Harry Potter - what next for an 8 year old girl ??

[Crunchie]

OK DD2 is nearly 8 (in 10 days as she is counting down already!!) She has almost finished the 7th HP book and LOVES them all.

But what next? She adores/devours books at great speed, but books for 8 year olds are too simple, and books aimed much higher (at her reading level) are too adult in theme (yes HP is too, but thats a different story)

I am wondering about the old classics, Little WOmen, Anne of Green Gables etc. Less 'adult' in theme but using complex lanuage.

Any thoughts??

---

MNHQ Update
This is an old thread, but if you’ve come across it while searching for book recommendations for your child, our guide to the best books for eight-year-olds has been recently updated to reflect current availability and new releases. It includes a wide range of tried, tested and approved-by-Mumnsetters recommendations, from classic tales to the latest five-star reads. We hope it’s helpful!

What about the His Dark Materials books?

Definitely the classics you mentioned, I loved those as a child.

Anne of Green Gables books are quite a good idea (though I would keep off Rilla of INgleside for an 8 year old as it is a bit too bleak). ALso, how about Philip Pullman's Northern Lights books, they are no more 'adult' in theme than HP.
YOu could also try some Terry Pratchett if she likes magic/fantasy stuff (he has done some books that are specifically for DC, like Diggers - the adult books do have a certain amount of swearing in which might make you not approve them for an 8 year old).

I loved Swallows and Amazons at about that age. And definitely Anne of Green Gables!

Also:
The Wolf Brother series by Michelle Paver.
Little House on the Prairie (and sequels) - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Enid Blyton school stories - Mallory Towers & St Clares.
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe series - CS Lewis
Tom's Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce
The Secret Garden or The Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson
The Inkheart series - Cornelia Funke
Anything by E Nesbit - The Enchanted Castle, Story of the Treasure Seekers, Phoenix and the Carpet, Five Children and It.
The Silver Sword - Ian Serallier

My absolute favourite - The Little White Horse - Elizabeth Goudge

I was a bit of a precocious reader at that stage and batted well above my age so you may want to review some of these - but sounds like your daughter is ready for them!

This link might be usefulwww.amandacraig.com/childrens.htm
Amanda Craig has some excellent suggestions, listed under age groups.
Yes to all the classics you mentioned; others I loved included
The Ordinary Princess - M.M. Kaye
The Wind on the Moon - Eric Linklater
Noel Streatfeild books - 'Ballet Shoes' etc
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf - Catherine Storr
The Land of Green Ginger - Noel Langley

How about the Septimus Heap books - DD has read the first one, Magyk, and loved it (she's 9, and also enjoying the Harry Potters).

Swallows and Amazons and all those are great.

I loved books like the Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright - it's part of a series and is set in 40s America but your daughter might enjoy them. The sentence structure might slow her a down a bit as well as it's a little old-fashioned.

Another one I enjoyed around the same age was The Family at One End Street by Eve Garnett (had to google that one). That's also part of a series as I recall.

I second, third, fourth the Swallows & Amazon series by Arthur Ransome. Also the Lone Pine stories and the other series by Malcolm Saville (if you can source them) - he wrote lots of adventure type books which are quite good fun to read.

My 7yos three favourite authors at the moment are Joan Aitkin (wolves of willoughby chase, very good, there's a whole series), Jacqueline Wilson and Enid Blyton.

8yo likes stories about animals - Trouble according to Humphrey, Moomintroll, Dick King Smith animal stories, also Jacqueline Wilson.

They both like old classics - 7yo especially likes E Nesbit - but not Little Women, they found that boring.

Diana Wynne Jones- especially the Chrestomanci series. Much better than Harry Potter IMO.

His Dark Materials might be a bit "old" in the sense that you need to understand (at least in part) some of the theological stuff and also there is a (very well done) sex scene in there towards the end.

Inkheart is quite scary in places but I suppose no more so than HP.

The Series Of Unfortunate Events
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Edge Chronicles
The Divide

Robin Jarvis did a really good set of books called the Deptford Mice Trilogy, there is also 3 more called the Deptford Mice Histories. I can't recommend them enough, I LOVE these books!

I second Joan Aiken, and Diana Wynne Jones is fab (lots of them too, although some are more grown up in theme), I like Septimus Heap (Angie Sage), and would also suggest Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfe), the Mister Monday series (Garth Nix), Charlotte Hapte, the Dark is Rising (Susan Cooper), Tamora Pierce, Debi Giori (Pure Dead..) and maybe Jonathan Stroud (Bartimaeus).

All books on my list to read to my two (eight and nine) who aren't such great readers as your dd, but love to listen. I was also a total bookworm, and read all my big sisters books, suitable or not!