Kids books for 6 to 8 year olds. Expert recommended children’s books for ages 6 to 8 years old. This is a great age to get children reading and loving books. We have a wide range of books so you are bound to find many books your children will love.
We have books about pets, elves, grandparent, black icons, Dads, Christmas books, playful books, funny books and graphic books.
Many 6 year olds and 7 year olds will be learning to read but it’s still important to keep reading aloud to them, as this will help them gain vocabulary and experience books above their reading level.
Many research studies have shown that reading for pleasure is important for children’s academic success, mental health and even later economic success. Another recent study has shown reading aloud to a child along with play can help a child regulate and manage emotions and help with social-emotional development. This is the ideal time in a child life to foster a love of reading: find your child’s next great book in our list, then curl up on a sofa and read it together.
Our book recommendations are all made by experts, who explain their choices in an interview. You can browse our database either by book or by interview:
Father Christmas Goes on Holiday
by Raymond Briggs
No one needs a holiday more than Father Christmas, but where can such a well-known and easily recognized person go? A wonderfully illustrated book that celebrates the magic of Christmas.
“Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J R R Tolkien’s children. The letters were from Father Christmas.” Read more...
“An illustrated book about black history that illuminates black women’s specific role in driving change.” Read more...
“It’s like reading a fairy tale book – but grown-up fairy tales that are actually true. The ladies are all real.” Read more...
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds
Helen, Children
“Hilarious parody of well-known tales.I find it as funny now as an adult as I did as a child.” Read more...
Elys Dolan, Children's Author
“This is a bedtime read. It’s really quiet and settling” Read more...
“I was just blown away by it. The design, the colours. The colours were so vibrant. I hadn’t seen anything like it before.” Read more...
Korky Paul on Inspiring Illustrations
Korky Paul, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“An atmospheric and funny book that captures the mood of a summer’s day with the chance to go for a ride on a boat.” Read more...
“A special edition of the the moving and empowering poem by Maya Angelou with illustrations by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.” Read more...
“Low-key but subversively funny adventure involving a fish and a stolen hat.” Read more...
Elys Dolan, Children's Author
“I think this is the essence of this book is that it’s all about that role of grandparents to kind of be the other parents, to be there in times of need.” Read more...
The best books on Grandparents and Grandchildren
Joseph Coelho, Children's Author
“Saturated with the delirious sense of infectious nonsense that is prevalent in all my favourite Dr Seuss books” Read more...
Jon Burgerman on the best Playful Books for Children
Jon Burgerman, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“The way he drew is quite beautiful. Really fantastic. The lay-out again is wonderful to look at. He has such simple backgrounds and then all this incredible detail.” Read more...
Korky Paul on Inspiring Illustrations
Korky Paul, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“It is a very funny story, written in rhyme, with wonderful, crazy Seuss illustrations – and a big environmental message for young readers.” Read more...
The best books on Trees For Younger Readers
Neal Layton, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“A lovely pop-up edition of the classic Christmas poem” Read more...
“This is such an amazing book that is honest about the scale of the issue and that it’s our fault – but presented in a really fun way.” Read more...
“It is a story book but it has tonnes of facts in it – especially about Shakespeare.” Read more...
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds
Helen, Children
Beatrice’s Goat
by Page McBrier
This book is actually based on a non-profit organisation called Heifer International. People donate money and the Heifer project donates livestock animals to people in poor countries, who then use the animals to become self-sufficient. The book is about a girl named Beatrice, who lives in an African country. She has to work to help take care of her siblings and she does some farm work also. But her dream is to go to school. So then they get this donation of a goat, and Beatrice is able to sell the goat’s milk and she gives the money to her mother and it turns out her mother has been saving for Beatrice to go to school as well. Then, at the end of the story, she’s able to go to school and she is just so happy. The words, the sheer happiness that this girl can finally go to school, it really brings tears to one’s eyes. It’s such a good book.
“It’s really inventive and imaginative – they just use things lying around the house to make up a story.” Read more...
Paul Howard recommends the best Books About Dads
Paul Howard, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“A book that has a unique way of introducing an important subject. I suppose you could call it the art of gentle persuasion, or how you can peacefully convince someone to see things your way.” Read more...
Klaus Flugge on Five of his Favourite Books
Klaus Flugge, Entrepreneurs & Business People
“This is excellent visual storytelling and beautifully shows how having a child is transformative.” Read more...
Paul Howard recommends the best Books About Dads
Paul Howard, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“the magic in the book is good magic. You can feel the children’s fear and excitement, the fallibility of the irritable parents and the children’s hope for a happy Christmas. The card lightens and darkens with day and night and guides the family through the weather to roaring fires and glimmering Christmas trees, to an idealised home.” Read more...
Father Christmas, Miscellaneous
“The illustrated story of Josephine Baker, a ground-breaking dancer, singer and comedienne of the 1920’s.” Read more...
“Asterix (who is a tiny guy with a big moustache) and his friend (who is a big guy) called Obelix are very, very funny.” Read more...
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds
Helen, Children
“A fabulous parody of fantasy tropes. A sequel that is better than the original.” Read more...
Elys Dolan, Children's Author
“Myths were made up a really long time ago. Like the lady with the snakes on her head – it’s probably not real but it happened so long ago maybe it was true?” Read more...
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds
Helen, Children
Harvey Slumphenburger's Christmas Present
by John Burningham
When it comes to delivering the last present in his sack, no journey is too far for Father Christmas! A charming seasonal story from an award-winning artist.
“It’s pretty scary but what I loved were the drawings, the lay-outs, quite simple line work and flat colour.” Read more...
Korky Paul on Inspiring Illustrations
Korky Paul, Cartoonist/Illustrator
” the competition is funny with the lion, unicorn and donkey all competing for the job and listing their accomplishments to the angel who takes note. The lion says: ‘Present position: King of the Jungle. Weaknesses: None reported.’ Yes. Somehow Jeanette Winterson telling the story from the donkey’s point of view, makes the Nativity story seem real, with all the smells from the stable and Joseph’s optimism that they’ll find a room.” Read more...
Father Christmas, Miscellaneous
“The true story of the life of the ballerina Misty Copeland, one of my heroes.” Read more...
Cloud Tea Monkeys
by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham
My own specialty is women globally and I do a lot of work on women in poor countries. This book focuses on a woman who is very poor. She is in a South Asian country and she picks tealeaves for a living. Her daughter is either too young to go to school or they cannot afford to send her to school, so the daughter often comes along to the plantation. It’s a lovely story, it shows some of the very real poverty that we see in developing countries, but there’s a touch of magic in it, that it’s all going to be OK. So this book really touched my heart. I’ve read it to a number of classes and by the end, the children are clapping – they love the story.
“This story focuses on the relationship between a little boy and his grandfather and the simple adventures that they share.” Read more...
The best books on Grandparents and Grandchildren
Joseph Coelho, Children's Author
“A seed is one of the biggest wonders of the natural world, this book shows how a single seed can make it against all the odds.” Read more...
“Mœbius has such an imagination – lovely line work. He has the same sort of imagination as Philip Pullman–or writers like this. The story telling with the pictures is so compelling.” Read more...
Korky Paul on Inspiring Illustrations
Korky Paul, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“A bold picture book, the colour is striking with an unusual palette. Captures little moments that together perfectly describe a snowy day.” Read more...
“This captures effortlessly for me how we as a society love to put beautiful endangered animals in cages and stare at them – but we don’t spend time talking about what we are doing.” Read more...
“Maurice Sendak was inspired by the set and costumes he designed for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Christmas production” Read more...
“Not just child’s book. It’s wordless and wonderful, full of playful drawings and inked ideas.” Read more...
Jon Burgerman on the best Playful Books for Children
Jon Burgerman, Cartoonist/Illustrator
Julian Is A Mermaid
by Jessica Love
While riding the subway home with his Nana one day, Julian notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Then his imagination takes over. A thoroughly charming story
“Aside from the utterly charming artwork and attention to detail throughout, I love the playfulness with the invented language.” Read more...
Jon Burgerman on the best Playful Books for Children
Jon Burgerman, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“Such a unique style, so carefully observed and softly drawn.” Read more...
Korky Paul on Inspiring Illustrations
Korky Paul, Cartoonist/Illustrator
“I chose Oscar because it is a new way of talking about a subject—in this case behaviour—and that reading it makes children feel better. To make children laugh is important to me. I would say that laughter is my favourite subject. I mean, first to make them enjoy the book—and, ideally, make them laugh at the same time.” Read more...
Klaus Flugge on Five of his Favourite Books
Klaus Flugge, Entrepreneurs & Business People
“This beautifully illustrated book has a poignant, beautiful and clear message about sustainability in the oceans.” Read more...
“this beautifully illustrated wordless book, filled with the joy and the excitement of Christmas but permeated with the boy’s sense of loss and the slight bleakness of England in winter, especially in the 1950s when these illustrations look set.” Read more...
Father Christmas, Miscellaneous
“There is so much to love about this book. Firstly the dinosaurs being woken up by the heat from humans burning everything and then them tidying up the mess.” Read more...
“There’s a lot of adventure and snow and a cute little dog called Snowy.” Read more...
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds
Helen, Children
Sanji and the Baker
by Robin Tzannes
This is illustrated by Korky Paul, who is my absolute favourite illustrator. The story is about what in economics we call an externality: when something that somebody produces has either a benefit or a cost for other people that is not included in the price. So in this case it’s the smell of the baked goods – other people can enjoy the smell, but they don’t have to pay for it. That’s a positive externality. A negative externality is pollution: when firms produce goods but they pollute the environment and nobody pays for it. It’s a very sophisticated concept, and yet here it is, in this picture book for young children.
“I love that the dad in this story seems to be the main carer. He takes her to school and he picks her up.” Read more...
Paul Howard recommends the best Books About Dads
Paul Howard, Cartoonist/Illustrator
100 Things to Know About Numbers, Computers & Coding
Alex Frith (illustrated by Federico Mariani and Parko Polo)
“Computers are such a big part of our life and understanding a little bit about them is of benefit to everyone. But it can be quite a dry subject, ‘numbers, computing and coding’: even the title doesn’t sound very promising. But the book itself presents some fascinating facts. They’re quite mind-boggling, some of them. It’s amazing to look at.” Read more...
The Best Science Books for Kids: 2019 Royal Society Young Person’s Book Prize
Wherever My Wellies take Me
by Clare Morpurgo
A charming book that follows Pippa into the countryside as her day unfolds, she encounters people and animals on the way. Pippa’s travels are complemented by poems from some of our greatest authors, personally chosen by Clare and Michael Morpurgo. Part poetry anthology, part child’s scrapbook,
Ocean
by Emmanuelle Grundmann & Hélène Druvert
A fact-filled journey through the oceans with clever paper engineering and beautiful illustrations.
The Train to Impossible Places
PG Bell (author) and Flavia Sorrentino (illustrator)
“There is just a whiff, just the merest whiff, of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in this book. And that is never a bad thing in a book. It’s a wild, funny and impossible adventure – just the sort of crazy ride that is perfect to sink into.” Read more...
Editors’ Picks: The Best Children’s Fiction of 2018
Zoe Greaves, Children's Author
“A classic that would be a treat for any child to read.” Read more...
The best books on Pets For Young Kids
Catherine Rayner, Children's Author
“Hairy Maclary, a scruffy little dog, trots about town. On the way he gathers up lots of dog friends. It’s a rhyming text with repetition that builds.” Read more...
The best books on Pets For Young Kids
Catherine Rayner, Children's Author
“This book gently steers the reader to the fact that handicapped children can do things that able-bodied children would do.” Read more...
Klaus Flugge on Five of his Favourite Books
Klaus Flugge, Entrepreneurs & Business People
“This book is especially good since it plays on the myths surrounding these ‘vicious’ barbarians, while exposing readers to the complex and fascinating world of travel, trade and tradition that underline these misconceptions.” Read more...
The Best Viking History Books for Kids
Janina Ramirez, Children's Author
“Myths were made up a really long time ago. Like the lady with the snakes on her head – it’s probably not real but it happened so long ago maybe it was true?” Read more...
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds
Helen, Children
Julian Is A Mermaid
by Jessica Love
While riding the subway home with his Nana one day, Julian notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Then his imagination takes over. A thoroughly charming story
“A book inspired by true accounts of the experience of refugee children.” Read more...
The best books on Courage and Kindness for Kids
Beverley Naidoo, Children's Author
The Journey
by Francesca Sanna
A tale of two girls and their mother that have to leave everything behind and travel on a long journey to somewhere unfamiliar. A refugee story full of fear and hope in the turmoil of war.
“It is an African Cinderella with John Steptoe’s illustrations adding classical beauty.” Read more...
The best books on Courage and Kindness for Kids
Beverley Naidoo, Children's Author
“The thing about the British Empire is that it was so big so lots of things happened and boy did a lot of things happen.” Read more...
The Best History Books (for 8-10 year olds)
Alex, Children
“Not just child’s book. It’s wordless and wonderful, full of playful drawings and inked ideas.” Read more...
Jon Burgerman on the best Playful Books for Children
Jon Burgerman, Cartoonist/Illustrator
Calculus by and for Young People
by Donald Cohen
Calculus by and for young People is a wonderful, very short book by a man called Don Cohen. It get children (from the age of 7) interested in exploring the ideas of infinity and gives them confidence to follow through on those ideas even though these idea are said to be incredibly complex and can’t be done until you’re 16.
The Hockey Sweater
by Roch Carrier
The Hockey Sweater teaches about not only the game but also its place in Canada, particularly in 1930s Quebec
Dinosaur
by David Norman
You have pictures of dinosaur fossils but also artists’ impressions of dinosaurs. It is almost meant to be like a paper version of a museum experience
Violet the Pilot
by Steve Breen
A classic underdog story full of humor and sweetness starring fly ace Violet Van Winkle.
The Best Graphic Novels for Eight Year Olds, selected by Helen
“And what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?” Eight-year-old Helen feels the same. Here she tells us why reading graphic novels is fun, relaxing and definitely not for babies – and recommends her current five favourites.
Klaus Flugge on Five of his Favourite Books
Since founding Andersen Press in 1976, Klaus Flugge has published some of the most well-known and best-loved names in the world of children’s books– he has launched the careers of some of our best-loved picture book illustrators, from Quentin Blake and Chris Riddell to David McKee, Tony Ross, Michael Foreman and Emma Chichester Clark. Here he expounds on his favourite books and why laughter is his favourite subject.
The best books on Grandparents and Grandchildren, recommended by Joseph Coelho
Acclaimed poet, Joseph Coelho, recommends five of the best kids’ books that celebrate the magical bonds between grandparents and their grandchildren. Positive intergenerational relationships have very real health benefits for the whole family! So get yourself settled on a comfy chair with a grandchild and take some time to enjoy sharing these delightful stories.
Best Environmental Books for Kids, selected by Georgina Stevens
What are the best books to engage and educate young kids about the environment? Environmentalist and author Georgina Stevens has some ideas. She recommends her favourite environment books for kids, as well as a few websites that will help teach them (and their families) how to make a difference.
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1
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
by Carole Boston Weatherford & Euka Holmes -
2
Josephine: A Dazzling Life
by Christian Robinson & Patricia Hruby Powell -
3
The Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
by Vashti Harrison -
4
Firebird
by Misty Copeland -
5
Life Doesn't Frighten Me
by Jean-Michel Basquiat & Maya Angelou
Books on Black Icons for Children, selected by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins
Books on Black Icons for Children, selected by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins
Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins discuss books that that tell the stories of some of the greatest black icons in history – and explain why reading books that celebrate these extraordinary lives can be transformational for all children.
Books about the Weather for Kids, recommended by Tim Hopgood
Children have almost universal responses to different kinds of weather: kicking fallen leaves in autumn, splashing in puddles in the rain, catching snowflakes on tongues when it snows. We talk to author and illustrator Tim Hopgood about the weather as an inspiration for children’s books.
The best books on Elves, recommended by Igreth the Elf
Elves are often misunderstood or misrepresented over the Christmas period – Christmas cracker jokes have never been kind to these tiny heroes of the festive season. Here Igreth the Elf, great-great-great-grandson of Ilbereth the Elf, sets the record straight and introduces five children’s books that celebrate the extraordinary contribution these diminutive creatures make to Christmas itself.
Jon Burgerman on the best Playful Books for Children
Whatever your age, play is how we test ideas, define rules and see if they hold. New York-based artist and author Jon Burgerman talks to Five Books about his favourite titles that encourage kids to have fun and be playful, without worry or fear of failure, and simply enjoy the limitless possibilities of imagination.
Best Economics Books for Kids, recommended by Yana van der Meulen Rodgers
Great books can introduce kids to economics at a young age, says Rutgers University economics professor Yana van der Meulen Rodgers. Here she picks some lovely story books for 5-10 year olds and explains the key economic concepts they illustrate.
