books for 8yo DS with reading age of 15

[darleneoconnor]

DS had his reading assessed at school and he's done much better then I had expected. I knew he was a bit ahead but he doesn't like 'language' so I didn't expect too much. he prefers non-fiction to fiction but I'd welcome some appropriate suggestions on either. I dont mind him reading some things tht are a bit above his age as he is quite streetwise and pre-teenish in his behaviour/outlook but I'd imagine that 15+ books would have unsuitable themes in them.

Agree with the others, you just have to go with the flow. I was thick as two short planks at school but an avid reader, was stealing my mums books from aged 6/7 and would absorb whatever I could lay my hands on.... read some pretty unsuitable stuff too Just let him read whatever he wants too, so long as the content is appropriate.

Why not Goodnight Mister Tom at 8? I would have thought that was perfect for an 8 year old- definitely on the "enjoyable books/don't push him" side of the debate.
Any Michelle Magorian books- and things like Carrie's War. Or The Sky is Falling by Kit Pearson. I think it's a trilogy. Series are great fun to get into when you're young.
Leave a copy of feminist fairy tales (usually written for adults) lying around. They're usually a good read and not usually too politically slanted.

Oh and Crusade in Jeans and Rudyard Kipling, and you could try the Oscar Wilde children's short stories- The Happy Prince and so on.

I think that Goodnight Mister Tom is fine if he finds it by himself at the library, but it isn't one I would recommend at 8 yrs. I found it very harrowing as an adult and cried. It made a huge impression on my 10yr old, I read it because he kept giving me installments. I found Uncle's Tom's Cabin when I was young-I can't remember much about it-except that I found it very upsetting.

There is absolutely no benefit to reading stuff too early. Why would you? there's loads of books for children. read those and save the rest for when your imagination, sensibility and life experience catches up with your reading.

As I keep saying, there is not need to read Very Hard Books just because you can. Reading is not like maths.

I'm with Seeker. Just because a child can read very hard books doesn't mean they always want to. When I was a child (in those very long ago dark days called the 70s) there were only 3 TV channels, no computer-based entertainment at all and many, many, many fewer books. So I read lots of stuff I didn't understand because that was all there was to do. But honestly, DS2, who's 9 and reads voraciously at the moment, doesn't need to read the "classics" yet because there are so many more interesting and suitable books for him to read.

I'm sure lots of 8 year olds could read Day of the Triffids, but why would that be a first choice when, for example, there are so many wonderful children's science fiction books like the Edge Chronicles or the Terry Pratchett children's books or the Philip Reeve books (Mortal Engines, Larklight etc) or the excellent Windsinger books or even novelisations of Doctor Who?

It's not as if the OP is saying that her child has run out of books. She's just asking for suggestions.

Love Holes, fab book (and movie), the soundtracks good too

Holes is great but it's not really a good book for an 8 year old. It's about a teenager in a reform facility in the the US desert.

Please could somebody explain to me why they want their 8 year olds to read teenage or even adult books?

i realize that I might be flamed for this, but is it just possible tha there is a bit of parental showing off going on? I ask this because I remember how ridiculously proud I was briefly of having a 5 year old reading the first Harry Potter book. Peopel were so impressed - and I briefly allowed myself to bask in the admiration. Fortunately I came to my senses - but I can imagine that having an 8year old reading Dickens would produce even stronger feelings!

I suspect it is just a following on from 'my DC is on purple band-what is your DC on?'
I said in my first post-I don't see the problem-he can read anything, so let him choose-let him loose in the library. The important thing is to read for enjoyment-that is the only thing that will keep him hooked. He can do what most peope do, look at he cover, read the burb, read the first page-he can always give up if it turns out he doesn't like it. He can take out more books than he can read in a week.
He can decode and he will have plenty of practise in literacy, history, science etc.
Ask other DCs what they read-much better than asking adults. Plenty can read at that level when 8yrs old.

There is a great danger of spoiling books by reading them before you are ready just because someone thinks you are capable of decoding.
I used to love Enid Blyton as a DC-sometimes you just want an easy read and escapism.

Because it develops vocabulary, develops world view (descriptions of places on the other side of the world), provokes thought and opinion which develops independent thought (e.g. basic philosophy questions like "should we help the poor?"), standing them in good stead for later, and because if there is a chance they'd love the books, then why not?
What will they get more out of- a short, sophisticated story by a literary master or books which are dumbed down for them because kids should never be challenged/stretched nowadays?
I'm exaggerating a bit here, but there isn't a terrible lot of difference between something like Rudyard Kipling and some of the more uncomplicated adult books. Themes are simplified, but if they're too highbrow they'll be skimmed over and there is a lot to be gained from pure exposition to beautiful language which isn't usually commonplace.

I read Dickens at eight- no big deal! No one fawned over me and I found it normal, especially when I read old stories (e.g. by Louisa May Alcott) about children my age reading Dickens, which they called "a good rag", "a bit of fun". He would have been seen as "age-appropriate" a hundred years ago! My parents are used to it, they often told me to stop reading "baby books" and read harder books. They weren't trying to breed showing-off fodder, they were pushing a lazy child who was grateful once she got stuck in. They were both precocious readers and so were their brothers and sisters. I loved the words and I loved how it was completely different to anything else I'd ever read. It painted a picture. Every book like that will reveal something more of itself with every reading.

In a pratical sense I'm glad I read that sort of book then because my spelling and grammar and vocab improved much more after just one of those wordy confusing books than after 10 "age-appropriate" books. I didn't care about how it was a significant social commentary about a situation which had changed 100 or so years before I was born, and neither will most 8 year olds, but it did much more good than harm and I don't see how it will do harm either. Let's not get to the stage where the kids are kept from books because we might be accused of showing off!

Fine if they choose quirrelquarrel-I read classics at that age, and Enid Blyton and anything that took my fancy. It is quite nice if people suggest things you might like but not if they are pushing things at you because you can decode at an advanced level, rather than they think an 8yr old might enjoy it.(or they can say my DS is reading David Copperfield-I must be a good mother!!)
A weekly visit to the library is all you need.

What about the odd polar exploration type book - suitable content and great for adventurous type boys.

Also, what about the books written by Brian Cox - not sure how detailed they are and how complex the science is but otherwise I think they'd be interesting.

No straw men, please, quirrelquarrel!

Quirrelquarrel, I worked my way through the Chaim Potok lexicon before I was 10. I vividly remember reading "My Name is Asher Lev" on holiday when I was 9. It was my mother's book that I appropriated once I'd read all of mine.

I swear my decision to study religions at university was the result of readin Issac Bashiev Singer at an impressionable age.

Sorry if I'm repeating but didn't read all posts;

Treasure Island
Swiss Family Robinson
philip pullman

I think there are some fantastic children's books being written at the moment. There are some children's writers; Philip Reeve, Neil Gaiman's children's stuff, Dianne Wynne Jones ( although she sadly died recently) that I rate above a lot of the adult market.

Of course you'll get some omnivorous children who'll read anything but surely it's more sensible to direct most children's attention towards the wonderful children's books on offer.

For the OP Pirate Diary illustrated by Chris Riddell is great (can't remember the name of the writer.)

Ok - I'm repeating myself here. But I would be amazed if many modern 8 year olds however good at reading they were would enjoy Treasure Island. Or Swills Family R - all that stuff about the flora and fauna. And why this insistnce on giving children "classics"?

Okay - how about The famous Five?

Surely the language of an older style book will help even more with his grammar/reading/writing.

Has he read all of the Michael Murpurgo books?

I sort of agree with what seeker is getting at. I feel the same about HE kids doing GCSE syllabi at age 11-14. Why is that a good thing? I want to say to their obv. pleased parents.

Seeker, children should neither be forced to read advanced literature nor simplistic literature. I dont think there's any boastfulness about it. Our suggestions are informed by the books that delighted us as children.

I don't agree with all the suggestions, but that doesn't mean they are wrong. As long as the child is allowed to make up their own mind, we should let them taste the whole range of literature.

At my primary we were restricted to our classes' books. I was not even allowed (by the teachers) to read my brother's books, and he was only two years ahead of me.

Our parents OTOH restricted nothing. I suspect that they used the same 'height' method of censorship that I now use: they did not forbid us from reading anything, but the raunchier or frightening books were on the topmost shelves (which I did not realise until my teens).

I read at least half of Lord of the Rings aged 8, but I would never recommend it for an 8yo. I read it purely because my brother had it from the library, but it was far too old for me and terrified me. I still remember the nightmares. I stopped reading it and returned to it as an adult.

I remember enjoying Tom Sawyer, 20,000 Leagues, The Wizard of Oz and My Childhood (Gorky), as well as Enid Blyton.

I think that today there is far greater choice of literature for a precocious reader than there was when I was little, but that does not mean that there is no place for the classics. The written language of 100+years ago has a richness that you rarely find today, and if our youngsters can master it then that is to be encouraged.

Exactly prettycandles.

The books they read at GCSE level (including shakespeare) are often hard; I always found shakespeare extremely complicated (and do now) so if he can get to grips with classic language, it'll help him in the future.

Generally though, I think there are plenty of books for yrs 8+ in the mainstream book shops/amazon - without having to give him books which may not be emotionally suitable.

am not experienced with G & T issues so can't really advise specifically about that but just wondered what he is interested in/likes to read?

Maybe he'd be interested in reading about famous scientists/their inventions, childhood in different countries - novels set in say Korea/Japan/Iran - places he maybe doesn't yet know much about.