Holes
Call It Courage
Swiss Family Robinson

The Nevermoor series was great for my kids at that age.

I loved reading to them long after they could read—SO many benefits, no downfalls.

Anonymous wrote:You are reading to them? Why don't you do it book club style? At their age they should be reading to themselves.

OP here - I'll take a generous view of this comment and respond to it as a genuine question. While my kids enjoy reading independently, we generally read more challenging books together, like LOTR, or books they wouldn't choose to read themselves. My boys wouldn't have chosen to read Little Women independently, but they loved it. If it were part of a book club they'd view it as an assignment. It's a great shared experience we all enjoy for now.

Anonymous wrote:You are reading to them? Why don't you do it book club style? At their age they should be reading to themselves.

It doesn’t have to be either-or. OP can read to the kids AND they can read other things to themselves.

Reading can be a shared form of entertainment, like binging a series on Netflix. It doesn’t have an age limit, nor does it need to be confined to bedtime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are reading to them? Why don't you do it book club style? At their age they should be reading to themselves.

God forbid a parent spend some quality time reading to their children. 🙄

It's great that the 8 and 11 year old are enjoying this together.

+ 1 million. PP needs to read up on the many benefits of read alouds.

Anonymous wrote:You are reading to them? Why don't you do it book club style? At their age they should be reading to themselves.

God forbid a parent spend some quality time reading to their children. 🙄

It's great that the 8 and 11 year old are enjoying this together.

Half Magic (and others by the same author)
The Phantom Tollbooth (seconding!)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

You are reading to them? Why don't you do it book club style? At their age they should be reading to themselves.

OP here - thanks for the suggestions! We've read and enjoyed a few of them. Interestingly, my boys liked Little Women, but couldn't get into Little Men. Trying Lucy Maud Montgomery next and then maybe the Melendy series. Sounds similar to the Boxcar Children, which they liked.

Sequels to Little Women:
Little Men
Jo’s Boys

Gail Carson Levine - Fairest (and other books)
E. D. Baker
How to Eat Fried Worms
Misty of Chincoteague
The Westing Game
The Phantom Tollbooth
Tom Sawyer
The Great Brain
Pollyanna
Roald Dahl
Hidden Talents by David Lubar

Nancy Drew
Hardy Boys
Three Investigators
Trixie Belden

With your youngest being 8 yo, I’m assuming she’s going into third grade, but when she gets to 4th, read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

Little House
Anne of Green Gables

The Melendy Family series: The Four Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, Spiderweb for Two. (There's a first book in the series, The Saturdays, but I don't think it's nearly as good as the other 3, and you don't need it to get into the series.)

My kids also loved Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away by the same author (Elizabeth Enright).

The Wizard of Oz is a terrific read-aloud.

Some other books my tweens liked:

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Harriet the Spy
The Secret Garden
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler
My Side of the Mountain
Tisha

Both by Brian Selznick:
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Wonderstruck

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
The Dark is Rising
Sisters Grimm
The Secret Garden
The Little Princess
Narnia (starting with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)
From the Mixed-up Files pf Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Pippi Longstocking
A Wrinkle in Time

Just-So Stories

Looking for a book, ideally a long book or a series, to read to an 8 and 11 year old. We've enjoyed:
Harry Potter
Mysterious Benedict Society
Percy Jackson
Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
Little Women