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14 best books for 8 to 12-year-olds
From dragons to schoolboy spies, let your kids dive into our round-up of imaginative tales
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Your support makes all the difference.The benefits of making books an integral part of your children’s lives are too long to list here. But just to name a few, it can boost their learning potential, help build the bonds between you and them (especially if you read together), improve their communication skills, enhance their logical thinking skills, help put them in other people’s shoes, increase their concentration skills and - perhaps most importantly of all – remind them that reading fiction is one of life’s greatest joys. Read on to find out our favourites for eight to 12-year-olds.
You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney: £12.99, Penguin
The latest book in this best-selling series will no doubt fill many a Christmas stocking this year. In this adventure, Greg finds an old video camera in his basement and with the help of his best friend, Rowley, he hatches a plan to make a scary movie, with the ultimate goal of making his fortune. Rumbustious, action-packed and very funny.
2. The Accidental Secret Agent by Tom McLaughlin: £6.99, Oxford University Press
Writer and illustrator Tom McLaughlin spent ten years as a political cartoonist before winning children over with The Accidental Prime Minister, the comical story of a 12-year-old who unintentionally becomes prime minister. This is the follow up, which relates the entertaining antics of a schoolboy who turns into a spy by accident.
3. The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell: £3.99, RHCP
This is the first book in The Uncommoners trilogy. Seb and his sister Ivy are taken to a secret city called Lundinor, set beneath the streets of London. The forces of evil are closing in fast in a world where nothing is quite as it seems, and the duo must unlock a family secret or risk never seeing their parents again. It’s an exhilarating and enchanting story from a talented debut author.
4. The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner by Terry Pratchett: £10.65, Random House Children’s Publishers UK
Written by Pratchett when he was just 17-years-old, these 14 stories are pulled together for the first time in what is a great treat for children, whether they’re new to his work or existing fans. Full of pirates, wizards, food fights and crooks, there’s something for everyone – and they’re fantastically funny too.
5. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Part 1 & 2 by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany: £7.99, Little Brown Book Group
Harry Potter fans couldn’t believe their luck when this came out, not least because it was launched so soon after the main series finished. And although the book – which is the script of the new west end play - has had mixed reviews, it is well worth reading if you know you won’t get to see it live, and includes all the magic and ingenuity you could possibly want. Although be warned: it takes a dark turn thanks to the time-twisting plot.
6. The Great Fire Dogs by Megan Rix: £5.99, Puffin
This is an engaging tale for animal lovers to read in the anniversary year of the Great Fire of London. The story focuses on two best friends, Woofer, who is a loveable stray dog working in the palace kitchen, and Tiger Lily, the spoiled pooch of King Charles II. Woofer finds himself in trouble and has to escape the palace, so Tiger Lily follows, but then a new danger emerges – the great fire.
7. Tom Gates: Dog Zombies Rule (For Now) by Liz Pichon: £6.99, Scholastic
In this latest book of the wildly popular series, Tom Gates has big plans for his band DogZombies - to be the best band in the whole wild world. What could possibly go wrong? As comical, engaging and bold as Pichon’s previous books, we expect children to be queuing at the bookshops for this one.
8. Matilda by Roald Dahl: £6.99, Penguin Books Ltd
This was the last full-length book that Dahl wrote and this anniversary edition gives young readers another chance to feast their eyes (not to mention their imaginations) on the unforgettable tale of Matilda, who combines intelligence, drama and coolness under pressure in a breath-taking story that is quite impossible to put down.
9. How to Train your Dragon:How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury by Cressida Cowell: £6.99, Hachette Children's Group
This is the last book in the How to Train Your Dragon series, which has sold over seven million copies in 38 languages. It’s war between dragons and humans and readers finally get to discover what really happened to the dragons. Cowell addresses some big issues in this magical and mysterious tale that is bound to become a modern classic.
10. The War Next Door Phil Earle: £6.08, Orion Children’s Books
Demolition Dad and Superhero Street author Phil Earle has written this brilliant third book, which is all about Masher – the bully of Storey Street. But then a young girl called Jemima moves in next door and starts to make him look like a bit of a wimp. To Masher, this means one thing – war. This is a hilarious book that encourages children to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.
11. The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine: £6.99, Egmont UK Ltd
If your child has enjoyed Jacqueline Wilson or Enid Blyton, then this book is a must. Following the death of her father, Miss Sophie Taylor gets a job at a glamorous London department store. But when the priceless Clockwork Sparrow is stolen from Sinclair’s grand opening exhibition, it is up to Sophie and her friends to bring the scheming villains to justice.
12. The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell: £6.55, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
In the snowy woods of Russia Feodora’s mother is a wolf wilder, which is someone who teaches tame animals to be wild again, and Feodora is a wolf wilder in training. But the Russian Army threatens their existence, eventually forcing Feo to go on the run. This is a tale of revolution, adventure, and fighting back. It’s a unique and vivid story from an award-winning author.
13. Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce: £7.99, Pan Macmillan
The inspiration for this novel is Laika, a stray dog from Moscow sent up to space by the Russians in rocket Sputnik II in 1957. Not surprisingly, she never returned. But what if she didn’t die? Cottrell Boyce, whose tale revolves around Laika meeting Sputnik, an alien who is on a mission to find ten reasons why earth is worth saving. A wonderful and exciting story about friendship and appreciating what you have.
14. Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar: £8.38, Walker Books Ltd
The relationship between grandchild and grandparent isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, so it’s refreshing to come across this novel in which 12-year-old Carol isn’t exactly thrilled about being hauled away from friends and pool parties to move her mentally ill grandfather into a care home. But what follows in this skilfully written, debut, coming-of-age novel is Carol surprising herself as she sees glimmers of something special in what her parents dismiss as her grandfather’s madness.
The Verdict: Books for 8 to 12-year-olds
All the books listed here will appeal to different children in different ways. But if forced to select our two absolute favourites, it’s Wimpy Kid: Double Down by Jeff Kinney for younger ones and Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar for older ones.
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