aitken - I read these as a child and LOVED them, had the whoel series etc.
Couldn't get any of my kids to read them, and then recently I re-ead them.
They are awful
The stories are still good adventure stories with everythign thrownin, and ridiculous coincidences to make a happy ending. But they are so full of stereotypes, far far worse than Enid Blyton. very Victoriana on style - poor = bad, rich = good. They are very dated

I read it at about that age and did a big project on it for school ... might have been closer to 9 or 10 though , can’t remember what year I was in at school. I do remember mum and I making evacuee labels with tea to stain the paper and stuff for this project. Absolutely adored the book although re reading it as an adult could appreciate certain bits a lot more . It’s a beautiful film as well - I found the film less upsetting than the book , although still sob at the end: ‘I can ride Dad, I can really ride!’

Carrie’s War is also a v good read , I was definitely 10 or 11 when we read that at school but equally loved it . There’s a film adaptation of that too I’m sure , can’t remember how old it is , and I think a TV series as well although tv one probably very outdated !!

My son's playing Zach in a production of it soon. He's 10 and most of the other child actors are 10-13. I think it's seen as a children's book because the main story centres around William. But I don't think it's for under 10's. My son wants to read To Kill a Mockingbird (because Scout and Jem are children he thinks it's a children's book). I will not be letting him until he's a few years older.

I think GMT is very disturbing and I can see why people may not want their young child to read it.

The Phantom Tolbooth is one of my favourites - my son loved it too. If you are looking for WW2 books another my son loved was Hilter's Canary by Sandi Toksvig.

Joan Aiken, yes I agree they are a little "odd", but my bookworm child still found the first two a bit of fun. The one who really prefers non fiction wouldn't have tolerated it!

You people are so lucky to have bookworm DCs - my 10 year old has been reading Harry Potter for the past three years (only on number 5) with occasional breaks for Tom Gates or Diary of a Wimpy Kid..

Full disclosure: Mine has stopped reading! Or maybe he's on a break..

He's aged 13.

I’d leave Mr Tom for a little while. I have a 10yo DS and think he is probably only just ready now, although we’ve had a copy for a couple of years.

Yes, I would wait. I think it's more upper primary than middle.

BirthdayCakes my son only reads when he wants to - stuff like Harry Potter, Skullduggery Pleasant and Alex Rider other than that it's a battle.

We have a deal now where every third book has to be something on the school reading list for dark blue/dark red. Most recent was The Wolves of Willougby Chase which he moaned about constantly!

You have a school reading list?

I'm envious!

YogaDrone That's a very good idea.. And the school reading list is a good idea too..

The weird thing is that DS is always telling me and other adults what a good reader he is and how much he loves books! The adults all 'awww' indulgently while I fume..

I've got it for my 11 year old for Christmas. I think she would have been fine with it at 8, but her sister definitely wouldn't. Totally depends on the child, but a sensitive one might be traumatised by the Trudy scenes. I'd save it for a year or two. I think it's very good to be moved by books but she will he in a year or two.

What about Starring Sally J Freedman as herself or the Fudge books? Think The Book People have a box set on offer of those (Judy Blume)
Harriet the Spy
Indian in the Cupboard
The Borrowers
Carrie's War
Tom's Midnight Garden

It's too sad. I'd leave it a bit. You could always just traumatise them the old fashioned way, I see they have lined up another Watership Down to break another generation.

I think it might be a bit much for a sensitive 8 year old.