Summer Reading Ideas for 8 Year Olds

My friend was looking for book ideas for her lovely daughter Aniyah to read this summer. I like to consider myself the book whisperer, so I thought I'd make a list of some great books for upcoming 3rd graders. I planned on making a girl-centric list, but I hate to put books into the category of boy vs. girl books. I hate to put limits on which books my students read, so I'm not going to do it here. These books won't necessarily be easy reads, but I choose them for the plot and for how much I think your kiddos will enjoy them. I also love when a book teaches and gets a child to think. Be prepared for discussions about books with your child, it will help them develop and grow as a reader!

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The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis - This book is somewhat intimidating because of the issue of racial tension in the book. The main character goes to Alabama to stay with family and his move coincides with the church bombings so the whole city is reeling. The racial tension in the book is handled so delicately. The main focus of the book is the importance and strength of family. Don't be afraid of the subject matter, and be ready to discuss the truth of what happened.

Runaway Ralph by Beverly Cleary - A classic that all children should read. This book is great for summer because Ralph is on summer vacation in it. Simple, silly, entertaining light read for kids.

Anything by Roald Dahl but especially The BFG or The Witches - Those were my two favorite Roald Dahl books when I read them as a kid. James and the Giant Peach is another good one, but I just wasn't as big a fan. The Witches TERRIFIED me, but if your kid isn't a giant wuss like I was (or am) then they'll love it. These books are on every third grade teacher's bookshelf, I guarantee it.

Charlotte's Web by EB White - This is one of my favorites to read-aloud to second graders, but I think it would be even better for third graders. Again, this has classic themes like life or death, so be prepared to discuss. Some teachers actually skip over the death part when they read it, but I find that to be ridiculous.

Pippi Longstocking - Every little girl should read Pippi Longstocking. She's spunky and thinks for herself and goes on crazy adventures.

Look Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer - Learn about the woman who discovered the importance of a star's brightness.

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom - Zeus is kidnapped and finds that he can defend himself

Last Laughs: Animal Epitaphs - A collection of funny poems about animals and how they died. It's pretty morbid and pretty hysterical.

Dogs on Duty: Soldiers' Best Friends on the Battlefield and Beyond - Pretty self-explanatory. A look
at dogs who have served in battle.

Liberty Porter, First Daughter - The story of a girl whose father is elected President and her entire life was turned upside down.

Stellaluna - A baby bat falls into a bird's nest and learns how to be a "proper" bird. A good book for teaching kids about fitting in and how sometimes it's better to just be yourself.

Magic Tree House Series - A great series that combines magic and history. Each book also has a nonfiction guide that goes into more detail.

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Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters Ever

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Not the best scene, but gets my point across.
Stop being so damn stubborn!

1. Scarlett O'hara - Great balls of fire! (See what I did there?) Scarlett. My love. ASHLEY WILKES IS A SCUZBALL. He's not even attractive. Look at Rhett Butler. Just look at him. He's everything a man should be and HE LOVES YOU. Ugh. 
2. Ashley Wilkes - Grow a pair of balls man and tell the woman that you don't love her. Don't lead her on for 1000 pages and completely destroy her one chance at happiness. And stop whining about the damn war, it's over. Get over it. 
3. Daisy Buchanan - The whiniest most annoying character ever. I don't understand at all why Gatsby is in love with her. She has no substance, she's just a beautiful, stupid ball of fluff. 



Someone tagged Kartik in this
on tumblr and I
almost died laughing.

4. Kartik - You should have not have sacrificed yourself the way you did. I understand you felt it was necessary because of love but it wasn't. Now you and Gemma can never be together and I want to cry, so just stop.
5. Anne Boleyn - I understand that she was ambitious and (possibly) in love, but did she have to be so damn rude? Try a little kindness Anne, and maybe people won't be so supportive of your head getting chopped off.  
6. Jane Eyre - Possibly one of my favorite characters of all time, but she's just tedious sometimes. I get it, life sucks, and you are trying to fix it, but really? Running away is going to fix it? Thinking of marrying a guy whose first name is St. John? That's just obnoxious. 
7. Mr. Darcy - I JUST WANT TO KICK YOU. You love her now stop smoldering about and just tell her!! Without the insults please, you are not that wonderful, get over yourself. (Ok, yes you are, but still.) 
8. Everyone in Wuthering Heights - You all know how I feel about this book. Everyone in this book needs to just accept that they are all royally and incestuously disgusting and just move far far away from that moor. 
9. Romeo & Juliet - First of all, you are twelve, you really need to get a hold of your emotions and go to school. Secondly, really Romeo? Really? You can't wait 7 seconds to check and see if she really is dead. You are just going to take someone's word for it. You can't even check to see if she's breathing? Ugh. 
10. Everyone in Twilight - No one in this book has any substance at all. They are just annoying archetypes  who create their own problems and then complain about it. And Bella is just useless. You could've used a cat in her place and it might have been a better story. 

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Best Children's Christmas Books

If you have a pinterest, I can guarantee that you've seen the book countdown idea going around. The premise is, you get 25 books about Christmas, then wrap them. You let your child pick out one book every night until Christmas Day. Well, being the book nerd that I am, I loved this idea. But I may have gone slightly overboard. I ended up with 45 books.... whoops. I was able to whittle it down, and only wrapped 32. The rest are books that are anthologies or books that are just too advanced for a two year old.

I've seen really cute ideas of wrapping the books in green wrapping paper and then displaying them like a tree. There are tons of other ideas, but I just wrapped them in random wrapping papers and put them inside a Christmas box.

Since we had 32 books, we were able to start our countdown today. Yay! I was probably more excited than CJ was.

CJ ended up choosing the Golden Book version of A Christmas Story. I was glad that he chose a book about the actual Christmas story first as opposed to a book about Santa.

Since I went cray-cray finding Christmas stories, I'm making it easier for you by listing them all here by age. I've got a great mix of new books and old classics. I have them in order of age level. The board books are at the beginning and the longer books are at the end. Enjoy!

What Is Christmas? - Cute little board book that explains what Christmas means in a way that little ones can grasp.
Arthur Decks the Hall - CJ loves Arthur, and he'll love that this has little flaps for him to lift up.
Backyardigans' Jingle Bell Christmas - I think this will be one of CJ's favorites this year.
Snowman's Christmas Surprise & Santa's Christmas Surprise - Two different board books that I found really cheap somewhere. CJ will like them though.
Mouse's First Christmas - Really cute and really simple story. The pictures tell the story with very short sentences below.
The Mitten - Not really a Christmas story, but a great one by Jan Brett about giving and family.
The First Night - A beautifully illustrated telling of the birth of Christ.
Counting Christmas - CJ loves Karen Katz' books, he is going to love this one. He already saw it before I wrapped it and freaked about it.
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies - Another one that isn't really about Christmas, but the illustrations show that it takes place at Christmastime.
Little Critter's Merry Christmas Mom and Dad - Little Critter is another one of CJ's favorites, so this should be a hit.
The Twelve Days of Christmas - Another one illustrated by Jan Brett, this is just the classic song in book form.
Countdown To Christmas - CJ got this last year but was too little for it. It has a page to read every day with a little story, a bible verse, and a very simple craft. I love it.
The Berenstain Bears Meet Santa Bear - This will be CJ's first Berenstein Bear book.
My Penguin Osbert - This story is so cute. A little boy has to be very specific with what he tells Santa he wants because Santa always gets it wrong. So he asks for a penguin from the Arctic.
The Snowy Day - This is one of my favorite children's books of all time. Not technically a Christmas book, but I'm including it because I love it, and it is Winter-themed.

I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles - CJ loves these look and find books, so I snatched this up for a dollar at a thrift store.
Mooseltoe - I can't find this on amazon, but it is the story of a moose trying to figure out the meaning of Christmas. It is apparently part of a whole series.
Storybook Treasury for Christmas (Storybook Treasuries) - Contains The Night Before the Night Before Christmas; Wee Three Pigs; All About Christmas; The Nutcracker; Corduroy's Christmas Surprise; and The Little Engine That Could and the Snowy, Blowy Christmas. I'm just going to read Wee Three Pigs and All About Christmas. 
The Night Before Christmas - We have a couple versions of this, so I am going to use the most toddler- friendly edition this year.
The Christmas Story - The Little Golden Book version of the story of the birth of Christ.
The Polar Express - This is one of the new classics. CJ loves trains, so he'll love this.
An Irish Night Before Christmas - I had to get this when I saw it on paperbackswap, and I'm so glad I did. It is so funny. We are going to read it as a family on Christmas Eve. The donkey's name is actually my mother-in-law's maiden name. So funny.
When Santa Lost His Ho! Ho! Ho! - I don't know much about this one, but the illustrations looked cute.
The Littlest Christmas Elf - This was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I actually bought it when I was pregnant because I saw it at a thrift store for really cheap.
Mickey's Christmas Carol - The Little Golden Book edition of Mickey's Christmas Carol.

Noel - A Christmas ornament learns the meaning of Christmas.
Olive, the Other Reindeer - After hearing the song Rudolph, Oliver realizes that she plays a very important part in Christmas.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - This obviously had to be included.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - The Little Golden Book edition. 
Nutcracker - Another Little Golden Book edition.
Snowmen at Christmas - I don't know much about this one either, except that the illustrations look awesome.
Frosty the Snowman - Yet another Little Golden Book.
One Little Christmas Tree: A Children's Christmas Picture Book - Review coming soon.
A Christmas Treasury: The Children's Classic Edition - Contains songs and stories for kids, includes The Night Before Christmas, A Merry Christmas, The Little Blue Dishes, and the Biblical text of the very first Christmas.
The Littlest Christmas Tree: A Tale of Growing and Becoming - I left this one out because it is just too complex for a two year old, but the pictures are great.
The Littlest Angel - Another great one that CJ is too young for, but he'll enjoy it someday.
A Little House Christmas: Holiday Stories From the Little House Books - I love these stories, so I'll be reading them to myself, but CJ is still too little for the Little House books.


So remember how I said that I went a little overboard on getting Christmas books? Well I ended up with a couple of repeats, so you are in luck. I'm going to give a couple of the extras away. It is a surprise though, on which ones you will get! 
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