20 Fantastic Books for 8 Year Olds

When a Biltmore resident’s prized jewels are stolen, amateur detective Elodie LaRue is summoned to solve the case… even though she’s just a kid. Together with a new stunt-obsessed friend and her dog Carnegie, Elodie must get to the bottom of the heist in this charming, illustrated young middle grade novel. I can see this being a cozy read-aloud for mystery fans, and since it’s the first in a new series, young readers will be thrilled to see Elodie in the subsequent stories. 

With their Very Exciting Spy Technology and their tried-and-true, toilet-based travel techniques, the InvestiGators are undercover and on the case! And on their first mission together, they have not one but two mysteries to solve! Can Mango and Brash uncover the clues, crack their cases, and corral the crooks—or will the criminals wriggle out of their grasp?

This adorable graphic novel follows four kids on their journeys to find a beloved pet and the animal rescue center, where they converge as the pets bring joy to their lives. It’s a great mash-up of PAWS meets Allergic and is perfect for young (capable) readers as young as the second grade. 

Miguel lives in New York City with his Mami and Papi and wants more than anything to be an artist, even though his immigrant parents want him to have a more traditional career. The next thing on Miguel’s wishlist is a pet, so what a joy when he finds a cat near his parents’ bodega. Written from the perspectives of Lolo the cat and Miguel, we follow these two as Lolo adjusts to having a family and learning to share his space and the love he’s received and Miguel finds a way to share his artsy dreams with his family. Bodega Cats: Picture Purrfect is the first in a new charming, family-first series about kids and the stray cats they find near bodegas. 

This charming illustrated book about a robot who ends up in the wild and survives by building community and caring for others is heartwarming but also surprisingly suspenseful and full of adventure. Soon to be a major motion picture, this would make a delightful readaloud for kids ages 7 and up.

Kids love this beloved classic inspired by a true story. It’s about a gorilla who lives in an enclosed glass cage in a mall. At first, Ivan is content with his quarters — for over 20 years. But when a baby elephant is brought into the enclosure, Ivan starts to remember his home and sees his current home as the captivity that it is. This is a sweet and moving verse novel for young readers.

I rarely recommend sequels because I rarely read them, but this is my favorite installment so far in this series about the lives of the kids in one third-grade classroom. Poppy is a new kid trying to win the affection of her new classmate and intends to bring in her grandmother for a Special Person Visit to the class when her grandmother starts having memory issues. This is a heartwarming, relatable story about connection through food and the beauty of the grandparent bond.

This funny, high-action series about crime-fighting pigeons in the city is wildly entertaining and so accessible, with tons of illustrations reminiscent of the Bad Guys series. Hand to fans of wacky stories like Dog Man looking to branch into more prose-heavy storytelling.

When two new 5th graders determined to “be themselves” get mistaken for class clown and brainiac (the opposite of what they each are), they band together to help each other succeed in the vein of Cisneros’s Falling Short, but in graphic novel format with animal characters a la Mr. Wolf’s Class. This is a clever (sometimes a teeny bit didactic) story that is funny and relatable about friendship, being yourself, and staying open to possibilities. Fans of quirky graphic novels with a dash of humor will enjoy this. The vocabulary is quite complex so I’d recommend this for strong readers only.

This story is just as cute as this book’s cover! Odder is a fearless otter who loves to play and tell stories to entertain everyone. But when she encounters a great white shark, she’s injured and has to be brought into the aquarium to heal. There are many beautiful illustrations in this book and it’s also inspired by a true story.

This is a hilarious graphic novel for fans of Squished and The Vanderbeekers about a girl who is sick of her little siblings but gets stuck at home with them when they all get chickenpox. Set in Indonesia and roughly based on Lai’s own experiences but written from her older sister’s perspective, this book will sing to firstborns but also to any sibling in a large family who’s trying to find their voice and see the gift their siblings are to them. I loved the funny depictions of life with chickenpox, the tween angst and gossip as Abby navigates her friend group and friendships that may or may not be crushes. While there is some sibling angst, this one has a lovely, heartwarming resolution and will appeal to kids between the ages of 8 and 12.

I LOVED this forthcoming young graphic novel by the author of the Stella Diaz series. This is the perfect illustrated graphic-prose series for fans of Dory Fantasmagory and Ryan Hart in grades 2-4 and stars a precocious, funny female protagonist who gets a whiff of the dark side of social media in her first adventure. The formatting of this one is just gorgeous, with graphic panels and short prose sections livened by full-color illustrations. It also has cute Spanish vocabulary tips, a mom who’s a bookstore owner and is set in the same world as Stella Diaz (Gabby looks up to Stella, who’s now a middle schooler).

New fifth-grader Stella Martinez is excited about sitting with her two best friends and continuing to bond over their love for the show Witchlings. However, school is becoming more and more challenging–especially reading. As Stella falls behind, her issues with reading begin to affect other aspects of her life, such as video gaming and her friendships. Eventually, she gets help from her teacher and discovers she has dyslexia. This story is pretty simple and straightforward, with a strong message about dyslexia and learning difficulties. It’s certainly moving and feels very relatable for today’s tweens, especially with the Witchlings fandom. It will particularly resonate with dyslexic kids, and I hope it has an audiobook version that supports them!

Third grader Anisa is excited about her class’s international day. She’s going to ask her mom to bring samosas for the class and share her Pakistani culture with everyone. But before she gets to reveal her plans, another classmate snags the samosa spot. As a creative, Anisa is desperate to be unique. With her aunt getting married soon, she decides that Mehndi is the perfect activity to introduce. But first, she’ll need to resolve a friendship misunderstanding. This is a delightful, heartwarming, and culturally expressive young middle grade book. Featuring a likable, relatable young protagonist, this illustrated chapter book centers on themes of family, sisterhood, friendship, and the love and pride of Pakistani culture.

In this sweet, delightful story, Marya Khan has gotten herself in a fix by claiming she’s having a henna party for her birthday when, in reality, she’s having no party. Marya is convinced that all her classmates have more exciting lives than she does but over time, she realizes that no one has a perfect life and she needs to appreciate hers more.

Ten-year-old Zara has been crowned Queen of the Neighborhood by a loving neighbor. Zara makes fair rules for all the games she and her brother Zayd play with the other kids and Zara likes things just like that. But when her neighbor, Mr. Chapman moves out, a new family moves in. Their daughter Naomi has other ideas for playing and the other kids seem to like many of her ideas too. To win back her crown, Zara decides she’ll try to break a World Guinness Record. But as time goes on, she realizes that it may just be better to share her crown instead. This is the start of a beautiful chapter book series about a young Pakistani-American heroine and her friends and family.

When self-proclaimed Dweeb, Andy, goes on a class trip to a local toxic waste dump, he returns with a powered-up pencil that suddenly has the ability to bring his drawings to life. This over-the-top hilarious superhero story is written in illustrated prose and graphic panels and is a good fit for kids who love Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Pocketon is a cute animal town, and a new cat, Taro, has just moved in. Peaches, Pogi, and Mago are besties and are immediately curious about Taro, who’s a bit introverted and withdrawn. But when Taro leaves a book behind, Peaches finds an in to invite her over and start a friendship. This beginner graphic novel is SO CUTE and explores the idea of befriending people even though, on the surface, you seem to have few common interests. It’s also written in a dyslexia-friendly font that makes it easy to read.

I was delighted to see that Allergic‘s Megan Wagner Lloyd had a younger graphic novel out this year. This book for 8-year-olds is set in Breakfast Town where a young Pancake develops superhero abilities after exposure to a special serum. Peggy Pancake is her family’s black sheep. She’s always late for the bus and is constantly losing track of time, but with superpowers, can she save her town and impress her family? I really enjoyed this funny, delightful, and poignant graphic novel.

Everyone teases Tola — sometimes lovingly — for being so small. They think she can’t lift heavy loads or do other things because of her size. But Tola’s grandmother reassures her that you can be small, but mighty, and Tola proves that she is! This chapter book depicts life in the city of Lagos, as well as the challenges of being a smaller child. Readers who appreciate an international appeal and enjoy books about bullying and grandparent and sibling relationships will enjoy this one.