The Best Classic Summer reads for kids aged 8 - 12years
Everyone remembers the first ‘grown-up’ book they read by themselves, and how it opened them up to a new world of great fiction. With the summer here, there’s more time for kids to immerse themselves into another world, that will introduce them to wonderful adventures with the small beginnings of adult themes.
Books that parents read when they were younger can be still as meaningful and enjoyable today with your own children. Some books on this list are a slightly older generation; the written english may seem dated now, and kids might not enjoy them as their parents once did.
However it is still a good time to introduce these classics as that they will most likely read them one day.
If your child is not comfortable reading on his own yet, then a great way to spend a summer afternoon is to sit and read out-loud and you can both share the experience together.
These picks are the big favourites among kid’s classics but there are plenty more beside these that parents will remember from their youth. Tell us yours.
Danny The Champion of The World, by Roald Dahl.( 9+)
A brilliant story about a 9 year old boy and his best friend, his father, who are living in a gypsy caravan in England. Danny, the narrator, tell us how he is a great mechanic and how is father is the most incredible person there is. However, things change for him when he uncovers his father’s secret past-time, which sets him off on a great adventure. There’s no usual Dahl magic in this novel like his others, as this is a story of when we realise our parents are not infallible as we might believe, and that the adult world is sometimes full of nasty surprises.
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, C S Lewis ( 8+)
Nothing speaks childhood like this classic fantasy tale about four siblings who are escaping the war in London and sent to live in a house in the country. The plot centres around an enchanted land, Narnia, that resides at the other side of a mystical old wardrobe in the house attic. Kids, like their parents, will love this classic high fantasy tale of good versus evil with amazing creatures, talking animals and, of course, Aslan the lion. The Christian symbolism and stiff Britishness was lost on me as a young reader, who was more drawn into a fantasy that opened up an incredible new world of books without pictures.
The Hobbit. by J.R.R Tolkien. (10+)
Chances are kids have already watched the film by Peter Jackson, but do they know that this great adventure story was first a book, written nearly 80 years ago? The story is about a Hobbit who travels with Dwarfs, and an old wizard named Gandalf, on a epic quest filled with dragons, gold and an evil ring. An old fantasy and adventure tale filled with bravery, friendship and laughter that older kids and adults will love. A great introduction to the colossal Lord of The Rings trilogy in which this story is based in.
Anne Frank, by Anne Frank (11+)
In June 1942, Anne Frank made her first diary entry. A few weeks later she went into hiding, where she stayed for over two years until her family were discovered by nazis and were sent to a concentration camp. The period between however, is the greatest ever wartime diary. Told by a young girl turning 13, who is entering not only a new hidden world away from the evil outside, but also new world of teen feelings and becoming. Anne’s moving and unforgettable diary is still as relevant to young and old readers as it was when it was when it was first published nearly 70 years ago.
Matilda, by Roald Dahl (8+)
Any list of great kid’s books could not exist without Dahl’s story of an incredibly talented five year old girl, Matilda. Matilda lives at home with her horrible parents and brother, who mistreat her while all the time she longs to read and go to school. Eventually, she is sent to the local school where she meets the lovely Miss Honey, and the terrible headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.
The story tells how the small and seemingly insignificant can harness great powers in overcoming cruelty. Kids will adore Dahl’s nasty characters and the viciousness of The Trunchbull. The best bit both parents and children can relate to? “I'm right and you're wrong, I'm big and you're small, and there's nothing you can do about it.” (Matilda’s father)
If you have your own favorite children’s book please share it with us in our comments!