Best Children's Books for Kids Ages 6 to 8

Recommended Reading for Young School Age Boys and Girls

Jan 13, 2009

Best Books for Young School Age Children, Ron Stinson

Need help choosing a book for a young school age child, ages 6 to 8? Here are some popular choices and advice for this age group.

“Unlike pre-schoolers who only understand the concrete, older kids start to understand abstract ideas, like morality," writes Christine Almiron, a public library outreach program coordinator, in an email. "Though they may still read picturebooks, they will now show interest in non-fiction and in X books.”

X books are children’s books, catalogued in libraries with an X in front. “Just as some picturebooks have lots of text and others have only a couple of monosyllabic words per page, X books can be complicated or simple,” advises Almiron. “These children like X books because they look more like chapter books, letting them feel like ‘big kids’ for reading them.”

Recommended Game Books for Young Elementary School Children

I Spy series by Jean Marzollo
Where's Waldo series by Martin Handford
Look-Alikes by Joan Steiner

Selecting a Children’s Book for a Child ages 6 to 8

Continuing to follow your child’s favorite preschool characters and subjects is a good way of helping your child with their reading skills. “If your child loved certain characters in picture books, he doesn't necessarily have to give them up,” says Almiron, giving Marc Brown’s Arthur characters as an example of a series available as picturebooks, easy readers and chapter books.

Also consider some children’s books that are tailored to their new interests at this age. Almiron recommends craft books and cookbooks (“One book that's still popular is "What's Cooking? A Cookbook for Kids" based on Pixar's Ratatouille,” she says) as well as simple joke books, such as knock-knocks. “Some people frown on joke books,” says Almiron, “but the punchline is often based on word-play, which helps kids improve their language skills.”

Fairy tales and Reading with Young School Age Children

Almiron also recommends fairy and folk tales such as The Ugly Duckling and The Princess and the Pea. Most folk tales have illustrations but lots of text as well, so an adult will have to read it to the child. “It is still important to read with your child at this stage,” reminds Almiron, “and if they have difficulty learning to read, read-alongs are still invaluable.”

The copyright of the article Best Children's Books for Kids Ages 6 to 8 in Children’s Books is owned by Rita Marshall. Permission to republish Best Children's Books for Kids Ages 6 to 8 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.