Books for 8 year old finishing Harry Potter

[Hobbes8]

My son isn’t a big solo reader but he’s always enjoyed bedtime stories. He’s on the last Harry Potter and he’s a bit anxious about what other books he might read. I wondered about the Narnia books and have some ideas for a few years time - hunger games, northern lights, maybe divergent but I haven’t fear it myself. I’d love some other recommendations though. I’m a big reader and he naturally isn’t (more into gaming) and I’d love to find him something he could really get into.

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Alex rider series maybe

My son loved the How to Train your Dragon series. Also anything by Diana Wynne Jones, Jowls Moving Castle is great.

Mines loves "There's a Yeti in the Playground". The same author has a few books so we will eventually work our way through them.

My 9 year old son loves the Percy Jackson series and has just finished The Hobbit.

I would read Hunger Games until about 11 in my opinion. I'm considering Divergent series for my almost 10 year old but may give it another 6 months.

I would highly recommend the Percy Jackson series & then everything else by Rick Riordan. The series are based on greek, roman, egyptian & norse mythology.

Also maybe a bit younger but the Helen Moss series called Adventure Island Mystery of... are really good. Like modern Enid Blyton & set in Cornwall.

My son is a big reader & these are favourites. I'm forever researching books & have just bought the first 5 of the Pegasus series by Kate O'Hearn so fingers crossed he enjoys these!

*wouldn't

Agree with lots of the above, have DS8 and DD.

Are 'bed time stories' him reading or being read to, or a mix?

How to Train Your Dragon was a favourite one of mine to listen to from 6 or 7 and we've only just finished them (there are 12 books!) as also got sucked into reading Potter to them every night. They both have gone on to re-read Potter and HTTYD to themselves, and have also both read and Loved Cressida Cowell's Wizards of ONce series (read to themselves).

DS has apparently read some bits of Northern Lights, and is keen to watch the TV (need to check how scary it is). Currently in the middle of Percy JAckson series, having read quite a lot of Beast Quest (which is dross, but they power through it). Lots of his friends also reading Alex Rider.

Pamela Butchart wrote the Yeti in my Playground book, part of a series called Baby Aliens, both mine loved it
www.books2door.com/products/baby-aliens-series-collection-7-books-set-ages-9-14-paperback-pamela-butchart (there's a more babyish series too so don't get muddled)

Also loving The Explorer as bedtime story, Boy At the Back of the Class. Some MIchael Morpugo as he likes WW1/2 history.

The Nothing to See Hotel (3 in the series) and Boy Who Grew Dragons (3 in series) were read super fast and made both mine laugh.

DS has also loved My Gumm, all the Wimpy Kid/13 storey tree house/Big Nate styles books etc

I came on to say the How to Train your Dragon books too. They're great.

Some of Eoin Colfer's books could be good. Maybe not Artemis Fowl as that is a bit grim, but Airman is fabulous.
Linda Buckley-Archer's Gideon trilogy is beautifully written timeslip-travel.
Also Joan Aitken's books are great - steampunkish adventures where history takes a different turn.
He might love some of Terry Prachett's books aimed at younger readers - something like Truckers.
Definitely the Narnia series.
The Eddy Stone adventure series is funny and eccentric - good for that age group if they are bookish but not ready for realist jeopardy.
The Alex Rider series is more naturalistic than the other's I've mentioned but it's brilliant.

The Clarice Bean books (not the picture books) and The Ruby Redfort books by Lauren Child are brilliant.

Thank you all - a whole load of amazing suggestions most of which I didn’t know at all.

He’s mostly being read to. His own reading is by no means advanced for his age - summer born, had some extra help in school, a bit daunted by pages and pages of text. He read fine by himself now but there’s quite a gap between the level of reading he’s comfortable with alone and the type of complexity of story he enjoys when being read to. which is why I’m really keen to find something absorbing as Harry Potter.

He’d game all day if we let him, and he’s we’ve been much more lax about it in lockdown. I don’t want to be snooty about gaming - it’s practically an art form these days - but I really don’t want him to give up on books at his age

Artemis Fowl books Series of Unfortunate Events Bartimeus Trilogy (Jonathan Stroud) Just William books The Dark is Rising Sequence Maybe some of the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels? I think I started some of them around that age with my dad reading them to me.

I'd leave Divergent and Hunger Games to 11+

Cornelia Funke Dragon Rider and sequel.
Cressida Cowell Wizards of Once

Mine loved Compton Valance and Bee Boy

My 8 year old is currently racing through the Tom Gates books and loves them.

Try the Polar Bear Explorers club. 3 in the series so far and a fab step on from Potter. It’s a glorious mix of Potter and Pullman style writing.

I loved reading them to my daughter.

The Whitby Witches trilogy by Robin Jarvis

Darkmouth series by Shane Hegarty and Artemis Fowl books by Eoim Colfer

Series of Unfortunate Events - my 8 year old DS is binge reading these as they are handed down by his older sister.

They also commandeered the TV for several days to binge watch it on Netflix!

Anything by Cressida Cowell also very popular.

Frank Cottrell Boyce's reimagined Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is great. There are three in the series. He might also like Hank Zipzer.

Some great suggestions here but if you want to get him into reading on his own as well as being read to and he is put off by lots of text then he may find some of them a bit daunting . How to Train Your Dragon is spot on - the text is nicely broken up with illustrations. Jeremy Strong is also popular with this age group. Beast Quest is dross, as mentioned above, but they do encourage reading independence and there are some choose your own adventure ones that he might like if he’s a gamer. A bit longer are the Charlie Bone books by Jenny Nimmo, which are a good follow on from Harry Potter.

I’d recommend the Rangers Apprentice series or the Brotherband series by John Flanagan

Diana Wynne Jones. The Chrestomanci series is similarish to Harry Potter (but better!). Howl's Moving Castle and subsequent books are also very good.

Reading to himself - Wizards of Once series, Tom Fletcher The Creakers, Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans are all easier reads and funny, as well as of course the brilliant Diary of a Wimpy Kid. My ds likes Percy Jackson, but maybe to read to him if he’s not quite into big swathes of text yet. My ds also liked Redwall, that might be a good read aloud.

The Land of Roar was a recent one he loved.

My 7yo just finished Harry Potter and he loves Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. He's also working his way through the Famous Five by Enid Blyton.